why is dancing so much harder than MA

[everything]

so I think I'm ok coordinated. can do whole body moves etc. but can't dance.

so I stupidly told my wife I was going to learn some moves and she just pretty much scoffs.

I think I've figured out I never articulate just one joint - goes against all the "internal" stuff. well, anyway, I'm gonna see what I can learn. any advice out there from those of you who can do both?

edit: if you saw chuck liddell on dance with the stars, you can imagine what i'm talking about. kicking and punching is one thing. moving expressively embarrasses me.

[Ian]

any advice out there from those of you who can do both?

ok my tango and salsa are incredibly rusty, but...

take lessons!

take frequent lessons from the best teachers you can find, watch youtube clips. think about it when you don't have to, practice at home, basically hit it with the same fanatical zeal you reserve for MAs.

which is why I haven't danced in a while - I just can't get passionate about not throwing my partners when I have a good bridge.

as a wise man likes to say - smash head eat brains.

[Orpheus]

Its like MA. Its all in the basics. Practice them a lot, and you'll be fine.

Also, listen to the music....... a lot.

[roger hao]

Ian - very funny haha,

I got thrown out of a mosh pit club for that reason once LOL

[everything]

ok thanks man

[Teazer]

... I think I've figured out I never articulate just one joint - goes against all the "internal" stuff. well, anyway, I'm gonna see what I can learn. any advice out there from those of you who can do both?

A few notes with regard to social partner dancing....

# Despite what you see on tv & is commonly taught, lack of whole body movement is not (or at least is rarely) a good thing in social partner dances.

# It doesn't take much practice to make a big difference in how good your dancing looks. A few lessons, just the basics and a couple of variations to last a song will make you stand out on most dance floors (in a good way). Some dance forms get really into basics (some areas of swing, blues etc.) some go more the flashy technique driven route (salsa, west coast swing, Ceroc derivatives etc). Think IMA vs EMA! but there's a lot of overlap.

# It helps if you like the music that goes with a particular kind of dance. Having an intuition where a song's going is a bit of a plus later on too.

#A lot of the choreographed performance stuff you see on tv is the goal of dancesport /ballroom schools which therefore panders to the stylistic requirements of a very peculiar crowd (think the judges on most of these shows). Dance teachers can have some crappy habits too.

# Stay away from dance sport/ballroom dance crowd, particularly as a guy, unless you like tweezing your eyebrows. Seriously - for the most part it's become a nightmare mixture of idiosyncratic crap.

# If you're not in time with the music then it's just public spastic twitching. You'd be surprised how few people can stay on beat.

# Social partner dance done well though is more in line with whole body coordination than you think. Here's some clips of Jack & Jill/Improvised/unchoreographed stuff from an assortment of dances. Youtube is your friend.

West Coast Swing, Lindy Hop (also swing!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbIuhC6Jey8

Balboa (swing)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aFeDoYrBa0

Charleston (swing)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj1bNUnqTnk

Blues dance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZHh-t10-ts&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNVpNbZrcX8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whr0Y16rbic&feature=related

Tango (Not one of the things I dance, but I can appreciate the Argentine/non-dancesport stuff is fantastic)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-owa25JhB6Y

Zouk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDjFeRbvi8M
btw from experience, dancing with Donna is a lot of fun.

Bachata
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLWopV47BGg

a few other items...

# Don't damage your dance partner.
Make them comfortable, don't be creepy, look like you're having a good time and things will be fine.

# Dance etiquette is important, particularly once you get to the social dancing stage. Some dance scenes are more picky than others, but best to learn the rules. Think of it similarly to whatever rituals there are in a martial arts school - Usually they're there for a reason and people can get quite upset if you break them. This is a useful read...
http://www.utdallas.edu/~aria/dance/etiquette.html#NoFault

[GrahamB]

Evolutionary theory on why men won't dance:

http://www.lloydianaspects.co.uk/evolve/menwont.html

[Craig]

what kind of dancing do you want to do? i do hip hop/street and i find the body control i have learned from martial arts makes learning dancing much easier. also youtube is an infinite resource for dancing of all styles, you can find tutorials and dances from the pros. i have learned so much from watching and learning routines and movements from youtube.

[everything]

thanKs teazer!

looking at hip hop b4 social... will review the links! thanks all

[everything]

Evolutionary theory on why men won't dance:

http://www.lloydianaspects.co.uk/evolve/menwont.html

great article!

[Methods]

Its because your white - super white....coordination and rhythm are to different things - lolz

[zenshiite]

The only dancing I have ever seriously done looks like a riot and a Hong Kong movie set gave birth to a child...

[Areios]

well... i don't dance much because when i starte to bore and my minde goes elsewhere i starte to bounce like in practise. MA makes it harder for me to dance, because i start to put my hands up all the time.

[everything]

well... i don't dance much because when i starte to bore and my minde goes elsewhere i starte to bounce like in practise. MA makes it harder for me to dance, because i start to put my hands up all the time.

lol yes, and ma moves look really goofy as dance moves.

[zenshiite]

What a video of a mosh pit at a Hatebreed show! Haha.