Why Is Dancing So Stupid?

Della said:
That's why more people don't dance. There's always someone around to tell them they aren't really very good.
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Don't you ever people watch? The show off who fancies himself as another John Travolta is always good for a laugh, but don't look at him so that it's obvious, he might think you're impressed. People watching is my other half's favourite armchair sport.
Have a look at this thread. Scroll down to entry 586.
 

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Remember the wave of River Dancing 10 years ago? That was too short for my tastes, but it's not the kind of thing any schumck could do, so it never got farther than just a visual pleasure to watch.
 
horseless carriage said:
Don't you ever people watch? The show off who fancies himself as another John Travolta is always good for a laugh, but don't look at him so that it's obvious, he might think you're impressed. People watching is my other half's favourite armchair sport.
Have a look at this thread. Scroll down to entry 586.
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Sure I watch people dance, some do well some not so well, but I would never go up to anyone afterward and say, your dance may have some vague resemblance to the (whatever dance they were trying to do,) but that dance is actually much more complex.
 
KSav said:
I do remember that! It looks incredibly difficult. I was always impressed.
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What I remember reading, but a long time ago, was that the River Dance is a subset of a type, characterized by an almost stationary upper body while all the motion in the legs. I can't remember if the type has a name. It's origin may be from the Celts, but there are other societies that mimic it. In Appalachia a related type might be called a Jig. Maybe that's what it's called in Ireland. I don't know.
 
I went onto YouTube and looked at what shuffle dance teaching videos were showing, and that varied considerably. Most were showing the style with twisting at the knee so feet end up in perpendicular positions or the running man style with feet not coming down in the middle. I used to see some others do that in 1970 and that is probably why some said it looks like the mash potato dance.

If one looks at the footloose video @Medusa[ @Imogene linked, while there are a few segments showing that foot twisting style, the majority of those Hollywood choreographer dancers were very much NOT doing that. Tap dancers, naturally have a lot of not only that twisting but also front to back foot level changes in order to land on different tap metal spots on tap shoes. I personally don't do any of that and my own style looks like most of those Hollywood choreographied dancers that use momentum in one leg/foot to transfer mass and momentum to the other leg/foot while touching feet down to a mid position rapidly, a bilateral countering, back and forth, elastic, rebounding movement.
 
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Della said:
Sure I watch people dance, some do well some not so well, but I would never go up to anyone afterward and say, your dance may have some vague resemblance to the (whatever dance they were trying to do,)
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Me neither, it's not just the dance floor either, a show off or loud mouth can be quite entertaining. When I lived in London, going to work on the undergrond train, one commuter fancied himself a singer and all his fellow passengers had to listen to him. Out of tune, out of time and completely out of his head. It wouldn't surprise me if he was on the waccy baccy, but he was entertaining, just not in the way that he thought.
 
There was a dance show in the 70's called "soul train" where they danced their version of Americas "Country and Western" line dancing. I don't want to tell you what my mom did to us when she caught us watching it as this type of behavior was totally contrary to our beliefs.

This is from their Youtube archives.

 
JustDave said:
What I remember reading, but a long time ago, was that the River Dance is a subset of a type, characterized by an almost stationary upper body while all the motion in the legs. I can't remember if the type has a name. It's origin may be from the Celts, but there are other societies that mimic it. In Appalachia a related type might be called a Jig. Maybe that's what it's called in Ireland. I don't know.
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Yes, the Appalachians who settled those mountains were Scotch Irish immigrants, We can see those roots in the dancing, fiddle and music in general. Maybe moonshine whisky too.
 
MountainRa said:
The South Carolina state dance is The Shag. (I realize that word has other meanings in other countries) . Itā€™s usually performed to Carolina Beach music which originated in the African American community
I love to watch couples dancing The Shag. Iā€™m not good at it though. And I love, love Carolina Beach music.
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I didn't realize a state could have an official dance! North Dakota's is square dancing.
 
We started watching Saturday Night Fever this evening. šŸ¤£
It's actually an entertaining movie with good characters. We'll finish it on Friday.

Everybody sing along!

Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk
I'm a woman's man no time to talk
Music loud and women warm, I've been kicked around
Since I was born
And now it's all right, it's okay
And you may look the other way
But we can try to understand
The New York Times' effect on man

Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother
You're stayin' alive, stayin' alive
Feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin'
And we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive
Ah when you want
 
I became very fascinated with this song and the dance about 5 weeks ago. The video garnered 87 million views in the first year and another 1 million in a week after I sent it to my son to view. I can do the upper body part (my Honorary Daughter says I dance with my shoulders anyway). I wouldn't try to spread my feet too far or get on the floor though. This is a craze now...even celebrities like Chris Brown trying it.


The official Tashwala Bami video (now has 92 million views two weeks after it hit 88 million! I love the senior ladies in the blue hats and the "cleaning girls" who start doing the dance: :love: I rock to this often.

 

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