|
Folk Dance Federation of California, South, Inc.
DANCING WITH TWO LEFT FEET |
|
CLICK AN IMAGE TO ENLARGE
Have you ever lifted your eyes from following the leader's steps to look at other dancers? Try it sometime and you will notice the different ways each one of us dances. Some of us dance with passion, sometimes ignoring the correct steps. Others, who have mastered the dance steps, dance with the same passion. And there are some, no offense, who have mastered the technique but lack the passion of folk dancing.
The idea to look at the dancers and look for the different dance styles actually came to me while traveling through Spain and attending several Flamenco performances. My wife is a passionate Flamenco follower and for her recent big birthday we made our pilgrimage to the birthplace of Flamenco.
Our first experience of the Flamenco passion happened in a small bar in Jerez we stumbled on in the middle of the day. The place was crowded with young people gathered around and older Gintano dancing to just the clapping and stomping of feet. It was pure passion, feet, body, and expression following the rhythm in the clapping. We joined the clapping and before we knew, at the request of the crowd, we were swept to the floor joining the dancer.
In the hills of Granada we experienced the dancing skill interwoven with Gitano passion in the cave home of Maria la Canastera. The dancers, from the grandmother down to her eleven-year-old granddaughter, showed us how the skill and the passion are passed on from generation to generation.
Seville, our next destination, demonstrated the last way of dancing, pure skill with little to no passion showing. We got tickets for a performance in the local Ladino/Gitano Hall, expecting to see the melding of the two cultures. After the introduction by a mediocre guitar player and a great Flamenco singer, a beautiful young dancer with a big smile came on stage. While her intricate steps and patterns changed to the music, the smile on her face remained fixed throughout the performance. She was unable to draw either the audience or me into the mood and the feeling. It was all skill with no passion.
So, back to folk dance. What can we learn?
Listen to the music. What does it tell you? Is it sad? Is it happy? Humorous? Playful? Sad?
Swing with the mood. Not only when you have more fun, but others will be swept into the mood of the moment. Believe me, passion is contagious.
Printed in Folk Dance Scene, "DANCING WITH TWO LEFT FEET (14), May 2006.