THE POWER OF FEELING & EXPRESSING THROUGH DANCING!

After over ten years of teaching ballroom dancing, I am still fascinated by the reasons why most of my students have started to take lessons. As I get to know them better and I find out more information about what motivated them to begin this journey with me, I encounter that not only this is something that they have wanted to do for a long time but also that at some point in their lives, there was a personal experience where they were faced with a certain kind of performance that made a an emotional connection with them and triggered something inside them.

I found that not necessarily the performances that have made such an impact in their lives, were only the ones executed by the world champions on the popular TV shows or even at the local dance competition; in most cases the excitement came from other individuals just like them, who were able to move, express and enjoy dancing in a way that was catching and contagious.

Although most people can tell a good “technically” done performance, I think having an emotional reaction to it has very little to do with the “technique”. In my experience what has really made me fall in love with ballroom dancing is the way two dancers can tell amazing stories full of different emotions without saying a word, but just their bodies connecting. It almost feels as if they are making me part of their happiness, anger, frustration, passion or whichever feeling they are trying to portray. In addition the music they are dancing to plays an important roll on how the dancers interact during their time on the floor as it allows them to translate the rhythm into motion and to be vulnerable.

From the beginning, once my clients first come to Daza Dance and begin to take lessons, I introduce them to each dance style; I paint a mental picture with different adjectives that describe the dances as well as some important historic facts that will connect them with the attitude and mood that each style requires. Then as the learning process develops, it seems as if we separate ourselves from those “adjectives” I mentioned before to then become very focused on how to execute a technically perfect performance.

During the process, there are times I have to remind myself about the fact that dancing is a way to communicate feelings and emotions in a non-verbal interaction through the motion of two people moving together as they act and react to each other’s cues. So, throughout the years I have been working on finding a way to look at the teaching/learning process from a more artistic point of view rather than the other technical sort of mechanical side; It has been my goal to be able to combine all the feelings and emotions that each dance style embodies with the exactness and precision of all the different techniques.

I have learned that dancing with a partner and eventually moving as one is something that requires a lot of practice as well as certain level of knowledge and technique; but also there has to be an emotional connection between the two dancers where they engage on each other’s characters and rolls. The couple must communicate through the motion of their bodies creating reactions that become understandable and visible not only to themselves but also to those who enjoy the act. Anyone in the audience should be able to follow the story line they are being told.

In conclusion, start by giving permission to yourself to express what you want to express through dancing while you are on the floor. Become someone else as you dance and experience the emotions that each dance style represents. Let the fear go and believe in yourself… no one is judging!