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Shall we dance? (the challenge of Quicksteps & Tango's)

PADDY

I'll Lock Up
Bartender
Messages
7,425
Location
METROPOLIS OF EUROPA
OK, it's confession time! I've been going to beginner's classes for Ballroom dancing (Quickstep, Foxtrot, Waltz, Cha Cha) and have just completed my first lesson in Argentinian Tango (which I have been dying to do for ages, as it just looks so emotive, full of expression, sexy, masculine..etc).

Contrary to legend and myth, we Irish are not all naturally gifted dancers popping out of our mother's womb to then immediately do a rendition of "River Dance!"

And this Irish gent in particular is rather challenged (and challenging) when it comes to gliding across the dance floor. But, it makes for an interesting class!

If you'd asked me even a year or so ago about going and attempting such things, I'd have laughed. But it's actually great fun and my love for vintage eras has helped too (with the more old fashioned dances), plus there's a great social side to it too!!

Yes, the dance floor can look like the aftermath of a road accident after I have been gliding (and screeching with smoke pouring out of my shoe brakes!) across it like the chase scene from Bullitt! But I can laugh at myself and learn from my mistakes and little by little things are starting to fall into place! guess all beginners start at the bottom and grow and hopefully blossom. I'm very much at the dormant seed stage now!

Is all this airy-fairy dancing now challenging Mr Middleton's masculinity and machismo? not a bit of it!! In fact, it's probably enhancing it, judging by all the nice girls I'm getting to dance with (seems to be a shortage of guys doing this, their loss!!).

Can you tell I'm enjoying it? and I can't wait to go to a ball where I can get dressed up in my tails and white bow tie and strut my stuff like a scene from Gone With the Wind!!
 

Vanessa

One Too Many
Messages
1,055
Location
SoCal
Paddy, may you be an inspiration to all the gents on the board here. . .if there are two dances you should learn - it's the foxtrot and waltz. You will always have a partner! And if you should make it to the Queen Mary this November, save a dance for me.
 

LolitaHaze

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,244
Location
Las Vegas, NV
Vanessa said:
And if you should make it to the Queen Mary this November, save a dance for me.

What is happening this November on the Queen Mary? I am a little late when it comes to anything not involving me. LOL I am kidding... :)
 

ITG

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,483
Location
Dallas/Fort Worth (TEXAS)
LH,
Indygear and the Fedora Lounge will most likely be having another gathering like we have in previous years. Do a search for Queen Mary Summit and you'll probably pull up pics. You can also go to www.qmsummit.com to search through pics.
 

LolitaHaze

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,244
Location
Las Vegas, NV
ITG said:
LH,
Indygear and the Fedora Lounge will most likely be having another gathering like we have in previous years. Do a search for Queen Mary Summit and you'll probably pull up pics. You can also go to www.qmsummit.com to search through pics.

How lovely! That looks like a lot of fun! Thank you.
 

Vladimir Berkov

One Too Many
Messages
1,291
Location
Austin, TX
I really want to learn how to really dance. It sounds like you are having a great time of it. Have you been to any occassions where you were able to dance yet? Over here it seems anything which involves "dancing" really means a bunch of people jerking their bodies around in front of each other and grinding to some horrible noise. It makes the "little kicks" in Seinfeld look good...
 

Patrick

New in Town
Messages
27
Location
South Texas
Good for you Paddy. You've taken a step ( no pun intended) in the right direction and will never look back. The tango can be very passonate and sexy, ahh, but the rumba is the dance of love, very sensual. So fit it into your lessons if you are able to. The most difficult part of the rumba is the cuban motion. (the swaying of the hips), and that takes a lot of practice. Without the cuban motion, you are dead in the water with the rumba, no matter how well you know your steps.

I was a total klutz when I first started out, but I had a good teacher who made me overcome it very quickly (thank you Kathy). She was relentless, and used to really beat up on me! 16 years later, and I'm still in love with that gal.

Sad to say, it's slim pickens down here in south Texas as far as ballroom goes. Mostly tejano (mexican, I call it the Robstown shuffle), country, and hip hop (yuck). But country dancing at a Texas honky tonk can be a lot of fun! The 2 step is a simple variation of the foxtrot. And if the beat is right, the double time 2 step is more fun. The east coast swing works very well with a lot of the country songs. And the waltz comes up frequently at a country dance, but hardly anybody knows how, so they just end up slow dancing to it, and that really, really makes me cringe. So learn your waltz well, and people will take notice. Enjoy, and stick with it my brother.

P.
 

CharlieH.

One Too Many
Messages
1,169
Location
It used to be Detroit....
All that sounds great, Paddy! You really seem to be enjoying it.
I've always wanted to learn the Tango, for there have been quite a few times where I've wanted to simply grab a fetching co-ed and dance for no good reason at all... sounds nuts, eh?
 

"Doc" Devereux

One Too Many
Messages
1,206
Location
London
CharlieH. said:
I've always wanted to learn the Tango, for there have been quite a few times where I've wanted to simply grab a fetching co-ed and dance for no good reason at all... sounds nuts, eh?

Not at all, that sounds like perfectly reasonable behaviour to me.
 

CharlieH.

One Too Many
Messages
1,169
Location
It used to be Detroit....
[QUOTE="Doc" Devereux]Not at all, that sounds like perfectly reasonable behaviour to me.[/QUOTE]

Ah well, you know how it is with these modern dames whose idea of dancing is shaking their derriere to some noise that makes an ambulance sound like Jimmie Lunceford.
 

Miss Neecerie

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,616
Location
The land of Sinatra, Hoboken
PADDY said:
Contrary to legend and myth, we Irish are not all naturally gifted dancers popping out of our mother's womb to then immediately do a rendition of "River Dance!"


There goes the planned RiverDance! demonstration we had all planned for you to give if you make it to the QM! :p

I am devisitated...I tell you...simply devistated.

Denise:cry:
 

Salv

One Too Many
Messages
1,247
Location
Just outside London
Rundquist said:
If you ever get a chance, check Snowboy out (if you like Mambo/Salsa). He never comes to the U.S., but his band is smoking.

http://www.snowboy.info/

Snowboy is a very cool guy. I've got a few of his records, including an album with fiery latin-jazz versions of The Flintstones theme and The Sex Pistols' "Anarchy In The U.K." Fantastic stuff! I haven't made it to one of his gigs yet, but I saw him on percussion in the band that backed Sam Moore (of soul legends Sam & Dave fame) a few years ago on some UK gigs.
 

farnham54

A-List Customer
Messages
404
Location
Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Good on ya, Paddy!

Last weekend, my university had it's annual "College Royale Ball". The DJ threw on "Save the last dance", the version by Michael Buble. Most left the dance floor, but I grabbed one of my lady friends (initially as a joke) and asked her to dance.

See, at the time, and thanks to Mr. Miller Genuine Draft, I forgot she is a former team Canada figure skater, and actually knows what she's doing. :D

However, I was able to keep up well enough, and when the song came to a close, sure enough, we got a round of applause from all around us! It absolutley made my night.

Cheers
Craig
 

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