Too Much of a Good Thing is Worse Than None At All?

Apologies for the lack of usual post last week. Spoon had a situation that prevented our usual musings, so Keith ninja'd out a poem which we hope you enjoyed.

Normal service has now been resumed!

He Goes:

There's something to be said for immersion. It now amazes me that people will come to a swing night and leave at the end of the class without waiting around for the social dancing. Of course, I wasn't exactly the world's most ardent social dancer when I started lindy-hopping, so I understand what they're going through, but really - as everyone says, the best way to get good at dancing is to dance.

I say this coming off the end of a ten-evening dance marathon which has convinced me in some ways and made me dubious in others. During that time I have danced eight days of swing socials (roughly three hours a day), plus two days of ballroom classes (well, I had to give my legs a bit of a chance...)

I'm lucky enough to live in London, where generally speaking the problem is one of choice rather than lack - with the odd exception of Fridays, which half of the month seem to have very little on. I could have been out of luck, but fortunately I live far enough out of London to make it to a social in Windsor. That, plus three of the other venues were ones I'd never been to before.

Swing-dancing in London is both impersonal and personal. There are so many dancers that you can go to 7 different venues in a week and almost everyone you see will be a stranger - but there will always be one or two friendly faces, guaranteeing at least a couple of dances with a follow you're familiar with or a little chat with a lead you know. 

It's a strange feeling, dancing so much. I'm also in the middle of NaNoWriMo, so my daily routine has been "Write during the day, Dance during the evening, Sleep, Repeat". I've felt okay about the writing, but the transition from writing to dancing was bizarre. On the trains or buses I could barely keep my eyes open, but one dance and I'd feel completely fresh again. Each day seemed to last longer because it was always full. I ate a lot, and at strange times - eating before dancing never seemed like a good idea, but I was so hungry when I came home that it was often sarnies at midnight.

I didn't seem to get too tired - or when I did, it was in odd ways: crouched walking while I lead a forward into multiple swivels caused my thighs to burn like I'd run a marathon when I stood up again, but a dance later they were fresh again. But as the days rolled past I noticed that I more often adopted a lazy, simian style in slow songs. My triple-steps became a thing of the past - I could do them when I focused on them, but more often I would let my follow get on with that while I did single steps. I performed the slowest Charleston I have ever danced, with a follow that I thought might only have done the class we had shared and nothing more. My right arm drooped lower and lower during the week, accentuating the problems I have with blocking my followers when I tuck-turn them. Spoon, I thought, will have conniptions when we next dance.

But that was both a positive and negative thing. I became more convinced that the ability to improvise is promoted by mistakes. I learnt in some of the classes I took, but the majority of things I learnt came either from my own mistakes or those that my follows made (almost always, I will admit, due to my own ambiguous leading). I am a solid kind of guy, difficult to lead, but the more I danced with certain follows the more I found it easy to follow from the lead - for instance, feeling in a partnered Charleston that my follow had lingered more on the five-kick than even the note had, which inspired me during the next phrase to just freeze there an hold it for the next three beats.

Dancing the same steps over and over again is also - well, kind of boring. That's perhaps the wrong word. It's more like a sort of intense awareness that there are more ways to fit to the music, but it did remind me of being a beginning dancer and worrying that basics, tuck-turns, and change-of-places would not be enough to keep a follow happy for an entire dance. I tried things out - some of them did not work, some of them were disastrous, but I knew that with a whole week of dancing I would have plenty of chances to do them right. And my fears seemed to be groundless - even when a move tanked, I enjoyed the dance and so (as far as I could tell) did my follow.

Perhaps the oddest thing I discovered - almost insignificant on its own, was the in-bar call and response. A single step made by me on beat 2, that my partner echoed on beat 4. The most minimal of dancing, but we built up from there. I will have to mull that over for a long time, like all the other things I have learnt. If you get a chance to do something similar, my advice is to go for it.

She Goes:

(Pre-dance)
As I start this post it has been 8 days since my last dance, and I'm gagging for some swing! I've also severely limited the amount of swing music I listen to, no easy feat with my iPod!

I dance 3 time a week at least, and so to have this time away has been very difficult for me!

Obviously my reasons for having the time off will be impacting (read; not good) but I know my mental well-being has been affected by this lack of release. I purposely danced really hard last time as I was unsure when the next time would be.

My temper is shorter, and I feel kind of cluttered and distracted. Physically I feel like a big restless slug. Inactivity has made me lazy of body, mind, and all other factors aside, I'm more tired too.

However the thought of coming back to dancing has been keeping me strong! Present a starving man with a whole roast chicken and he will rip parts off with his hands, tear flesh off with his teeth. He will eat like a maniac, then calm down, have a swig of tea, and then consume the rest in a more sustainable manner. That's how I feel about getting back in there. I can't wait!

(Post dance)
I deliberately chose a low key night so I didn't do myself a mischief (and that one too because I'm friends with the teachers ;) )

I led in both classes and had a couple of dances afterwards, I was a little rusty but it felt good. It was good to face it with friends too in a safe space rather than the jungles of social dances! (That'll come tomorrow)

I didn't dance hard enough to get exhausted. But I felt the difference in my stamina levels- I got out of breath quicker but I suppose we were doing some faster things in the intermediates. We did some skip ups, suzy q's and then this tango move- it felt awesome! I can't wait for tomorrow when it'll be more classes and a live band. But I digress.

The serenity after a nice dance is very much present. I feel calm, like a noisy little corner of my mind has run out of things to say. Which may be why this part of the post is shorter!!

But to sum up. Provided you approach it sensibly and listen to your body (yes mum, ok!), I don't think there's any way too much dancing can be worse than none at all. So what are you waiting for?! Grab your plimsolls and get out there!!