22. STRAW, STICKS, or BRICKS
Listen and Subscribe on: iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play
Welcome to Episode 22 of the Salsa Kings LIVE podcast!
Today, Andres wants to talk about Straw, sticks, or bricks, as in the three little pigs. In this context, Andres is talking about the foundations needed in dance to create a dependable dance routine. For many dancers, it is very easy to ignore the steps and work required to build that solid foundation.
The foundation Andres is talking about is ballet. Ballet gives dancers a ‘left-brain’ understanding of the fundamentals of dancing and its forms. Someone who goes back to ballet is always going to have an advantage. It isn’t the only factor and dance can often be simple. However, if you want to learn and explore and bring your dancing to another level, then ballet is where you want to go.
Ballet is the study of one’s body and its movement and its connection to the music. It’s about learning how you can use motion to communicate that dance. If you want to become a next-level dancer, then you need to learn ballet, to minimize the inexactitude or sloppiness in your own personal dance.
It’s not needed to become a social dancer, nor is it required for female dancers to enter ballet if they do not wish to. Ballet isn’t just a ‘girl’ thing. It’s something everyone should study. It’s a level of training to understand the form and function and dance, and if you understand that, being a skilled and communicative dancer will be much easier. Everyone should have an appreciation for dance. This is a training to understand human capabilities and the math involved instinctually.
This isn’t to discount passion or intent, but by using both your passion and your dance knowledge, you can make an unmatched dance. Both sides are needed to complete the whole. There are many who try to cut corners when trying to become dancer and it inevitably shows.
While many who get this kind of training start out young, as time is a factor and those hours of practicing the basics lead to mastery that much quicker. This does not mean older dancers cannot study these however.
This may not be the path that every dancer wants to take in their journey. However, those who want to pursue true excellence in your dancing then you need to understand the foundation and standards of dance, then you need to understand and respect dance.
“Ultimately, if we want to raise the bar, if we want to have the public, understand and respect what it is that we’re doing as a latin dance community, that one of the main reasons why ‘dancers’ and when I say ‘dancers’ I mean of the classical realm, the reason they have less respect for the latin realm is that the latin dance community feels that it is not necessary for this kind of training to take place to express themselves fully.”