I think one of the interesting principles of dance is that: You don't have it down until it looks effortless.
Kyra Gaunt talks about this a bit in her introduction toThe Games Black Girls Play, which is an interesting look at the history of African-American women's contributions to music and dance. So, the poly-rhythms that we start learning as children in game settings - how fast can you rhythmically hand clap? - become useful later on in relating music history and social interaction.
Until doing the sequences of double dutch (a particular skill I never mastered) or drumming and dancing simultaneously, appear as though it were effortless, you can't consider the skill mastered. Because studying these rhythms were part of 'play,' outside people consider them to be innate. I spent hours on the playground with Miss Mary Mack, and Down Down Baby, and can play them still with women in previous generations. It belies all of the time and energy I expended into learning and practicing these rhythmic configurations during recess.
In an effort to separate themselves from other dances that have strict competitions and standings, I think that the Lindy Hop community has over-emphasized the idea that anyone can just 'pick this up'. It's not true, for one, and the skills that we use as adults were practiced as children. I can learn how to dance salsa or tango much easier because of my childhood training in ballet and lyrical. And while dance is inherently social, whether you dance solo, in a group or with a partner, it is also one of the earliest forms of storytelling and communication.When I dance, I tell a story with my movements and my body.
The appearance of effortlessness is deceiving, because it does
not account for all of the study, training and practice. I have a friend
who won the novice ballroom championship this year. People attribute
his win to innate talent, which does not account for the weeks that he
spent more time analyzing, practicing and training in dance than at his full time job. I can appreciate that. I think it is a false narrative that artistic talent is innate only. It's both innate and the result of skills honed.
When I perform or hit the social floor, you only see the result of study
and training, not the time and energy I invested into it. Which is as it should be. I don't want others to watch me learn, I want to work out what I learned. But the learning takes time. I took a private lesson from Dexter back in March, and took notes on the different things that we worked on and ways to improve. Only now in June am I starting to really hone into what he was telling me. It's not that he didn't tell me these things or that I'm an especially slow student; it just took time to translate what he was telling me to how I was moving, and then practice the skill in the correct way.
So, this weekend, I'm excited to test out all these skills on dancers from all over the world. Huzzah!
