Country Western Dancing

11-10-2000, 01:44 PM

<dancergirl3>

Why does the Ballroom World look down there noses to the Country Western World? Country Western brings a lot of things to the world of dancing. Just a question to ponder because I dance country and ballroom and get a very degrading attitude from people in ballroom, even from people that can't dance ballroom very good at all. They of all people shouldn't have a comment. I respect both and wish that ballroom people would give two step a try. Also no one in ballroom can swing like real swing competitors. To watch real swing people like Kyle Redd and Sarah Van Drake is amazing. Thats all.

11-18-2000, 12:06 AM

wade

I've always wondered about this too. I think it comes down to egos. Country dancers suffer from this too. Case in point is the rift between the two event sanctioning organizations, UCWDC and CWDI. Also the division between line and couples dancing. I've also heard a lot of country dancers say they 'don't want to learn no stinkin' ballroom', when they really could improve their techniques by learning from the ballroom world.

I know that a lot of the social country dancers do not dance at the level of a lot of the good ballroom/swing dancers, but I think collaboration is better for the dance world than the us/them attitude.

I think the ballroom world could improve a lot by becoming more populist in nature. Right now, it seems exclusionary, if only on economic grounds (expensive to learn).

So, I guess in the end, it comes down to human nature. Too bad.

12-27-2000, 10:08 PM

Bob B

IMO its less now than it was years ago. Country has become more accepted- Initially, it was looked down on because the technique was less rigid-Less concentrated on form than function. However and importantly- People LIKE to dance FOR FUN- Thats the idea. Also, no partner is needed for the line dancing but the social application is there- it opens a door. The ballroom world accepts country much more these days and many ballroom studios offer country nights. The money is green, the people are nice, and thats the bottom line.

12-28-2000, 07:37 PM

twnkltoz

quote:
Originally posted by dancergirl3:
Why does the Ballroom World look down there noses to the Country Western World? Country Western brings a lot of things to the world of dancing. Just a question to ponder because I dance country and ballroom and get a very degrading attitude from people in ballroom, even from people that can't dance ballroom very good at all. They of all people shouldn't have a comment. I respect both and wish that ballroom people would give two step a try. Also no one in ballroom can swing like real swing competitors. To watch real swing people like Kyle Redd and Sarah Van Drake is amazing. Thats all.

The same can be said for swing and ballroom dancers...my bf is a swing dancer (west coast), and just about his whole club is under the impression that ballroom dancers don't know how to dance because our discipline is based more on how dancers look than how well they follow.

Jennifer

12-28-2000, 08:15 PM

Bob B

Is that so Jennifer. Your boyfriend and his WCS buds IMO have too many cutsie posed moves themselves.
Ive hit many WCS events. I dig dancing hustle with WCS ladies- man can they swivel

..I tend to feel some International style dancing can be too rigid.However, they are working to acheive the perfect flow. The American style Ballroom is great. Your boyfriend should open his world up. Country couple dancing in a circle is fun stuff too. Part of the fun is the camraderie of the group trying to help each other out. My personal fav is the Summertime Cha cha ..

12-30-2000, 12:39 AM

twnkltoz

quote:
Originally posted by Bob B:
Your boyfriend should open his world up.

Actually, he's told me that he's willing to learn ballroom so we can compete (at least a little) together...i taught him some rumba, and we'll do some more soon. he's open-minded for a swing dancer!

Jennifer

12-29-2000, 01:54 PM

Bob B

I was not aware that Swingdancers as a norm were closeminded. WCS is a newer dance. It seems to me to draw from lots of other dances. I find it an o k dance. It just seems that it can get cutsie. everybody stop-everybody wiggle- u pass by and i look and swivel Zzzzzzzzzzz.

. I like WCS in small doses. And as I said before , the women who learn to dance Hustle coming off an ECS or WCS background really rock the house. .ECS is great,in and of itself. The only problem is that its limited to one style of music, which can get boring.
The country clubs "in these here parts" tend to hav a nice mix of WCS Cha cha ECS Salsa and Hustle in between the most common mixes that always favor 2 step and Country Waltz.The best DJs are the guys that can find tunes that 2 styles can be danced to. Lately I find the new "funky" WCS tunes are interchangeable with Hustle, and the old style is interchangeable with ECS.Some Cha Cha can go in there too. I havn't been to Ca in about 4 years- What is the mix ratio there at Country clubs on open dance nites? Anybody?

[This message has been edited by Bob B (edited 12-29-2000).]