How many philosophers say that to achieve the Nirvana you have to love the ride… or something like that.
So that is the philosophy I adopt on a daily basis, especially when I’m dancing. More than once I heard from a dance partner:
– It’s great to dance with someone that smiles!
Yes, I know, most of the time I just look foolish. But honestly, who cares! Each dance is so much fun I can’t help myself: I end up grinning like an idiot.
After more than a month without dancing due to a fractured arm I started dancing again; while he was moving and swirling me in his arms I said from the bottom of my heart:
– Gosh! How good is to be back dancing!
– Just dancing, not dancing WITH ME? He questioned.
I think I disappointed him, but what can you say when your soul spills up what you are really feeling… Maybe I should have lied, but I just made that fish-face (opening and closing the mouth then smiled a bit more) Funny!
I’ve seen a few dancers from all styles forget about this basic principle: dancing is all about fun. Bachata even more…
It happens a lot that people that get too good at dancing start worrying more about the moves, the arms, patterns, how do they look, how to make the partner look good, who is watching, who is dancing next to them, what are they doing, who is that other girl dancing with, what is that person wearing, what they are going to drink next, who are they going to dance next with, to move a bit to that side so they are ready for the next dance… and they totally forget about what they were doing…
It is awful, by the time the music is finished you just lost a few minutes of your life on mind rumbling with no fun at all!
The best dancers for me are the ones that smile at you or show you somehow that they are really keen to be there, that they are on the present, that they are feeling what they are doing, and I love when they look at me now and then just to get a bit of eye contact.
Or course, it is weird when it gets too much, or when they are looking at your nose. It is very hard to keep a straight face and not burst out laughing, but otherwise it’s all good.
Bachata, being a very sensual dance not prone to many acrobatics, and with closer partner connection that salsa, is more susceptible to the dancer’s mood. The good bachateros, the ones you admire dancing, are the ones that bring their moves from their core: feeling each hip sway. Juan Ruiz, Samantha, Tony Lara, Daniela, Moro, Alegria, Nestor, Lidia, are great examples for me, they transpire in every pore.
I love this bachata thing! Give me more!
Written by – ‘Louca por Bachata’ Tania Crivellenti. Tania’s blog: The dancing bug. You can find Tania at various latin venues, LDA and facebook!