SPONTANEITY IN THE WEST COAST SWING DANCE
Wednesday, November 30th, 2011Last night a woman asked me, in a salsa lessons San Diego class, how to know if she should do a triple or double rhythm on any particular movement. She was frustrated thinking she would have to memorize every possible pattern in order to know what rhythm she should use or that maybe there was some magic involved in deciphering the rhythms. I told her how she could chose any rhythm she wanted and adjust her footwork when coming in for a pattern to foot she wanted by adding or subtracting one weighted movement. Also, I demonstrated how she could split beats to add an &, in order to switch which foot she wanted to start or end a movement. This reduces the stress for the following in social dancing to counting every beat while dancing to just enjoying the dance and changing the footwork as needed. The spontaneity in the West Coast swing dance makes it an extraordinary dance genre.