Category Archives: General

WDA-Americas and DCA To Confer in Vancouver July 29-August 4

Posted on by
Reply

The WDA’s goal is to serve as a primary voice for dance and dancers throughout the world, and to encourage the exchange of ideas and the awareness of dance in all its many forms. The DCA members are professional practitioners of dance criticism, and the organization seeks to further the identity of dance criticism as a profession; to offer its members solidarity; and to provide the means for exchanging information and exploring fresh approaches to critical writing. The Americas unit of the World Dance Alliance and the US-based Dance Critics Association have integrated their conference programming. Although Wilddancer is most interested in social couples dancing, we are looking forward to getting a more complete idea of the whole range of dancing. It will be interesting to see how our cowboy duds fit in with leotards.

2013 Stanford Big Dance Allnighters

Posted on by
1

At least 125 enthusiastic dancers danced until 6 am at the 20th annual Stanford Big Dance May 10/11. Naturally Richard Powers had attended all 20 years, but the list also included folks who had been there 14 or 15 or 16 or 17 or 18 years, as well as numerous (and mysterious) Triple Crown and Gang of 13 attendees.

New Waltzing Book by Powers & Enge

Posted on by
1

Teaming up with Nick Enge, Stanford’s Richard Powers has extended his already wide-ranging coverage of new and old variations on the waltz to extol the benefits to one’s living style in “Waltzing: A Manual for Dancing and Living”. All ballroom dancers are familiar with the slow waltz, and more advanced ones with the fast Viennese waltz, but far fewer with the new cross-step waltz, and likely fewer with the older mazurka and hambo. And the truly adventuresome waltz geeks will want to try the five-step waltz and seven-step waltz, naturally in 5/4 time and 7/4 time respectively. Likewise, the authors have broadened the list the usual benefits of music, physical activity, and touch to include such aspects of living itself as social relationships, smiling/laughing, and giving. In keeping with the times, the publication of the book was crowd-funded. Sign up for a pre-publication copy ($20) here. Copies should be available in early June.

Retirees Burn Up Dance Floor in Florida

Posted on by
1

According to E. S. Browning in the April 16 edition of the Wall Street Journal, lots of folks in their 60’s and 70’s who have retired to Florida aren’t just playing golf or watching the ocean waves; they are jamming the South Florida bars and dancing. “Some are singles doing things they haven’t done since high school, this time without parental guidance.” To read the article please click on this link to the Wall Street Journal

Good Tempos for Exercising, Dancing

Posted on by
Reply

Quoting Costas Karageorghis, deputy head of research at the School of Sport and Education at London’s Brunel University, the April 2, 2013 Wall Street Journal says workout music between 125 and 140 beats per minute is best to boost stamina and motivation. Of the 17 couples dances that Wilddancer covers today, for which the standards federations or experienced teachers give tempo ranges, 7 of them are in this range, 6 are slower, and 4 are faster. Given our focus, we’d say that all 17 are fine for motivation because they are fun. Officially slower ones such as the (slow) waltz and the bolero are more romantic than fitness-producing, but samba, hustle, and polka are energetic … at least as measured by the sweating and shortness of breath they produce. And the faster ones–quick step, Viennese waltz, salsa/mambo, and country two-step generally use songs of shorter duration (except many salsas are long … maybe a measure of macho for male dancers).

Germans Protest Good Friday Dance Ban

Posted on by
1

Although the role of religion continues to diminish in Germany, strict rules against dancing on religious holidays are still in place. But according to the March 29, 2013 Wall Street Journal, these rules are increasingly being challenged. Traditionalists say that the dancers can dance 364 days a year, while reformers say “I’ll let you play, you let me dance”. We are betting on the reformers, though we doubt that there is much couples (touch) dancing of the sort this blog focuses on. But any dancing is better than none.

Politics, Other Trends Hurt Swing Dancing

Posted on by
Reply

The popularity of couples dancing rises and falls over time, affected by lots of causes and other trends, as chronicled by a Wall Street Journal article on March 18, 2013 and a subsequent letter to the editor on March 25. (East Coast) Swing music played by touring big bands such as Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman attracted a lot of dancers during the 1930’s and first half of the 1940’s, but it declined following the end of World War II, apparently a victim of several factors, including (1) the 1942-44 musicians’ union strike against the record companies, (2) the 1944 “cabaret tax” on venues that combined food, drink, and dancing, (3) wartime shortages of commodities that curtailed the amount of traveling that could be done by the bands, (4) loss of musicians to the military, (5) formation of BMI (Broadcast Music Inc.) that collected royalties from businesses who played music and distributed them to composers and publishers, enabling new forms of music such as R&B (rhythm and blues) and country to receive funding, combined with migration from the south of listeners and dancers who preferred this music over swing. This didn’t destroy couples dancing, but it changed the music that people listened to while dancing. For the most part Baby Boomers (born 1946-1963) grew up on rock & roll, and don’t identify closely with the older swing music. And in about 1963, it is said, the Twist destroyed touch dancing.

Stanford University: Hotbed of Dancing

Posted on by
Reply

Many universities have lots of dancing opportunities. It makes sense because college-age people recognize the possibilities for meeting the opposite sex … and for learning social graces that will help them the rest of their lives. And the diversity of interests among students, as well as the larger town + gown community, means there will be interest in performance dancing like ballet, modern, and tap. But Stanford goes beyond that, thanks to an active dance program that, for example, was a key reason why Chelsea Clinton chose Stanford over other US universities. And Richard Powers’ tireless efforts, particularly with a wide variety of waltzes, has continued to expand the popularity of dancing, to the extent that Stanford’s annual Viennese Ball attracted nearly 700 dancers in 2013.