Thread: Bounce to the beat?

Does anyone else have this problem? I started dancing not quite 2 years ago and I find that when I really like the music, I inadvertently start bouncing to the beat with other parts of my body. This is evidently fine for solo work, but not for troupe work. I think it's because I've done Jazzercise for the last 20 years and it's very common to say bounce to the beat so that your whole body is involved.

Any tips for me would be appreciated!

Edna

I don't think I have the problem (maybe someone else will chime in here on this). I find that I have two somewhat similar problems when doing troupe work with my current group:

1) What my hands do when I'm not actively thinking about keeping them relatively still (aka in sinc with choreography) as they have a long ingrained "mind of their own" on what they do with certain movements.

2) What my head does can also be a problem, having been solo for so many years between my last troupe (late 1980's to very early 1990's) and this one (geez, over a 10 year hiatus of not being in a viable dance troupe - eek).

Trying to not the the odd dancer out in a troupe of five certainly takes a little work on my part (as in working at breaking myself of my unconscious habits). ..g.:

my instructor asks the bouncy people (you are not alone!) to watch the tops of their heads in the mirror when practicing. if you reference something in the background with the top of your head, you should see if you're bouncing a lot. good luck!

*bounces away tigger-style*

Bouncing is *not* "fine as a soloist". It depends entirely on the kind of style you're doing and the effect you want to achieve. Controlling bounce is important whether you're dancing alone or with others. Just thought I'd point that out.

Ways to control bounce: watch the head, as emtink says. Also consider what is happening with your legs. If you use your supporting leg to drive the movement in a hip drop or thrust you will be able to keep your head still more easily. Engaging abs seems to help sometimes. And just try and consciously pull your energy down into the heaviest bit of your hips, while extending your spine up, if that makes sense. Think gravitas.

Originally Posted by zumarrad

Bouncing is *not* "fine as a soloist". It depends entirely on the kind of style you're doing and the effect you want to achieve. Controlling bounce is important whether you're dancing alone or with others.

This is the reason I don't allow "bouncing" at my beginner level classes; we all have to learn to control all our body parts from very early on and maintaining a smooth, ice-skater-like quality -- especially when travelling -- is one way I choose to do that as a teacher.

That said, I also tell my students that they will learn how to bounce and when to bounce once they know how not to bounce! I usually get a little laugh when I give them that tidbit of information at their very first dance lesson. ..g.:

Deborah

Thanks for the information, ladies! I like the thought of ice-skater like quality and will try to remember that when practicing and rehearsing. Zumarad's suggestion to think about pulling my energy down to my hips is one to try too! I do have to consciously pay attention to this and remember what class I'm in!

This is really important because my troupe will be performing on Nov 1st and 2nd at the RenFaire and I'm in the front row. I need to blend in!

Edna

Originally Posted by SirenoftheSun

Thanks for the information, ladies! I like the thought of ice-skater like quality and will try to remember that when practicing and rehearsing. Zumarad's suggestion to think about pulling my energy down to my hips is one to try too! I do have to consciously pay attention to this and remember what class I'm in!

This is really important because my troupe will be performing on Nov 1st and 2nd at the RenFaire and I'm in the front row. I need to blend in!

Edna

Good luck and have fun!

Deborah