Dance Talk Diary

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Was cha-cha music put on the video afterwards? If so - you're off.... I can't imagine that all couples don't hear the music and dance off beat...  No, i did not mean New Yorks on 1. Couples seem to be a bit late, it is very slight, on every syncopation, accent. it looks like they finish their action on the first quarter of the next beat... for example, instead of accenting 1 in 4&1&, they finish their action on the last &, so i thought that the maker of the video put a clearer record of the song, afterwards, to make the video higher quality.... But it is only him, who should answer that question.

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You could also try intermediate Ballet level - beginner might be too easy as far as the amount of exercise (for a dancer like yourself). If the next day you feel like all your muscles are "cooked" - this is the right feeling and the right level))

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I don't like the new order of dances, it seems very illogical and takes away from artistic value of each dance individually.... Please, stop making Rumba the first dance!!! This dance is too deep to start off with, the dancers need to "ease into it" psychologically and physically. The way they look now - as if they struggle to dance it, as if they are forced to exercise to the music!! very tense, just barely doing required steps. a person jogging in the morning looks more efficient...

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hm..they are adults.. Wanna see more meaning in their dance, not only effort.. They have showy pieces of choreography, with supposedly variable types of movement required, but they just do everything one way: force it, push it, harder... like little kids when they want to win the comp.. Besides, it makes the girl look uncoordinated, all the "impact" - she looses control because she throws her weight around on every single move..


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WDF trying to sit between 2 chairs! Hopefully when dust settles things are gonna start to look better.. Ballroom as a sport - possible and fair... The new judging system is ridiculously weak at analyzing details of technical performance UNLIKE other sports, and that's a letdown.. So the "sportsmen" instead of trying to understand what to tense up and what to relax in order to be more efficient, just tense up everything and start looking... hm... beginner-ish?...

P.S.: I think, sadly, the situation is gonna stay the same for a very long while! unless the WDF gathers the most prominent living coaches and forces them to give up ALL the fortune-worth secret "HOW TO" treasures, with a purpose to make a brand new, amazing book available for "every dog" to read on-line, under a title of "Compete Set of Rules of Technical Execution of the Dancesport Elements/steps/figures" ... THIS is a biggest letdown of all, you know.....


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-He is good, but she she looks like she struggles - it means that his partnering skills are so-so...   

 ...Right. he is a much more advanced dancer then she is, but c'mon, he picked her, didn't he.. he does not "dance a woman", he abandons to her own devices ; - unflattering for her..

...Your sarcasm is quite fitting. Isn't commonly used push-and pull method obsolete 15- 20yrs? have to disagree with you on Nino's leading being great based on him not using old technique - who does. there's current technique, and there's different levels of efficiency in it. some things are not quite there for Nino yet - nothing to do with his talent, I'd blame the coaches or his personal strategy of learning.. I do like Martino's work - fine couple they are, indeed!

...Lazy bastards! I would not confuse unwillingness with inability. I see them all try, but as I said - there are different degrees of efficiency.... I don't like push and pull; but guess it's hard for some.. they had been learning it, say from 6 to 16 years of age then - gotcha! New style!

...A pleasure to have a discussion with you. I see the point you are making, but neither I see it disprove my view, nor I dare challenge yours - cause the scale of our analysis differs. I imply detail which is a drag to go into, and you speak of general quality where I agree with you. But I insist that it's not all black and white - its more esoteric shades that make a woman look good on the floor and for those two the magic hasn't happened yet -his energy doesn't penetrate her.

..."abandon" - as i look at this word, i see that it can be understood literally (like sometimes it happens on the dancefloor). i did not mean to call him a silly peacock, purposely dancing with himself. I meant something, that happens unintentionally. your phrase "His energy doesn't project to her and from her outwards" is great, it describes exactly what i saw happening, thank you. P.S.: Nice of you to speak kindly of my knowledge. It's a pleasure to have you share some of yours!


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"She should pair up with someone else." - I might agree - somebody leading her well, for her to do some nice body action,or hip action... Some girls just can't dance "on their own" very comfortably, they need a skillful "leader", she may be one of them ...

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Confusing Ballroom with Standard.Latin dances,developed in Europe & performed on a Ballroom Floor are called Ballroom;their choreography,partnering,technique follow Ballroom rules. "Latin Dances" are different, more authentic and have multi-million army of fans, dominating in Latin America."World Salsa Congress" is beautiful example,it includes" a different "cha-cha-cha dance.Brazilian carnival is another one - don't compare Samba and Ballroom Samba;etc.The title is correct- it's BALLROOM Cha-Cha.


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-You are missing a bit of technical info. There's 2 parts: "lock" & "step". When you "lock" you bend your knees. When you "step" you straighten your knees in order to walk forward.

...I see what you mean. well, more of straight legs always makes a better picture, a preferable "line",but, as you said there's different styles(I do remember Sirpa's lock-steps-they do accent the straight legs and are very "staccato",opposed to Bryan's smooth, body action - oriented approach).Also, if you weren't born with overextended knees you'd look like you dance on bent knees, no matter how hard you lock the joint. Sounds, like you've had nice results; what level?


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 Well, actually the "bounce" she presented as International Samba technique - is quite imperfect. On a competition for adult, "seasoned" dancers this would result in low to no scores. However, the technical flaws might not matter to a person who just enjoys being engaged in some activity without a purpose to become a competitive dancer - but again - why go learn competitive ballroom - social would do fine. The lady seems nice and seems to enjoy herself teaching

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"Nice idea, but the build of "latin" legs does not make ballet look good .... Thinking that maybe Yuliya  with her "ballet trained" legs could pull this number off.."


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"Incomparable. Dancers are superior. Athletes perfect a technique of a simple, invariable movement, while dancers perfect a wide variety of movements each requiring multiple techniques for proper execution which physically is more demanding. Not to mention intellectual and physical control dancers have to exercise - their task is not only to execute that million of moves technically correctly, but also to make it look a certain way - where athletes go purely for the fact of execution. And music gives dancers a "third degree of superiority" over athletes..."

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"Gymnasts in the past tried to dance and some of those attempts were spectacular.

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"energetic +"crowd-pleasing" choreo. It's interesting: not every couple goes for "theatrical effects" - a lot go for the internal connection in the partnership or for proper personal technique - but its the simple audience-oriented moves that always "pop" on the floor..."

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"oh...once before i personally knew a couple who stopped their amateur career, saying that there's no way for them to advance further then they did, because everything is bought and sold, pre-arranged, and a waiting list for a "final" place is years long... sad... but, i guess, you can face those challenges in other professional fields like say, trying to climb a career ladder in some big-name business corporation... human nature..."

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"He contradicts himself. If you love Dancing you should love it even in your grandma's village, dancing on the dirt barefoot with only little kids watching you.. The movement and music, and the feeling in your heart are inspiration themselves! Inspiration is born within you.. If you need your ambition to be satisfied, expect to see people adoring your achievements, agreeing to your demands or wishes, otherwise you quit - let's be honest - it's just pure pride. therefore, its power matters that you are after.. Purely like in "corporate ladder".. So it is something else that put his inspiration aside, and it is within him, nobody else to blame... I join your good wishes to him ; )"


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 - I have a broad professional teaching experience, in the field of dance and beyond it. I call it "professional teaching" because there is a difference between "professional dancer" and "professional teacher". A great professional dancer has nothing to do with professional teaching.  Happy to address the issue of dishonest,fraud-like lesson strategies used either to cover lack of education or to extort money.

... "Happen to be good" lacks depth, in a way the phrase defies itself. You can not "happen to be" Einstein, but you may have talent for it, you can not "happen to be" an Olympic champion, but you might have potential for it. Professionalism can't just "happen". And stuff that is not in the book, should be in the book by the way, this way there will be truly gifted professional teachers who help learn, instead of shallow merchants who re-sell the secrets they've bought, to the highest bidder.

...I used Einstein, to counter your idea, that you can just "happen" to be a professional without having education in the field of your choice. Again: u can not call yourself a professional if you have no education in that field. Einstein HAD professional education! But according to you, even if he was born in a remote fisherman village and did a lot of accounting at the fish market all his life, he'd still "happen to" invent the bomb.

..."Einstein happened to be Einstein" ..extremely shallow! Einstein did not happen to be a professional!!! He had great education to which he devoted a big part of his life!!! Even when adored by others, he always commented that he achieved such heights only because he "stood on the shoulders of the giants", giants who “worked their balls off” as you say, but, unlike you, gave everything to everybody, without expecting anything in return.True pros. No Einsteins in dancing will there be with your approach. just merchants.

...Your intelligence & manners are superior, Geo.  I felt,  like I had to intervene in your dialog because it seemed a great opportunity to search for the"truth" by sharing my own observation of "teaching fraud" in ballroom. I learned 2 views: CG, who insisted that teaching comes naturally & knowledge should be kept secret when making money in a highly competitive field, and Geo who claimed that a position of a teacher is more art & science, then business and requires morality and education.