Dance around the world

....but it's well ahead of whatever is in second place. 

There is so much happening for people with a passion for dance in New Zealand at the moment. 

Dancing with the Stars and Plunket
Last night a glittering fundraising evening for Plunket http://www.plunket.org.nz/ organised by http://www.internationalevents.co.nz/ featured celebrities and professional dancers involved with 'Dancing with the Stars'.  Although I couldn't be there, I was delighted that International Events allowed me to provide flyers promoting Dance Tours to each of the 350 guests.   If you are reading this after being at the evening last night, why not let the rest of us know how it was for you?  Why not share the fun you had and make a comment at the end of this blog. 

Tempo
Also last night, the two week dance programme organised by Mary-Jane Reilly http://www.tempo.co.nz/ was launched at the Auckland Town Hall with Robert Hylton's Urban Classicism.  There is a huge range of dance events to suit everyone who is passionate or even just mildly interested in dance.  Watch out, as mild interest is only a quick-quick step away from passion.

Salsa
Tempo will also include the NZ 14th Annual Salsa Latin dance competition on 14th October at Auckland Town Hall presented by QuePasa Entertainment and Kantuta http://www.kantuta.co.nz/html/2006_latindance_comp.html  If this year's is anything like the last two years that I have attended it will be one hot night. 

Salsa Fever Festival
The Hispanic Club http://www.hispanicclub.co.nz/events/salsa_fever_2006.htm will keep you dancing 'til you drop on the same weekend of 14-15 October.  The photo on this site features yours truly in the dark yellow shirt.  If you could see my smile, you would see it is even bigger than the smile on the face of the salsera I was dancng with at the time.   

Aerolineas Argentinas International Tango Congress of New Zealand 2006
As if this is not enough dancing for any normal person, the wonderful and passionate Cecile Bale http://www.tangoenz.co.nz/intro.html is organising this event over Labour Weekend 21-23 October.

Are you normal?
If I may interrupt myself here for a moment, if you are worried that you are normal, you are not alone and help is at hand with that classic British sense of humour 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eH4HeZrg48&mode=related&search=
.....but back to the dancing... 

Swing
If swing is more your style, on Labour Weekend Michelle and Shane http://jitterbugs.co.nz have a great long weekend planned too.

www.dancetours.co.nz will feature links to all sorts of dance events but Kay at www.wheretodance.co.nz has a very comprehensive list of what is going on too.

This enough to keep you going for a while?

Chris
www.dancetours.co.nz

If marketers can have their 4Ps http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing#Four_Ps_.28marketing_mix.29 dancers can have four more interesting ones.  

The incredible performance of dancers in Burn the Floor www.burnthefloor.com in Auckland recently bears little relationship to my own participation in our mutual passion.  Sure the dances have the same names: waltz, foxtrot, salsa, samba but what a difference there is between what they do on stage and what we observe and enjoy in our local dance venues.  One uniting commonality for performers and social dancers is the need to practice. 

And where do competitive dancers fit into this continuum?  Kenneth Howard from Georgia, USA comments on dance philosophy and the exhibition, competition and social approaches that he identifies http://www.dfwdance.com/Finding%20a%20Good%20Dance%20School.htm  Stick with him.  The first few paragraphs I found a bit heavy and bordering on pretentious, but it made more sense to me by the end.  Does that reveal more about him or me?  The net result for me was feeling pretty good about the challenges of social dancing, but maybe there's a bit of rationalisaion going on here. 

Progressing to intermediate level salsa and stepping up from social ballroom classes to enrol in bronze level was nothing to do with competition.  It was merely to get a little more competent at a social level.  But why have I now decided to step up to silver level?   

This morning's plan was to go for a long walk and come back and comment on 4 Ps of dancing: Passion, Participation Performance and Practice, especially as earlier in the week I had seen the full-on, energetic performance of  www.burnthefloor.com at the Aotea Centre http://www.the-edge.co.nz/ in Auckland.  I was wondering if there is any link at all between the passion they showed in their performance of ballroom and salsa with the way that most of us participate in our passion which seems pedestrian in comparison.

But the walk prompted contemplation on a very different matter.  This has been a terrible week for a number of New Zealanders and Australians in particular as two very well known identities, Steve Irwin http://www.crocodilehunter.com/# and Peter Brock http://peterbrock.com.au/ have died tragically, while indulging in their passion. 

On this morning's walk, there were no roses to smell at this time of the year, but there were plenty of other things to observe and absorb....    Herons and pukekos, dogs taking their people for a Saturday morning walk, mangroves and the hidden life they support within their shelter..... 

The death of people whom we either know or feel connected to highlights an appreciation of life and reminds me not to take this tenuous thread for granted.  I thought also of the people who attended the Burn The Floor performance, who needed physical help to get in to see the show.  I surmised that some of these, usually older people, may have been dancers in an earlier time and are now no longer able to fully participate.  But more on that another time.... 

Dancing can surely not be as dangerous as dealing with wild animals or racing cars.  But wait.  A Google search www.google.com with the exact phrase 'death while dancing' produced over 300 links, not all relevant, but demonstrating that it can happen and has happened.  But how would someone who dies and goes to heaven while dancing know?  Surely there wouldn't be any difference as they were in heaven already. 

So until that day comes, I go along with Friedrich Nietzsche who I have quoted here www.dancetours.co.nz 'Every day I count wasted in which there has been no dancing'   He also famously said 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger'.  There are a lot of Nietzsche's sayings here http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/f/friedrich_nietzsche.html  listed in alphabetical order. 

So that's enough soulbaring for today.  Death while dancing would be pretty tough on your partner and others left behind but if there was a choice, it would be a beautiful way to go.  Would Steve or Peter have had theirs any other way?

How can any other passion or recreational activity compare with partner dancing, whether it be hot, energetic salsa or the more traditional ballroom?

Social:  If you are at a dance venue it is easy for a dancer to ask another for a dance.  It's safe for the female who knows that she is in a safe environment.   Aria Nosratinia has some great guidance on dancing etiquette here http://www.utdallas.edu/~aria/dance/etiquette.html with some very helpful comments on that dance/romance boundary. 

Sensual:  Every dance partner is beautiful, regardless of age, size or skill level.  I genuinely enjoy dancing with women who are as old as my mother, as well as those who are a lot younger.  When it's all about the dance, age doesn't matter and some of the older women who danced in their youth have still not lost it.  I also enjoy the challenge of dancing with someone who has just basic skills.  The challenge for me is to establish that connection which involves taking my partner to, but not beyond her level of skill so that we both end up with an enjoyable experience.  It is immediately apparent when I am dancing with someone who is more skilled than me, as she establishes that connection immediately which prompts me to try to give her the opportunity to dance at her best. 

Chris Mitchell