"If it was easy it wouldn't be Fun!"
-Tzoul
"How is Partner Dancing going to improve the quality of my Life?" Sure you have experienced a situation where you listened really well and were then able to masterfully address the situation. That's one way. Tzoul's view of this breaks down into five paths:
Confidence - How often has confidence been the defining element that you needed in achieving your goals.
Community - As we get older we realize what's really important in life.
Respect - Partner dancing teaches us how to ask, expect, and give this most important of skills.
Elegance - Be sexy while you address both sides of a situation using less to create more.
Communication - Partner Dancing is a safe place to exercise your communication muscle. Using your body to practice communication prepares us for real life events where proper communication could make or break our sucess.
Partner Dancing is a Microcosm to our lives. Every aspect of how we interact with all things physical and emotional is seen in very fine detail when we are dancing with someone. Developing our sensitivity through Touch enhances our relationship to the physical world. Practicing compassion and confidence gives us the ability to have the right attitude at the right time. Let's get both sides of our brain talking to one another - we can be balanced in our hemispheres, not biased toward one side or the other. Become ambidextrous in the way you interact with each situation. You can duck left or weave right, you can lean in or settle back, you can talk or listen. Asking someone to dance is like inviting what's outside of you to talk to what's inside you. Sharing a beat with someone is like accepting a role on a team. Let's Dance.
Why Partner dancing
Partner dance from the street dance perspective in contrast to Ballroom came organically out of culture. These dances came out of communities that didn’t purchase entertainment they created their own. As in the case with, at least, Salsa and Swing there is an exchange between the dancers and musicians so the music and dance evolved together. I want every dancer, solo or collaborative, to feel like members of the band. Each dance style is unique for its rhythm. Rhythm is the foundation of communication when making a collaborative effort. Obviously touch and physical connection are key to communicating within a lead-follow dynamic, however I teach that this is the most natural part and slowest evolving skill in partner dancing. One of the funnest parts of my job is sharing the value of role playing in the dance. The lead-follow dynamic has a tendency to scare away “woke persons” because many people that work hard to progress society view this dynamic as unhealthy binary social programing. I take great joy in showing people that communication is most effective when there is a habitation of giving and receiving rolls. Because the body doesn’t lie and these dances came organically out of culture then it should be assumed that there is inherently something valuable in taking on a roll within a partnership. Being roll fluid is the fastest way to become a great dancer. Besides the incredible benefits of community building, partner dance also has a holistic effect on our person. Stimulates emotional well-being by helping us develop relationship skills, awareness of our relationship with our: thoughts, perceptions, addictions, social conditioning, creativity, self confidence, love, lust, compassion, patience, etc…. Mental well-being is shown by science to be a side effect of partner dance, this is easy to understand why. Doing multiple things at a time creates cross firing between the hemispheres, that’s sure to promote hormonal stability, memory, problem solving, and longevity. Being physical active, partner dance enhances our: blood circulation, lymph movement, flexibility, strength, balance, coordination, hearing, sight, tactile senses, and posture. But probably the most profound skill we gain as a result of regular partner dancing is the capacity to listen. This is how we plan to save the world. If we can teach people to listen to each other then listening to the earth should come naturally.
Connect:
weare1drum@yahoo.com