Aaron,
I wish you had spoken up at practice tonight, because I would have
suggested that instead of standing around frustrated, you could have:
danced Hustle to music for Cha cha and vice versa,
danced Hustle to music for Merengue and vice versa,
danced Salsa to music for Samba and vice versa,
danced East Coast Swing to music for Quickstep and vice versa,
danced West Coast Swing to music for Foxtrot and vice versa,
danced West Coast Swing to music for Hustle,
(and West Coast Swing is a lot of fun to dance to Tango music... :-)
Also, you could have:
practiced new or difficult East Coast Swing steps to the slower tempo
West Coast Swing music,
practiced new or difficult Salsa steps to the slower tempo Rumba or
Nightclub Two-Step music.
There is even a third option. While at first it may sound silly to dance
without music, if you're like me and most dancers you'll find that your
best practices don't incorporate music at all. Grab a spot in front of a
mirror and practice spins, or cuban motion, or rise and fall, or swing and
sway, or crisp, balanced weight changes, or arm styling, or latin walks, or
body isolations/ripples/waves, or precise footwork, or lead/follow
exercises with a partner, etc, etc. If you are having a problem, use that
time to ask questions of all the experienced club members present, so you
can fix it.
Finally, if all else fails, just ignore whatever is playing and count out
loud for yourself and your partner. I do it all the time when I go to
practice and spend an hour working on one particular dance.
>In addition, I'm sure a number of us would also appreciate it if someone
>would announce what dance is currently on.
>
> Aaron Levinson
Great idea. Our old social chairperson Derek used to announce this at
social dances. It's just a thought but maybe someone (Aaron, if he wants
to help out?) could dub dance names (and the alternatives above?) onto the
blanks between songs on the practice music tapes?
Mark