Quote:
Originally posted by JamesGeary
then do private lessons on your ceroc with a good ballroom teacher, who will probably be as good for removing bad habits, and improving posture as anyone else. Actually better, if they are top-notch standard. |
This is not always better. Although a good ballroom teacher will be far better trained than any Ceroc teacher, and will know far more about ballroom dancing that and Ceroc teacher knows about Ceroc, there are still differences.
The timing is different, so the emphasis on the beats is different. Some of the body action (eg Rumba walks) you might want, some (ie Ballroom Jive) you should avoid. Most of the ideas on leading are similar - the differences are in the timing. Many of the presentation ideas are good, but you have to be careful you don't make a street dance look too clinical or artificial. And no-one is better at making your footwork look good.
But the biggest difference is musical interpretation. They do it completely different in Ballroom, and especially Latin American. They generally have one fixed style for each dance, but do not spend any time learning how to interpret individual songs.
Private lessons with good ballroom teachers are still worth doing - as long as you know what is relevant to Modern Jive. Also many of the best Modern Jive dancers (esp ladies) have a background in ballroom and latin.
David