Hitting the breaks and loving it!

[Mary]

(I would particularly like to thank Mrs Par, Miss Conduct and Zebra Woman for helping me to get through the haze last year )

So would I - it's always a pleasure for us followers whenever we dance with you.

M

[Trish]

I think I know what you mean , 3 years ago music was just somethng in the background of my life something I used to listen to as a teeenager. Top of th pops was now something for the youngsters to watch, whereas many others I know took an active part in listening to and accumulating music.

Then through starting to dance MJ there came a dawning moment when the haze lifted....

i was dancing MJ moves and MJ moves and MJ moves over and over again at classes and weekends.

I was in fear of forgetting the moves when going onto the dance floor or not having enough moves, but it was the moves that where in my head not the music!!!

then about a year ago at the first Southport (I know this topical but it just happened to be there for me) something happened ..... during the freestyle on the friday nightthere was a moment with a couple of dancers when I realised i was dancing TO the music and not to my preconcieved set of dance moves.

halleluja (sp?) I was flowing through moves into others without a concious thought of doing so......and........I began to find the odd break just "happening" for me! Almost sneaking up on me and shouting "BOO! I'm here!!"

That weekend really allowed me to practice this soooo sooo much that I suddenly actually believed in myself and realised I did have some ability to dance and was not a man with 2 left feet,(which was an honest held belief).

The breaks now come through thick and fast, as I believe I now usually dance to the music that I now hear much better.

I still get carried away and suddenly can hear a break approaching fast and really muck it up trying to chase round a move or 2 to get to the position I feel would suit the break in the music. but a lot of the times I find breaks well and can give up some time for my partner to have a play too.

(I would particularly like to thank Mrs Par, Miss Conduct and Zebra Woman for helping me to get through the haze last year )

Well I only hope I have as much musicality as you do some day. Maybe I need to go on more weekenders - although I don't usually lead as much on weekenders, as there's generally such a lovely choice of men to dance with. It's not just timing drops/stops whatever you're good at though, it's also hearing the subtle differences in the way the music moves and speeding up slowing down the tempo/interpreting the music by the moves you choose to exactly suit what the song is doing. I loved dancing with you last Camber - that's what I aspire to when leading!

[Graham W]

..to some people in the west a break is the drinks interval between beginners & intermediates...

and if it wasn't for Nigel,Nina et al I'd probably be of the same school of thought..

no offence to anyone...
G x

[mick]

I know its been mentioned countless times, but how much better are dances when you lead to let the woman improvise on certain breaks and she hits the beat perfectly!

People say it takes practice to hit those breaks but is that just because the more you practise the more you get to know the songs and so can hit the breaks/interpret them better?
What im trying to say is - once you learn basic invitations to the lady to interpret such as the half backhander thing what can you do to improve upon your ability to hit the breaks/improvise

U get me?

i read in one thread about being able to predict breaks by counting bars etc.

Can anyone elaborate?

What do you mean by "break"? An instrumental break?
Some songs don't have one; you couldn't know the song structure unless you knew the song, surely.

[Minnie M]

As a follower I don't have a problem hearing the breaks (any break music or instrumental) however, if I am leading can't hear the music breaks at all - hats off to you leads who do

[Trish]

What do you mean by "break"? An instrumental break?
Some songs don't have one; you couldn't know the song structure unless you knew the song, surely.

Reading this, and other threads I get the impression different people on this thread are talking about slightly different things. My first thought when "breaks" are mentioned is when the music stops dead for a beat or so and then carries on. Although as someone mentioned on another thread, sometimes the music stops, and then carries on in a different way for a while, and in this instance hold a girl in a seducer or whatever isn't gonna work, not unless you've got muscles like Arnie anyway - so I guess that's when you do something else like letting the girl improvise.

I personally would be happy to interpret any of these when leading. I can hear them, but I need to work on being able to do something relevant with them. Great when it happens though!

[mick]

Reading this, and other threads I get the impression different people on this thread are talking about slightly different things. My first thought when "breaks" are mentioned is when the music stops dead for a beat or so and then carries on. Although as someone mentioned on another thread, sometimes the music stops, and then carries on in a different way for a while, and in this instance hold a girl in a seducer or whatever isn't gonna work, not unless you've got muscles like Arnie anyway - so I guess that's when you do something else like letting the girl improvise.

I personally would be happy to interpret any of these when leading. I can hear them, but I need to work on being able to do something relevant with them. Great when it happens though!

I am no songwriter, but I understand a break or a bridge to be part of the song, different from the verse and chorus and may or may not be instrumental. I am sure some songwriters out there will be quick to correct me.

[Andy McGregor]

I am no songwriter,

But you know a good song when you hear it ...


..sorry, couldn't resist

[ChrisA]

As a follower I don't have a problem hearing the breaks (any break music or instrumental) however, if I am leading can't hear the music breaks at all - hats off to you leads who do

If my experience is anything to go by then I think for leads this is probably pretty normal.

I found that that learning to hear (and do something about) what was going on in the music came a long time after the mechanics of being able to lead even quite complex things.

Once all the rest of it is easy, there is the spare mental capacity to listen and act on what's happening in the music. But until then, musicality is hard.

In fact after then it's hard, too, cos there's always twenty times more in the music to do stuff with than it's possible to put into practice...

...I just wish I'd started earlier.

At least I can hit the break in Carlene Carter's "Every Little Thing" these days

[bigdjiver]

I am an amatuer songwriter, but my brain is usually too overloaded in freestyle to anticipate breaks. As I consider myself "best seen as a blur" I do tend to try and fill a break with an appropriate move or combination rather than freezing. I was brought up on Trad Jazz, where the band breaks, and someone fills it with a solo.