Dancing Terms

Dancing is composed of Positions, Steps, Sinkings, Risings, Springings, Capers, Fallings, Slidings, Turnings of the Body, Cadence or Time, Figures, &c.

Positions, are the different Placings of the Feet in Dancing.

Steps, are the Motions of the Feet from one place to another.

Sinkings, are the Bendings of the Knees.

Risings, are when we rise from a Sink, or erect our selves.

Springing, is a rising or leaping from the Ground.

Capers, are when in rising or leaping from the Ground, one Leg beats against the other, which we call Cutting.

Fallings, are when the Body, being out of its proper Poise, falls by its own Weight.

Slidings, are when, in moving, the Foot slides on the Ground.

Turnings, are when the Body turns either one way or the other.

Cadence or Time, is a right understanding of the different Measures, and Observation of the most remarkable places in the Tune.

Local Dance Extravaganza

It was a great night for local dance enthusiasts on Saturday Februay 18th when the Barbados Dance Extravaganza came off at the Plantation Garden Theatre in Christ Church.

The featured dancers were the International stars Kevin Clifton from England and his Russian partner Anna Melnikova, but long before they took to the stage the local performers showed just what they could do.

No matter how old he gets I will always remember Mark Burgess as a young boy accompanying his mother to the dance club and taking his first steps on the dance floor. He's certainly come a long way since then and he and his partner Daana Linton were among the local couples strutting their stuff across the dance floor.

The audience were also treated to performances by Nicholas Small-Warner and his partner Keishanya Alleyne representing their dance club, Jahbulani, and husband and wife team Randy and Alicia Payne. Andrea Ashby and Oral Welshman also exhited their highly skilled choreography.

Adding additional flavour to the proceedings were the former Latin Champions of Trinidad and Tobago Charles and Carol-Ann Boissiere dispalying great skill and strength with their lifts. Anderson Josia and Kelly La Jeunesse also gave a good showing and heating up the stage with their Salsa moves were members of the Salsa Vida Dance Club.

Also very well received by the audience were performances by Ria Sooden, who, dressed in traditional costume performed an East Indian dance and the ever popular Dancin' Africa.

It was a fitting preamble to the main act of the evening who did not disappoint the appreciative audience. Clifton and Melnikova hold the tiltles of British Youth Latin Champions, Slovakian Open Latin Champions, the Taiwan Open Latin Champions, the Belgian Open Latin Champions, the Swedish Open Latin Champions and the Hong Kong Open Latin Champions. The fact that they had opted to perform here rather than attend a dance competition in Europe served to make them even more popular with the audience.

The couple opened their performace with a Samba to a rhythmical reggae beat. They kept the energy flowing with their second number, the Cha Cha Cha. Then came the Rhumba with exquisite displays of sharp turns, excellent extensions of the arms and good lines. The Paso Doble was all that that dance should be, intence, dramatic, powerful and passionate. Their performance culminated with an energetic Jive to much applause and a standing ovation.

This extravagana not only served to expose the local dance enthusiasts to the quality of the international performance but also to showcase the very real quality of the dancers we have right here on our shores.

Welcome

Welcome to my first blog. I hope that you will have as much fun with it as I intend to in the weeks, months, years to come. Please feel free to add your own comments or suggestions.

I decided to start this blog after all the hullabaloo about the dancing with the stars show on tv. When it was first advertised I remember thinking it was a good idea. I didn't actually get to see many of those shows but I did see the last two. When this season started I vowed to try and get to see more of the shows and I have seen quite a few to date and looking forward to the finals.

My own ballrom dancing interest started back in April 1994 when I joined a local club called Modern Ballroom Dance Club. There I learnt all the basics and even if I say so myself became pretty proficient at most of them though nowhere near championship quality.

We learnt the traditional ballroom dances, waltz, quickstep, cha cha cha, rumba, tango, samba as well as party dances and line dances. You get a complete work out when you've spent fifteen minutes doing those party and line dances I can tell you. The quick step and the jive were my particular favourites.

One of my biggest problems is finding shoes that fit my feet. That's a problem at any time as I have long narrow feet (AA). If anyone has problems finding dance shoes to fit their feet please let me know. Also if you've solved the problem and found a good shoe source let me know.

My downfall came when I got married. I thought Ihad a ready made dance partner when I married someone who likes to dance, but the problem is that he thinks there is nothing left for him to learn as far as dancing is concerned. I have however vowed to get back on track this year.

My old club is not the same anymore and most of the folks that I knew have moved on to new territory so I will probably do the same.

The local ballroom dance scene is thriving and I will keep you up to date with the happenings.