Social vs show dancing
The BBC featured the first of the Brucie Goes Dancing series today where Strictly Come Dancing’s Bruce Forsyth goes after how different forms of dances had evolved. It included an interview with the great Frankie Manning himself. Obviously, the series was filmed before the legendary dancer’s death in April 2009.
Anyhow, during this interview, Bruce mentioned that lindy hop looks like a very, very fast dance, especially when watching Frankie Manning’s performance on Hellzapoppin. Frankie replied, “Of course… because it was a performance!” He said that show dancing is very different from social dancing and this is what people should remember. With show dancing, you show off… with social dancing, you take it easy and savouring the moment with your dancing partner.
I couldn’t agree more with Mr Manning. I have been explaining this to people since I began learning Argentine tango. They always ask me whether I can now dance like those dancers in Strictly Come Dancing since I’ve been learning for so long. I respond by telling them that what they see on TV is not social dancing. See, great minds think alike. *chuckles*
Episode 2 of Brucie Goes Dancing is on tomorrow, 11 Oct on BBC One.
