Baby, I Got the Blues

Last night, as part of my resolution not to sit on my ass so much, I went blues dancing for the first time in - quite literally - years. I've written before about swing dancing - mainly Lindy Hop, Charleston, and Balboa. Blues is a different type of jazz dance and I'm not sure of the exact definition of it, so I'll just give you my impression. Where swing is very up-beat and fast, blues is much more laid-back. I read somewhere that ballroom dancers are at the most uptight end of the spectrum, blues is at the most laid back, and Lindy Hop is somewhere in between. The music, is, obviously, blues, and is usually much slower than swing, and the dancing itself is slower and well...sexier. I say this because blues is usually very slow, danced to usually very sultry music, and generally requires a closed connection (where the chests of the lead and follow are touching). You can dance blues in a more open connection; you just don't see it that often. The movements are very slow and deliberate, and, in my opinion, require a level of finesse that I just don't possess. I just can't move my hips that way! Anyway, I think it's very easy for someone who doesn't know how to blues to fake it, but I think it's very hard to be really, really good at it. Check out some videos on YouTube.

So, I went to this dance, not knowing a lot of people, a little nervous because, like I said, blues often requires a closer connection. As a follower, though, I was able to control how close I was to my lead, and I was never uncomfortable. Though I'm not that familiar with blues (the last time I danced blues was in college, maybe two years ago), I ended up having a really fun time. The people were really nice and the music, as always with jazz dance, was really great. I did, however, really realize that I am a Lindy Hopper at heart. I might try to go out to he blues dances more often now, but I am definitely going to make more of an effort to get out to the swing dances. Yay for new year's resolutions!

ciao