37: A Year Without Dancing

First of all, let me set the record straight: It’s just a catchy title. In this case, a year is an arbitrary and unknown amount of time because who knows?

Based on the current evidence though, we’re a long way from being able to enjoy social dancing with our friends again. Social dancing includes all the things we’re not supposed to do: touching many strangers, sweating on each other, shouting/ singing/ heavy breathing into other peoples’ faces within an enclosed space  – the more you think about it, the grosser it is, but that doesn’t mean we’re not aching to do it again.

Even though I am one of the lucky few in the dance community that has a partner at home, it just hasn’t been happening. Right from the beginning of the end of social events, our dancing pretty much stopped.

At first, I was a bit disappointed in us because I thought we could use this time for dedicated practice, but given the reasons we love dancing so much, it actually isn’t very surprising that we aren’t more interested in doing it at home.

One of my very first blog posts was about swing dancing, and referring back to it, all of my favourite things about it are missing right now:

Community

I don’t think this one needs much explaining. I love going dancing and being a part of a community that shares that love. I still feel like I’m part of that community and am still in touch with many people that I know through dancing, it’s just that the thing that brought us all together in the first place is missing. Now we’re just regular people and it’s sad.

There are a ton of great online options for virtual meet-ups, dances, workshops and seminars to help keep the love alive, but I am finding that without the personal interaction, it’s difficult to get excited about them. Perhaps that will change as time passes.

Music

I miss live music so much!! I really appreciate all the musicians providing live streamed content right now, but again, it’s just not the same. My attention span for anything on a computer screen is significantly shorter than otherwise, whether it’s reading, watching videos or enjoying live music.

Regarding recorded music, I live with a swing DJ and we do have music playing while we work on our projects at home sometimes. Arguably, it’s the same stuff that we’d hear at a dance, but the excitement isn’t there because we’re just two people at home. I still enjoy the music, it somehow doesn’t have the same energy.

Maybe we need to try cranking it up – I can only imagine the confusion from the neighbours wondering who is blasting traditional jazz.

Challenge and Spontaneity

I am grouping these two together because I find them both very difficult to replicate at home.

With all the online content available, we could definitely be challenging ourselves and working on specific aspects of our dancing. I remain hopeful that we will, at some point, become inspired to start doing more practicing.

For me, though, the hard part about trying to improve while in isolation is that there are no ‘real world’ opportunities to take things for a spin. This is where spontaneity comes in (or doesn’t). It’s all well and good to be able to execute a new move or clean up some messy footwork in a controlled environment, but the real test is on the dance floor when you’re dancing with someone new, to a song you haven’t practiced to. It’s like thinking you mastered a new language on Duo Lingo and then going to the region where people actually speak that language and trying to communicate. Good luck!

I love the idea of going back into the real world as a much better dancer than when I left, but the odds of that seem slim right now. Fortunately/Unfortunately, there’s probably a lot of time left to change that, so you never know.

In the meantime, I am saving and taking note of various resources for staying inspired and practicing while at home.

Just this morning I came across this article, The Benefits of an Accountability Partner in Lindy Hop, and this workshop, Follower’s Bal-Swing Legwork Solo Practice.

I’m definitely not lacking options, just the motivation and self-discipline to actually make use of them.

That being said, maybe it’s okay to just take a break for a while. If the magic only happens outside the house, then so be it. I am not worried at all that my interest in dancing will wane over time.

They say ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’ and while I do think social dancers were already quite appreciative of what they had, a little bit of time off will only make the return to social dancing that much sweeter. I am quite sure that when it’s safe to go dancing again, there will be a renewed interest from dancers and non-dancers alike, eager to connect with people again.

I am looking forward to joining them!