Seattle Press on Line - Just Dance: Poetry In Motion

Just Dance: Poetry In Motion

By Sean Patrick Donovan

Aug 29, 2002 -- "Speech is a system of gestures made with the lungs and larynx, and the cavities of the mouth and nose. Every language is in this way a specialized form of body gesture, and in this sense it may be said that the dance is the mother of all languages." - R.G. Collingwood

IN HIS book Silent Messages, Albert Mehrabian states that the percentage of a message we set out to communicate is effectively received as: words we say, 7 percent; tone of voice, 38 percent; body language, 55 percent. Is it any wonder, then, that so many are fearful of dancing, when so much is revealed in that intimate exchange?

What Mr. Mehrabian’s studies connote, however, is that the logic behind the fear - that we won’t be exposed as long as we sit tight - is an illusion. In fact, we’re exposing ourselves in every moment, with every motion. Stripped of the façade of words, dancing leaves us to deal, bluntly, with the largely unconscious realm of the nonverbal, about which we are often unaware.

But there, insisting we engage in this discomfiting activity, is music. If dance is indeed "the mother of all languages," then music is the primordial soup from which this ultimate form of communication is thrust.

"Learning a new language" is exactly how local dance instructors Todd and Krissy Biernacki reference their experience of assimilating new dances. As they have evolved in their own dancing, says Krissy, they’ve gained "much more appreciation for the music and what it has to say." To truly dance swing, she asserts, "you have to have music that swings."

Swing dancing came of age, in the 1930s, as a response to swing music. On their Web site, the Biernacki’s describe it thusly: "Swing dancing emerged in Harlem’s Savoy Ballroom from some teens who wanted to swing out and play with the dance, who wanted to improvise as their buddies with the instruments were doing on stage."

Teaching a dance with the music that is authentic to that particular dance, believe the Biernacki’s, allows their students to "get inside" the music, to physically feel it. And this is precisely what they have in mind for an upcoming Lindy Hop class they’re slated to teach. Entitled "6-count Lindy," the class is designed to encourage students to dance swing - of which Lindy Hop is a part - in a manner that is more in keeping with those brash teens who first conceived of it.

At some point, folks like Arthur Murray broke down this wild, spontaneous dance into a form more digestible for the masses. This form, based on an easily learnable rhythm of six counts, with partners directly facing one another and clasping both hands, became synonymous with swing (although today it’s defined as "East Coast" swing). Admittedly, Todd explains, this "packaging" of the dance in a neat, easily deliverable manner is simpler to teach and learn, but ultimately restricts movement.

Lindy Hop, on the other hand, is a name often used to depict a particular, often strenuous-looking, 8-count style. As swing music is based on eight counts, many believe that 8-count Lindy is a more authentic version of the original dance. Not so, claims Todd, who says that, when watching old videos, a wide mix of 6- and 8-count moves can be observed, with dancers flowing seamlessly between the rhythms. "It_s not even 6 or 8," he asserts, "it’s 4, 10, 12." The dancers improvise freely, thinking, as it were, on their feet.

However, learning and accomplishing moves in various rhythms, when beginners have often been taught to religiously keep to one in particular, can be challenging. This is where Todd and Krissy hope to integrate simplicity with fun. What makes Lindy Hop so compelling, explains Krissy, "is its dynamic, the ability to play with each other’s momentum." By easing their student’s reliance on squaring off and holding both hands, they claim, the dance tends to open up, incorporate a wider range of movement, and become more playful. "We want to bring that dynamic playfulness to the beginners, and have it start there, rather than just with advanced dancers," says Krissy. Adds Todd, "If it doesn’t look and feel easy, it’s not Lindy Hop."

Whether experienced or beginner, I wonder: With a little help learning a new language, what sort of poetry could your movements compose?

Sean Donovan teaches, writes about, and frequently engages in dance in Seattle. He can be reached at donovandance@attbi.com

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