I'm at a social function complete with dance floor. Trouble is.......I can't dance. Even took up ballroom dance lessons for a year, but wasted my money. I'm sitting there thinking I have so much rhythm in me, WHY can't I dance? Both my hands and feet are moving up and down to the beat, head is bobbing all around...every song that is happening.

A friend asked why I can't dance being a musician. I replied......"THAT'S why I can't dance. Musicians are glued to their instruments, especially a keyboardist. We're more used to standing there and getting our emotions out through the playing and not the dancing. Also....musician's are naturally analytical. We tend to analyze "where this foot goes....what to do with my hands....what direction do I look in, etc?" And that's what makes for a good musician....the ability to analyze what and how they are playing.

A really good bass player once said to me, when I asked him the correct way to play bass lines, "there is no correct way....you just feel the music and......play the bass line you feel!

A friend said the same thing to me years ago when I was trying to learn the cha-cha......"don't worry about the steps, just groove to the music and do whatever you want."

At the end of the day, I'm still "analyzing" my dance steps to the point I'm paralyzed.

Well, I'm exaggerating but not the "analyzing" part.

Do you think musicians are not natural dancers for any of the above reasons?

I know/have known hundreds of musicians and hardly any are what might be called 'good' dancers. Most won't even try unless it's their daughters wedding or something. The one or two that were decent were both drummers. Don't know what that means. In any case, I guess they (musicians) were learning to play while everyone else was learning to dance. I wonder which group ended up with the hottest chicks (ugghh, that sounded a little bit sexist). Also, I think most musicians (not 'entertainers') are a little bit introverted (shy, self-conscious) which is why they are better able to express themselves behind the protective barrier of an musical instrument. Just a guess, though.

chas

I'm awful. Nothing more to say.

To answer your question, yes....You have to know how to dance to make people dance, as it will reflect in your music regarding dance tempos BPM which are critical, .....I learned many years ago from Champion World Class Harvest Ball Winners.

Ha Ha......just when I thought I'd heard it all...well, it IS kind of early; maybe Donny isn't fully awake.

chas

Chas come visit I'll teach you, Rumba or merengue, etc....or you can join in with some of my ballroom teachers and learn a few steps..

Not boasting, but I am - or WAS - a pretty good dancer ... my parents sent me for dance lessons before attending my junior prom ...
My wife and I could do a pretty good Lindy, jitter bug, merengue, and cha cha ... How does that song go? - "I ain't as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was"

Donny, some folks are unteachable....I'm one of them. I'm like Mark; I hear it but my body just won't cooperate. Guess I didn't spend enough time watching Dick Clark (or Soul Train) in my youth .

chas

I was a good dancer when younger. Still probably could, but I just don't. I used to occasionally dance with a customer or two, but I quit doing that many years ago because if you dance with one, then the others expect you to dance with them too.
My first ex-wife and I won a dance contest on tv when we were still in high school!

That's ok Chas...your not alone.....

I wouldn't say I'm really good or anything, but I know the basics steps of salsa, cumbia, cha-cha-cha, bachata and merengue. I used be able to dance Tejano and Norteña but I've forgotten since my wife doesn't really like that kind of music very much. She loves salsa and cumbia dancing. She's actually a Zumba instructor and she always dances when we play music together. I actually meet my wife on the dance floor in a night club in Cuernavaca Mexico and while we were dancing to a cumbia, I knew I'd marry her.

When I was young, I could dance the shag, polka, clog, cha cha, merengue, bachata, waltz, and even a few neat jitterbug steps. Unfortunately, all that is now lodged in the cobwebs of my aging brain in the fond memory category.

All the best,

Gary

I used to clog, but now I'm including a lot more fibre in my diet.

chas

I used to shag. But, as you've often mentioned, Gary, the mind is the second thing to go.

That's a darn good guess. I think you nailed it right on the head. Although I'm also an entertainer and go out on the floor to mingle during a performance, I'm never comfortable with the "body movement" part. I need to know the piano is right behind me so I can retreat to it if my clumsy moves don't come out right. But I CAN do the Charleston!

In school I started a dance class; at the prom there was a circle around my partner and me as we danced. During high school days I taught my male friends how to do all the new dances. It was fun to dance and be free in my movements.

When I became a musician I stopped dancing. 21 years ago I married a woman that loved to dance; I tried dancing again but did not enjoy it any longer.

Age, type of dancing, who knows, it’s just more fun to create good music.

John C.

I have done quite some semi professional ballroom dancing in my younger years, with my girfriend back then... on a quite competitve level...

All that has waned since i traded her for my current wife, no regrets tough, she is a much much better cook ...

Bachus that sounds like a touch of wisdom.

John C.

Donny is spot on about tempo - you have to get that right.

Thanx Mac,...yes sir TEMPO & TIMING is everything in dancing...

My Belly agrees with you...
My Doctor disagrees

altough, 35 pounds overweight aint a problem for me..
But you know the reason now...

I disagree that you have to know how to dance to make people dance.
I can't dance a lick, but I can fill a floor as well as anyone. I have the feel, I know the tempo, and I watch the dancers. That's how we communicate.

....

dave Im talking strict Ballroom dancers...
big difference then a wild shore crowd etc..