I'm talking about the standards for Silver dancers, not Silver Standard.
Hahahahaha- DANCE JOKE. BAM!
Anyhoo, back awhile ago, I told you what Bronze ballroom dancers are expected to do. It boiled down to What and When.
We're moving up in the world to the ye olde Silver dance expectation. Check it, it's easy, one word even: How. In other words, TECHNIQUE.
Sadly, moving to Silver doesn't just mean you get new patterns or a shiny new class to join. If you're looking for patterns alone and couldn't care less about technique, there are a million Bronze patterns out there. That's why YouTube exists, yo. Or you can check out new teachers, new studios, and new dance venues and pick up patterns left and right. Probably forward and back, too. DANCE JOKE! BAM!
If you want to progress in your knowledge and expertise of a not-so-ancient art form, then you should try out the Silver level of ballroom dancing.
Let's assume you're doing all the things a Bronze dancer should know how to do (please give a moment, or week, to honestly reflect on that). While doing all those Bronze-y things, in Silver, you're also going to work on HOW you do all them steps and timing. HOW you get from foot to foot. HOW you dance on time.
In Silver, you will explore:
- swing and sway
- CBM and CBMP
- super-fantastic latin motion
- syncopations
- body contact in the Smooth/Standard dances
- interpretations of music (dynamic slows and quicks, long "2" in Waltz, etc.)
If you're a Bronze dancer and are already working on these things, GREAT. If you're a Silver dancer and have no idea what these things are, you are in trouble. With me. Personally. Don't make me come over there!
If you think you're ready for Silver, you should know these things before actually doing it:
- ALL THE BRONZE THINGS
- the fundamentals of an open left and right box (heel turn and all, folks)
- what CBM and CBMP refer to, even if you're not good at it yet, or really get it either
- the basic timing changes that could occur in a dance (Foxtrot- 1234; Waltz- 1&23, 12&3; ChaCha- 2&3&4&1, 2&3 4&1; to name a few)
Wouldn't you rather have someone say, "Hey, aren't you in Silver yet?", than "Hey, why are you in Silver?"
It is normal for people who take private lessons once a week to be in Beginning for 6 months to a year; Bronze for 1 to 4 years; and Silver for 2 years to forever.
You wanna know what's after Silver? GOLD! We'll talk about that next week. Good times.
One year ago: I wander around the awesome Snelby area. Did I mention Associated Bank has free popcorn? No? Well, big fan.
