What is your approach on how to dance? Are you chiefly thinking about a sequence of moves that will form a pattern? Thinking of the pattern, one sees a line from point A to B with one defined way to get there. The dancer tends to look at each move in how well it is performed before the next move – our vertical thinker. Being able to see this objective makes it tangible. As such there can only be one way to achieve perfection, perceptually seeing a move sequentially executed correctly. Vertical thinking is selective — it’s what is right at each step to be consistently perfect for the competitive dancer.
Maybe when you dance you are focused more on body movement? Thinking of movement, one creates, seeks, or feels an energy to create direction that involves both the partner and the music. While there may be general guidelines on how to move, there’s no direct line that must be followed – our lateral thinker. Lateral thinking, free from needing to be right, generates a partnership rich in possibilities to evolve the dance to its own perfection in the moment. It may not be as tangibles for those watching, seeing perfectly executed movements, yet it is tactile, a connection that is a tangible very important to many to social dancers.
The contrast between vertical and lateral thinking doesn’t mean a dancer must be one or the other. I imagine many times dancers have found a need to breakdown moves to ensure correctness to improve execution as vertical thinking promotes. It’s the dancer’s internal competitiveness to get it right. And these same dancers when social dancing strive for an organic experience, a “wow” dance, which lateral thinking promotes. The wow is generated from the dancers in harmony, externally expressing and interpreting the music with each other.
It comes down to when should you be more lateral thinking like a social dancer or more vertical thinking like a competitor. A simplified approach would be to apply vertical thinking in a learning environment until you are comfortable with the fundamentals of the movement. Lateral thinking may be better suited for you in the practice of the movement learned or social environment.
The contrast between competitive and social dancing may suggest that if the goal is to be a good social dancer why should you be learning from a competitive dancer? The reason is simple when the dance of choice has no governing body certifying instructors. The absence of government oversight leaves no other option but for the top competitors in the dance community to take the lead as our caretakers.
Some competitive dancers have made efforts to formulate teaching programs they themselves, the proprietors, certify. Even with such teaching programs, achievements in competitions continues to be the marker for many dancers seeking teachers. Other competitors simply seem to have a natural ability to teach. After study coaching skills, instructional techniques, or a teaching curriculum, some of these successful competitors have found ways to blend the perspective and tactile tangibles into their syllabus. Having leveraged their expertise in lateral thinking from competition to teach those fundamental movements and transcend the moves to an organic experience for dancers applying lateral thinking, they are our most sought-after teachers.
Putting things in perspective, a good social dancer may not be a good competitive dancer and a good competitive dancer may not be a good teacher. Teaching is an ability to communicate with students in ways that facilitate the transfer, understanding, and application of information. There are no trophies for successful teachers, just a large following of students.
Dance events are built on quality staff to draw in that following of students. Besides the need to have a teaching staff that is supportive of a positive environment, great workshops matter. Event Directors understand the need for quality instruction and the need to have popular instructors. The two may differ at times. Event Directors host workshops striving for minimal difference between quality and popularity. Success or failure is best revealed through feedback. Feedback is the dancer’s voice that influences the direction of a dance event. When you receive a request for feedback, consider it your opportunity to help guide the Event Directors in improving quality instruction on topics that matter to you. Yes, BTO Open will be sending out feedback surveys, and yes we want to hear from you. In the end, how we think about dancing affects your dancing.