I'll break this long post down into segments so people can read which section they want to and ignore the rest😛
DANCE
Can I just say this here and make it BOLD and Bigger font so EVERYONE will read it for once and all and hopefully get it too:
DANCE is not just hip-hop, street dancing (yes that is a different form as b-boy-ing and all those types of dance come under this category), kathak, Ballroom.
DANCE includes all dance forms which involve movement of the body and that too following the beats or a rythm. Let me go and find a precise definition to copy-paste here:
"Dance is a type of art that generally involves movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, performed in many different cultures and used as a form of espression, social interaction and exercise or presented in a spiritual or performance setting." [source: wikipedia, yeah I was too lazy to look for in any other websites😳]
All these other dance forms, the ones we see now have all roots in basic traditional classical dances like Ballet, Bharatnatyam etc. These new ones that everyone on this forum thinks as the only dance forms should try and stay away from those who practice these classical dance forms. Ballet is one of the most prestigous dance forms in the world - anyone has any idea how difficult it is for people to get into ballet schools and then go on to perform on stage? So is Contemporary and many other Classical Indian dance forms (I won't include dance forms from other cultures/countires because I don't think anyone knows them here but you get my point, right? at least I hope so).
I understand that everyone has a different definition of everything [and that's why we have DICTIONARIES so that when comaprison or judging comes, we have a set standard to go by in order to be FAIR] but ignoring other FACTS is wrong too. Contemporary is a dance form which originated due to rebellion from those who didn't like its too much restrictions/rules [as they liked to call it] and wanted to get away from Ballet but wanted to retain some of the things they liked from Ballet.
Not everything has to be fast-paced, high tone, jumping up and down for it to be dance. Playing with one's Sari's pallu in a film on a song is also a DANCE [I am not simply saying it but it meets the standards of Bollwood Dance]. Bollywood Dance does not only refer to Govinda-Karishma, Madhuri and such actors' dances from old movies. Main Hoon Na, Kal Ho Na Ho, Ready, Bodyguard (since these happen to be one of the last Indian movies I have seen so would include them only) - they don't all have latkas and jhatkas or high-paced dancing in all of their songs but are they considered Bollywood Dance? Yes, they are. The very essence of the Bollywood Dance form is the emphasis on lyrics and storytelling using facial expressions, body movement and such and anything that satisfies these standards is considered a Bollywood Dance number/performance.
Street Dance [movie]
Those referring to Street Dance [I have watched all of them] should watch it again, espeically the one that involved Ballet and Street Dance. The basic thing that the directors and writers were trying to get across was that Dance is dance - those who do Ballet think theirs is better and that other dance forms like street dance is not a dance and those who are avid street dance watchers/dancers think Ballet and such as not pure dance as they are not fast-pased and such or not to their liking.
You all are missing the point of that movie - it was about integeration and respect - the last performance in the movie - the reason the audience loved it [in the movie] was not because they had started street dancing, but because they liked the whole package - the combination of ballet and street dancing. And those who mentioned it are missing that very point when looking at JDJ5 performances.
Lifts/Stretches in Dancing
One more thing, people keep talking about stretching and lifts and such not being dance and all then let me tell you, when you are in a competition the thing that sets you apart from others are those very stretches and lifts - because that's what gets the judges attention. How else do you think those judging Ballroom dancing eliminate contestants from the dance floor while there are so many different performances going on at the same time. They don't have gazzillion eyes to follow each and every contestant but it's the TRICKs and SHINE stuff that gets you noticed. (There is a correct technical term for it but I can't seem to recall it at the moment.)
Having said that, I would also like to say that if only LIFTs and such are performed in a performance with no steps from another dance form say Salsa, then it's not a Salsa act - it's TRICKS. You have to include both - different forms of lifts (and yes they do involve weird postures and a lot of stretching because one needs to be creative to do different types of lifts to stand out from the rest of the crowd) and the very basics of the dance form like all-body-weight on left foot from one partner and all-body-weight on right foot from the other partner when performing a particular step - this is just to give an example here, there are many other such things that we, common people, who don't STUDY dancing are not aware of.
Isha's Solstrom Act [Example]
At this point, I would like to mention Isha's Solstrom performance here - and I would like to remind everyone that Isha herself said after the act that 'she wants people to recognize it as a dance form because to her dance is anything one enjoys doing'. Is Solstrom recognised as a dance form by Dancing authorities/professionals? NO. The whole point of her performance was for people to see dancing the way she does. She didn't go around calling people names or degrading them to get her point across. She performed it for people to decide themselves whether it is or not. It seemed to impress the judges but it might not have impressed everyone out there who watched it. Do people recognise Solstrom as dance form after her performance, I don't know but it surely must have got some people thinking whether it is or not.
To me, personally, it was not dancing but I have not gone around calling her only stretching and lifting her body in weird positions [and yes, some people did go on to bring in references to 69 position and such😕🤢]. For some, it was dancing. That's everyone's pregerotive.
People's posts/comments
[continuation from previous paragraph] But should that stop us from voicing our views? NO, it should not. BUT then everyone should be careful about how they word their posts. It's the wording and the impact of those words that makes it seem like one thinks their opinion as being superior to another's and that leads to further comments which eventually leads to arguements and snide remarks from both sides. Is that one's intention, I don't know. But that is what is depicted in the posts.
Simply saying, that is not dancing and it's my opinion does not get the discussion anywhere. One should always support their statements with facts or other arguements for the discussion to continue. Also, being part of a discussion or debate involves keeping an open mind. Do we do that? NO. We are ALL humans and we are not wired that way. We'd like to think we do but each has their own prejudices that do, at times, no matter how hard we try colour our views/our opinions.
Example:
Fight-or-Flight - we are made in a way where our brain has less than a few miliseconds to decide whether we run from an accident or stay at the scene. The moral and right thing, judged by the society as whole, is that one must stay or it becomes a hit-and-run crime and that is why it is there in the law. Should one use fight-or-flight as an excuse to get away from serving time/punishment? NO, because if we are wired in that certain way then we are also given a brain and learning capabilities to decide between right and wrong and learn to follow the rules.
Posts
The thing that everyone seems to be missing is that when you write your comments, your opinions might not come across as what you have in mind. People here seem to say I respect your opinion and that everyone has a right to have an opinion and such but do they actually respect each others opinions? NO (at least that's what I have gathered after reading the posts here or on the web in general). They like to think they do. It reminds me of a term used in psychology called The Muhammad Ali Effect [google it; for those wanting to know what it means].
If we all keep our opinions to ourselves and not share it or just say that is your opinion this is mine so let's stick to it - how are we ever going to be able to discuss anything? Never. Communication means putting forward one's arguements/comments/views while also honestly listening to others views. And then being honest to ourselves and think about the two views then form our opinion - whether stick to earlier or change it - there comes a point when both sides don't budge and that is when everyone should MOVE ON instead of going around in circles and then getting sarcastic and leaving snide, disrespectful remarks. If someone doesn't reply to a particular part of one's post, they just simply might not want to or they might not have an answer to that, or they might want to end the whole thing from their end but expecting one to reply to every single thing another writes is wrong at the expectors end not the expectee.
My likes/dislikes in dance forms
I LOVE Contemporary and I don't like Ballet, I LOVE Street Dancing, K-Pop Dancing, Ballroom Dancing [like pasodoble, tango, salsa, argentine tango (both street and ballroom/American) and not waltz or foxtrot], I like Indian semi-classical, I don't like Mujra and many other dance forms, but I do not go around saying Ballet and those I don't like are not true dancing. They ARE, to me they might not be but its the putting-down another art form in a deragorty way that riles people up. I might not like these dance forms but they are still a type of dance. And that's where respect comes into play. One has to respect one dance form to get respect in return [that was also one of the things in the movie that everyone seems to have missed] and in life too, you give respect, you get respect [not always but that's the logic one has to follow].
The point I am trying to make is that one should realise that their opinions are just that - they are not facts so everyone should stop forcing their opinions down others throats [that includes me too, if I do come across like that in any of my posts]. E=MC2 is a fact [unless someone proves it wrong], the marks judges give are their opinions but when those very scores go on paper - they become facts that so and so got these many scores [did they deserve it? is an opinion and that's upto the judges]. We might not like or agree with such low/high scores but that's what the contestants get. Our fighting over them and calling each other things [even implied] would not change their scores or make them leave the show.
It's a show BUSINESS and everyone is here to earn a living - someone swearing at celebs and calling them names will NOT make them leave the show. They don't even know we exist so why go to such an extent of being sarcastic and disrespectful toward each other?
Arghh such a long post😡 and what for? Apparently there was no Veto involved😕😆
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