Posted:
Latin dancing and grinding become crude, lewd and s**tty?
This is not really a JDJ topic, but a dance related topic. One thing that always bothers me about dance clubs, proms, discos and parties is that for many folks dancing = grinding. Not just grinding but just crude gyrating of the hips, with really no real dancing involved. The original Latin dances that inspired these were close partner dances, that were indeed meant to be romantic, intimate and very sensual - but never raunchy. I alway wonder what changed dance forms especially in clubs to become this way and why do people promote it? Its sad because many people misconstrue Latin dancing and frown upon it.
Does anyone remember Lambada
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieU7Yadsff4[/YOUTUBE]
I remember it from the eighties. The kids in it are so cute. I remember wanting to be able to dance like them. Its a close Latin dance, but here they make it seem so cute. Its almost like a Hindi movie story. And dancing makes people happy, even the mean man learns to laugh and smile.
Then who can forget Jennifer Grey/Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing. Don't be fooled by the name, the name actually alludes to American white culture frowning down on Latin/African-American music, dancing and culture in the sixties. The movie is set in the sixties when conservative Americans would trash foreign influences (pretty much how some desis do too).
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpmILPAcRQo[/YOUTUBE]
This was a movie that first introduced grinding and close dancing to mainstream American culture. They brought the dancing of Latin clubs and festivals to mainstream. Jennifer & Patrick were probably the pioneers of grinding, but they were not gross at all. They made it look so graceful, beautiful and rhythmic.
It always baffles and saddens me to see people take dance forms and trash it to something that is s**tty and tasteless.
This is not really a JDJ topic, but a dance related topic. One thing that always bothers me about dance clubs, proms, discos and parties is that for many folks dancing = grinding. Not just grinding but just crude gyrating of the hips, with really no real dancing involved. The original Latin dances that inspired these were close partner dances, that were indeed meant to be romantic, intimate and very sensual - but never raunchy. I alway wonder what changed dance forms especially in clubs to become this way and why do people promote it? Its sad because many people misconstrue Latin dancing and frown upon it.
Does anyone remember Lambada
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieU7Yadsff4[/YOUTUBE]
I remember it from the eighties. The kids in it are so cute. I remember wanting to be able to dance like them. Its a close Latin dance, but here they make it seem so cute. Its almost like a Hindi movie story. And dancing makes people happy, even the mean man learns to laugh and smile.
Then who can forget Jennifer Grey/Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing. Don't be fooled by the name, the name actually alludes to American white culture frowning down on Latin/African-American music, dancing and culture in the sixties. The movie is set in the sixties when conservative Americans would trash foreign influences (pretty much how some desis do too).
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpmILPAcRQo[/YOUTUBE]
This was a movie that first introduced grinding and close dancing to mainstream American culture. They brought the dancing of Latin clubs and festivals to mainstream. Jennifer & Patrick were probably the pioneers of grinding, but they were not gross at all. They made it look so graceful, beautiful and rhythmic.
It always baffles and saddens me to see people take dance forms and trash it to something that is s**tty and tasteless.
Kumkum Bhagya
