Handling 'Curveball' Songs
Posted by: Gareth on: 16/10/2013 Category: advice-tips
How to handle a 'curveball' song when dancing rock 'n' roll.
One of the eternally glorious moments on a crowded dance floor occurs when the music suddenly does something weird. A song can contain a major tempo shift, speeding up or slowing down unexpectedly part-way through.These are usually songs that wouldn't ordinarily be included in a set designed for rock 'n' roll dancing, but have somehow slipped into a playlist.
The look of confusion and bewilderment on the faces of dancers is priceless. Often they will stop dancing and wonder what to do. Many will walk off the dance floor feeling embarrassed about being caught out in full flight without a solution.
Others will stop rock ‘n’ roll style dancing, then just stand and jiggle until ‘proper’ music starts again. Those who are more practised and used to being on public display might switch to a slow shuffle in the ballroom hold. That’s the best way to keep looking cool, which is ( or should be!) every dancer’s ambition.
A great example is seen in Pyschotic Reaction, a 1965 hit by garage band Count Five. The underlying beat is a medium fast tempo that’s good for rock ‘n’ roll style dance. Trouble is, at several points the tempo switches to a very fast sprint. If you ‘re not ready for it, the switch can throw you.
Here’s the catch – and it’s a great clue for whenever you’re confronted with this situation. If you listen carefully to the underlying beat, you’ll find it didn’t actually change. That’s often the case with this type of music. Just keep dancing, but since the super-fast rhythm doesn’t suit fancy moves, stick to a basic back-step or something similar.
A modern song I like to dance to that does this is Six Months In A Leaky Boat by Kiwi group Split Enz. Sure it’s not classic rock ‘n’ roll, but the beat is strong and the song bounces along. Those are the two basic criteria for a good dance number. But, at several points it switches to slow carnival-style refrains.
How to handle this? As a lead on the dance floor, never look confused! It could be embarrassing for your partner, if not yourself. This could be the big chance you’ve been waiting for with that special lady and it’s much better to look like James Bond than Mr Bean. Never, never, never throw your hands up in disgust and walk off the dance floor. When a slow section interrupts your action, just take the lady in the ballroom hold and shuffle as elegantly as possible until the rock beat starts again. If you’ve practised some Latino, you’ll be well paced to fill-in with some cha-cha or rumba steps.
The best way is to be prepared. Challenge and educate yourself in advance by practising to these songs or a few others. Try Music Box Dancer by Frank Mills. It’s a great bop-beat, but with some agonizing slow sections that demand creativity from a dancer. Remember that 'creativity' is the very by-word of dance.