Synchronized Dancing Rocks!

14/02/2019
Category: general

There is something inherently thrilling and immensely pleasing about a group of humans acting in unison. Especially when they are dancers.

This phenomenon supposedly stems from the desire to feel powerful and protected as part of a group. That in turn relates to a psychological perception that a group of animals acting in coordinated fashion gives the impression of one very large animal rather than a lot of little ones. Apparently that scares away predators or perhaps a rival tribe. It's one of the reasons armies march in coordinated step rather than as a disorganised rabble.

Rock 'n' roll dancers aren't much interested in all of that. We simply observe that when dancing couples perform a routine in unison, it looks pretty. It's exciting to watch even when the moves aren't particularly complex. We see this happening regularly at club nights. It's visually pleasing and it's clearly enjoyable for the performing couples.

There is an added benefit to coordinated couples dancing in regard to newcomers.

This is a neat trick that good teachers know and use. In fact, anyone helping their friends to learn can take advantage of it. Show them a move, then invite them to perform it along with you and your partner. Start off in slow motion without music until they've picked it up. Add music and perform the move in sync with them.

People learn basic moves quicker if they can practice them in unison with one or more other couples. They are able to see immediately what they are doing wrong and so are able to correct immediately. They will perfect a move much sooner with this method than if you demonstrate a whole move, then expect them to remember and repeat it. For newcomers, just memorising the sequences of a dance move is challenging enough by itself.

This happens intrinsically with other dance styles, such as line dancing and basic ballroom dancing like military two-step. It's also usual at parties to see many people get up together to perform a Madison to Ike and Tina Turner's Nutbush City Limits.


People enjoy doing The Madison together at a social gathering

However, I rarely see people using this method to teach their friends basic rock 'n' roll. The usual approach is to show a couple a basic move then stand back and watch them try it. Most dancers are willing to help newcomers learn. But unfortunately most aren't natural teachers and don't really understand what instruction requires.


I strongly encourage people teaching beginners to try the unison method. It gives them confidence to have others provide a template. As experienced dance teachers will testify, winning the confidence battle is the majority of the task. The people who learn rock 'n' roll dance the quickest are the ones who most strongly believe they can do it.

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