Dance: Select WCS performances I liked (educational)

There is a plan for dancing a WCS routine. Routine is a different business from social fun dancing, and it takes preparation.

Following is a small list of routines performed by great WCS champions. If you want to learn a dance and perform, it makes sense to watch and learn what the best can do.

There usually is a gap between what you can do now and what you want to do in the future. But if you can identify the gap, you can work on it. That is the idea.

There are many great champions and memorable routines. This list include only 13 routines plus 1 impromptu. My intention is not to make "The Best" list, but to make a starter list. 

But routines by champions like Kyle and Sarah, Jordan and Tatiana, Benji and Heidi, Ronnie and Brandy, Brent and Kellese, should make a great starting point to start watching WCS performances.

[This is originally a mail to someone, so it is somewhat explanatory]
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WCS has strong social dance roots, and the contests are coming in routine divisions (showcase and classic) and in improvisational divisions (Strictly swing, Jack and Jill). It’s not unlike Stage and Salon divisions in Tango.

Each couple develops very different look and strength. WCS is not a standardized or institutionalized dance. It helps to watch many dancers, and look for ones appealing to you.

Kyle Redd is my favorite performer and has enormous appeal and stage presence somehow. I love whatever he and his partner Sarah do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4yscig0fa8 (Johnny B Goode)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMHpJMBof_s (2008 Bleeding Love)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nosy-BMU3vM&NR=1 (2002 routine How Long Can a Fool Go Wrong)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdRED0y0jxM (1996 US Open with Beata Howe)


This one is not a routine but an impromptu demonstration by Kyle and Sarah.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG2-hoMSwAI&feature=PlayList&p=7E8B1F1798EA7619&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=32


Jordan Frisbee and his partner Tatiana Mollmann are unbelievably slick. They choreograph with great musicality.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2a3RY8UbE0w&feature=related (How to save a life)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB_B_e1y7vc&feature=related (Pump it)


Benji Schwimmer won So You Think You Can Dance some seasons ago. He came from ballroom and WCS background. The routines are very athletic or even acrobatic. Watch the cartwheeling and the Doughnut drop.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hWhmwxAf7Q&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGYnMQs9Gb0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjNys5ija8E

Ronnie Debenedetta and Brandi Tobias is a strong couple with many fans. I like their slow/quick contrast and picture pauses in their routines.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUX1ou9orGQ

Brent and Kellese Key. Brent originally came from Shag dance community, and added more individual and lively dance style to WCS.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKgOfp-WDrM&index=13&list=PLF52D6612FF4E005C

Robert Royston’s “Fever” in 1997 US open. My favorite routine with great musicality.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x33inSfEDE4

Mario Robau Jr and Kellese Key, 2001. Great example of a routine that radiates fun of dancing WCS without resorting to acrobatics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50FUohEQNow

In general contemporary WCS routines use a lot of slow/quick contrast, dramatic pause with the music, and tend to be on smooth, slick and quiet side compared with some Latin dances. I tend to choose choreography with great musicality.

These are just starters. From the links in YouTube, find routines appealing to you, and learn the vocabulary and styling of contemporary WCS. That’s our homework for building a routine.

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[Disclaimer: these videos are not mine and belong to the original owners.]