Bonnie is our alumni, so to speak. She started West Coast Swing in the OKC swing dance club in her junior high-high school years. After high school graduation, she moved to Philadelphia, met her now-husband Jerome, and they have been actively dancing in national WCS circuit.
Quoting the workshop notice;
"Bonnie and Jerome met on the dance floor in 2012 and have been inseparable ever since. Jerome is originally from Montpellier, France, and Bonnie is from Oklahoma City, OK, USA. They now travel full-time: teaching, judging, and performing West Coast Swing all over the US and the world, competing in the champions division.
Between the two of them, they have over 25 years of partner dance experience, and pull from multiple and varied movement disciplines including hip hop, bellydance, acrobatics, and modern dance to create their unique style. Jerome's technique and discipline from his background as a karate teacher complements Bonnie's artistry, versatility, and perceptiveness to form a remarkable partnership."
This year (2016) they competed in the US open showcase division. They are developing a unique style (as most WCS couples do), incorporating elements of partner gymnastics and some Lindy hop, to WCS. I hope their continuing success in coming years.
[YouTube, US open showcase 2016, Bonnie and Jerome Subey]
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In the party, on the big TV screen in the club, they were playing entire US open showcase division. It was interesting, because it showed moving trend in WCS.
I have liked WCS dancers with quiet frames, which can allow more deliberate, stylized, and dramatic moves. For male dancers, the examples are Jordan Frisbee and Kyle Redd, both are known as great champions.
In 2016, some dancers are using body roles and shoulder shimmy more prominently, almost to the point that can be shunned as 'overactive frame' (using a term in ballroom dance circuit). I don't know if the preferred look is shifting, but it may be a part of trend, I guess.
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In the party, I danced a fast song with Bonnie. She was as good as ever, very smooth, fast, and fluid. It was a fun dance.
I just used an expression "as good as ever". Because, the feel was very similar to what I remember form her junior years.
I am not saying she made little progress over years. On the contrary, she can do a lot fancier stuff as a professional and has much more in her arsenal now compared with her earlier years. I am pointing out that there are some people whose bodies have a particular feel while dancing, even from the beginning.
As a social dancer, I've danced with hundreds of partners in many different kind of partner dances. National champions and performer-level dancers included. Every body comes with unique feel. Some have that characteristic, "natural" feel. Many of them with the feel are (or later became) fantastic or even great dancers.
The dance last night made me wonder, again, where the "natural" feel comes from.
In fact, I have given thoughts on the question for a long time. I do have a hypothetical answer.
Since "natural" is a very broad and misused term (that strongly implies genetics that you cannot change), in recent writing, I am using a term "preparedness" instead. "Preparedness" is something that you can assess from your age, past experience, knowledge, willingness, condition (including health status), and some genetics. It is true that some people have better overall "preparedness" for partner dancing than others, which is often referred by most people as "talented" or "natural".
Dance instructors develop their own standards for assessing their students, and use the standards in private lessons. "Preparedness" is one of the concepts I use, and the term is more measurable than the blanket word "talented" or 'natural". And, scientists (me) and engineers, as well as good business people, like to break things down to something measurable, thus workable.
You can ask yourself about your own "preparedness", how well-prepared you are.
Partner dancing is an art that has been around for ages. But the art may not be accessible or shared well, beyond imitation, anecdotal teaching, or discussions in crowd forum for which many less-qualified can participate. I want to collect the best knowledge on the art, format, and present the art in a more communicative manner to a broader audience/readers. That is my hope as an author of dance articles/books.
