Dance:Tango choreography finished (3/28), Tulsa city swing (3/25)

Past 10 days went fast. On occasion we get a change in the pace, and get small waves of events coming in succession. It was one of such times. A major part of them was about my work. I'll write about it in another entry.


On average, I dance 2-3 days/week. 1-2 party at weekend, and a Tango class/practice on Tuesdays. The Tango class is for a showcase on June, a choreographed piece for 3 couple formation with Lo Que Vendra. Choreographed by Martha and David Wells.

We were taking slow approach for the choreography, going through the song/moves part by part. This week, we finally finished the Tango choreography for entire song after almost 6 months. The rest is to polish it. Piece of cake, haha.



Last Saturday (3/25) there was Tulsa City Swing, a nice small WCS event in Tulsa. I noticed that I was dancing WCS only once a month during the winter, and wanted to dance WCS a little more. Dancing is somewhat like riding bicycle or swimming. It will not be gone completely after a break, but depending on how you've been taking care of your body and keeping mind engaged, it can stay fine or get rusty. 

I need to watch and reload WCS sometimes. The event was good for that.

[Tulsa City Swing 3/25/2017]

Dance: Kris Swearingen workshop and party

The OKC swing dance club hosted WCS workshops by Kris Swearingen last Saturday (3/18/17).

He is an active WCS competitor at the national level. With his partner, Rebecca, they were placed in top 5 in the classic division of the NASDE (National Association of Swing Dance Events) contest.

Link to his bio page: http://www.krswing.com/bio.html


WCS has been a social dance. But just like Tango, "show", or routine divisions (classic, showcase) grew out of it. WCS has become a dance to dance, as well as a dance to watch.

The dancers are not on entirely different track from social dancing "commoners", like dancers in Ballet or competitive ballroom are. Almost all WCS dancers start from social dancing. He/she may go up the contest ladders from novice, intermediate, to advanced.

There, becoming professionals is a tricky transition.

To be known as strong professionals, the dancers have to be an impressive couple with strong routines. In other words, they have to be strong entertainers as a couple. Showmanship becomes a requirement as they progress.

At the national level, each couple has to explore own contribution to the dance, and has to develop a certain style. If the dance looks bland, they will be easily forgotten. Even when everyone is dancing WCS, still somehow establishing their own brand is critical. It is entirely different contest from the novice-intermediate, or even "advanced".

In the harsh contest environment, placed among top 5 is a big deal.

I went to the party. Usually, party after workshop gathers many out-of-town dancers, and the night was no exception. It was a nice and fun party.

Book: Mastering the 21 immutable principles of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu

Sometimes I watch Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) contests and enjoy them. 

I have a small pile of martial arts instruction books in my library. 

[Even if someone says "you cannot teach swimming by books", I disagree. At least, you can teach what to expect, what to do, and what not to do, to a never-swimmer. These basic instructions (verbalized, or written in a "book" form) can save his life.]


Some of the instruction books are about Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) . The art (BJJ) revolutionized MMA in early 90's. Contestants trained with BJJ dominated the MMA contests for some early years, proving efficiency of the art in the MMA ring/octagon.

In response to the success, demands for learning the art also increased. And the demands resulted in several decent books for teaching BJJ.


"Mastering jujitsu" (Renzo Gracie) has a decent BJJ history section and clear theory sections. The book was very helpful to understand the thinking (theory) behind the act. You'd be astounded by the smartness of the thinking. The calculating art of BJJ is a world apart from Adrenalin-fueled hay-maker fight.

"BJJ self defense techniques"(Royce and Charles Gracie) is more practical book for a beginning practitioners with pictures on techniques.

"BJJ theory and technique"(Renzo and Royler Gracie) has a well-written and concise history and theory section, and photos for techniques based on practitioners' levels. In this book, the "key positional strategy" is clearly and concisely stated, and it helped me to understand and appreciate the game of BJJ greatly.


Here I am adding another decent BJJ book, "Mastering the 21 immutable principles of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu" (Paulo Guillobel), published in 2015, to the pile in my library.

This book may not be a book for a beginner of BJJ. But it is a kind of book that would benefit readers with a certain idea about BJJ, and active practitioners who know what they are talking about, greatly. I recommend this book for these people.


[How-to books are written with target readers in mind. If you are among the target readers or not should be clear in the beginning. I don't think it is fair to the book when a "wrong" reader complains about a "wrong" book for him.]

[The book cover]

I like how-to books that are actually useful and helpful to appreciate the art more. I am collecting good ideas to convey core notions and practices of a physical art. 

Good BJJ teaching/writing should be translated to good teaching/writing for tango, for example. When I write a book, I want it to be a good/useful book for the intended target readers. Anyone can write an essay, but communicating the art with words in order to be reproduced requires more.

In terms of verbalizing the core notion and teaching the techniques in the book form, BJJ is ahead of Tango in my judgement (at least in the forms of books easily available in English. I cannot say about Spanish/Argentine books).

I don't have to reinvent wheels. If there are good ideas in BJJ or other sport/art teaching books, I'd borrow them, for the sake of propagating the art of my interest.

Dance: step 4; Map your body

This is the 4th blog entry in a series of entries to "look good dancing".


 Next step, step 4, is an important one that people tend to neglect.

It is "mapping your body". 


You wanted to look good dancing (step 0). You stood in front of the big mirror you bought (step 1). You checked out your own body and the shape, lines, and skeleton (structure) (step 2).

You chose your music and dance, and watched the best dancers. You understood the basics of the dance, and appreciated the best dancers' demonstrations (step 3).

In particular, you checked out two aspects of "the best dances"; body usage (how they do it), and dance elements (what they do).



Now, a lot of people may have told you that you need to imitate the best dances.

The idea is not wrong. You got to imitate good dances.


Problem is that, few people can imitate a dance correctly. What you will most likely be doing is making an inferior copy of the original.


Even if you chose a dance by dancers whose body type is similar to you, your body will be moving differently, and you won't look as good. Just like that.


[by the way, choosing the "original" with the same body type as yours helps. Just like boxing is performed differently in different weight class (lighter guys are far faster and agile than heavyweights), body type makes differences in performance.]


Precise imitation of good dance is crucial in learning dancing and looking good. You don't have to reinvent wheels. By imitating the original, you may be able to get (i) how to do it, and (ii) what to do.

Here I am saying that the problem for the most is to imitate "how to do it". Copying body usage is difficult, especially when you have not got a grasp in the association between your sensation and objective looks. "What to do" is another aspect, but it is more manageable than "how to do it".


The step 4, "Map your body" is a step to prepare you to imitate the body usage effectively.


Plainly put, for the most people, what you think you are doing and what you are doing (=how you look) are different.

You got to fix the difference. 


Once "what you think you are doing" matches "what you are doing (how you look)", you can imitate great dancers and you'd look like a great dancer, instead of making an inferior copy.


In short, "mapping your body" is an exercise that you'd do in front of the mirror. You draw wire frame (or "skeleton") in your own body, name body parts (like, "right shoulder","left elbow", "right toe"), move them around while you watch them, and match your sensation and the parts' positions (and motions) in the mirror.



10 years of social dancing does not make you look like a stage dancer. When you go to a dance event and dance with a professional, people will notice which one is the pro. (If not, the "pro" is not a performer-pro but likely a teaching-pro). Excellence in dancing has to show. That's why in auditions the judges/producers ask you to "show what you got".



There are techniques and skills that help you to look good dancing in a matter of months, or even weeks if you are well-prepared. "Mapping your body" is one of those little known techniques.

[Last week I had a cold that was annoying enough. On Monday I watched this Swan Lake, and began to feel like dancing again]

For the work, I am finishing up a review article and planning to send it off tomorrow.