Flourishes and Techno Contra: Correlation, or Causation?

12/7/2011

A couple of weeks ago, Contra Syncretist talked to caller Ray Polhemus, who among other observations connected more "swingy," more flourishy dancing with the techno contra trend. Despite the inclusion of our Friday Flourishes, I'm not sure I see the same causal link between the two.

If a band (acoustic or otherwise) has lot of energy, and so does my partner, I am likely to end up pulling out lots of flourishes and have several pulled out on me; speaking for myself, I am as likely to be dipped in the midst of a set by Nor'easter (who are awesome and acoustic) as I am in a set by Perpetual e-Motion (who are awesome and use electronic instruments) as I am in a set by dJ improper.

While I might see a somewhat higher concentration of swingy, flourishy dancers at techno contra events, I'm not sure that the techno contra scene is the only attraction for them -- I danced with several of these people before crossover contra gained its current momentum. Personally, I find that my partners influence my dancing in the moment more immediately than the music does -- don't get me wrong, I fully recognize that the music informs my partners' and my movements, and we wouldn't be there to dance without the music -- but my conscious concentration at any moment on the floor is mostly on my partner or my neighbor. If the music has lots of energy (whether or not it has a thumping bass line), the dancers will have energy -- to my mind, this is not exclusively the domain of crossover contra.

If partners and neighbors come at me with lots of swingy moves (or if I know they like flourishes), I will react accordingly. If they like to dance the dance as written or I'm on a floor with a lot of unknown (to me) quantities, techno or traditional, I'll dance the dance more as written. In other words, I see some correlation, but I'm not sure I see the causation that Ray did. Maybe my experience is unique, but I'm not so sure.

So, dancers, do you dance differently to different bands, acoustic or otherwise? Do you find that you do more flourishes to Wild Asparagus, or the Syncopaths, or Double Apex? If you do, what changes for you? Sound off in the comments!

dest/jess(ie)/etc.

12/7/2011 01:48:39 am

I do dance differently to different bands, but not to the extent that i do or do not pull flourishes.
For me, a slow slinky groove on the dance floor (while still oddly high energy) just implies different variations than a brisk bouncy driving tune. Similarly, there are bands that seem to suggest wilder dancing. Some (mostly local) bands just plod along at a pace that doesn't inspire me to do anything much; interestingly, even though i'm putting out less energy, these are the bands that usually make my feet hurt the worst because i don't have that momentum propelling me forward.

So i guess i mostly agree. That said, if i'm dancing follow, my philosophy towards flourishes is generally "make it work", so long as i'm don't feel uncomfortable or unsafe or in pain. If it's a slow groove and someone decides to lead a high energy move like a ripcord, i'll try to make that work with the music and the moment. A twirl that's fun when the music is fast is always fun, though it can be hard to time it right on slower tunes.
I guess the one place where i can see a connection is that they both represent a certain amount of progressiveness in dance--many of the flourishes we do are adapted from other dance forms, so you could argue that the spirit that draws us to think progressively about our dancing may also lead us to think progressively about our music. But considering the number of "hip cool dancers" out there who are still resistant to techno contra, and the number of techno contra fans out there who don't do flourishes...

Perry

12/8/2011 11:39:55 pm

I have to admit - I'm actually LESS likely to do flourishes to high-energy music than I would with many traditional bands. I'm not a fan of super slow stuff - but I find that with good slinky music, I can execute the flourishes in a more timely way, and linger in the flourish longer - maybe a longer dip or something of that nature. Of course I'm not a guy who music has to be fast 100% of the time - I like a slow tune here and there in between the fast contras. I find in high-energy tunes, where the timing generally is tight, I'm less likely to do flourishes because they have the potential to mess up the timing and make me and my partner late.

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Flourishes and Techno Contra: Correlation, or Causation?

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