Samba

[malakawa]

talking with the students (whom have dance experience) and read what peoples are saying i found that a lot of people don't like samba.

i am asking my self why???

it is nice music (makes me happy), dance with the nice movement (in one way challenging movements) ..... what is that that makes you not to like samba??

[emeralddancer]

talking with the students (whom have dance experience) and read what peoples are saying i found that a lot of people don't like samba.

i am asking my self why???

it is nice music (makes me happy), dance with the nice movement (in one way challenging movements) ..... what is that that makes you not to like samba??

I love it .... just wish it loved me.

Need to learn to do it (in the hips, LOL)

[Some guy]

I can answer this from my own experience and what I perceive to be the experience of others who learned it with me from some of my coaches: I think it has a lot to do with the negative attitude with which it was taught.  It was always taught from the outset as, "this is the hardest dance ever, and there's no way you'll learn how to do it right any time soon, etc.".

That immediately sets an unconscious "barrier" in our brains to learning the dance with an open unbiased mind.  Some of the teachers I've had then went on to teach how to "run" before teaching us how to "walk" the samba.  Basically, most teachers I've learned Samba from have "explained" what they were doing when they were dancing full-out rather than "teaching" the student how to do it.  Explanations as to what the teachers' bodies were doing, in my mind, were completely unnecessary and execessive at such an early stage as it saddled us with a lot of baggage that I'm trying to shed to this day.  So Samba, out of all the dances, does have complex movement which is why I believe it should be taught, not explained.  I believe that once it's "taught" properly, then the student will be able to "explain" it without any help from the teacher.  

[emeralddancer]

I can answer this from my own experience and what I perceive to be the experience of others who learned it with me from some of my coaches: I think it has a lot to do with the negative attitude with which it was taught.  It was always taught from the outset as, "this is the hardest dance ever, and there's no way you'll learn how to do it right any time soon, etc.".

yep like slow fx.

sigh ..........

when I hear quite the opposite from my mom/coach.

[MusicChica]

I love it .... just wish it loved me.

YES.

I love samba too--I love watching it, I love the music...I just can't do it well.  I think it has a lot to do with the fact that the hip/leg movement is so different in samba than in the other Latin dances.  Timing is also probably a problem for some people because it's syncopated, but since I have a music background that's never been an issue for me.  For me, the problem is with hip/leg and body action.

[Some guy]

yep like slow fx.

How was it taught to you?  I've watched many teachers say to their students right fromt he onset that it's the hardest dance.  I, luckily, learned to do it before ever being taught how to.  So my teacher only had to teach me how to style it a little bit here and there.  Hence, it's our easiest dance.  I admit that if I'm to explain to someone what I'm doing on every single beat it could get VERY complicated.  However, if I were to teach it to somebody, I think it'll be quite simple.  Actually, scratch that, I know it's simple to teach as I was able to do it twice now to folks who've had trouble doing it for years.  Grant it, it all depends on the student, but I know that if I was taught by my first teacher how to do foxtrot the way he teaches his other students, it'll be giving me the same trouble that my samba is giving me. 

[emeralddancer]

yep like slow fx.

How was it taught to you?  I've watched many teachers say to their students right fromt he onset that it's the hardest dance.  I, luckily, learned to do it before ever being taught how to.  So my teacher only had to teach me how to style it a little bit here and there.  Hence, it's our easiest dance.  I admit that if I'm to explain to someone what I'm doing on every single beat it could get VERY complicated.  However, if I were to teach it to somebody, I think it'll be quite simple.  Actually, scratch that, I know it's simple to teach as I was able to do it twice now to folks who've had trouble doing it for years.  Grant it, it all depends on the student, but I know that if I was taught by my first teacher how to do foxtrot the way he teaches his other students, it'll be giving me the same trouble that my samba is giving me. 

yeah well my coach says the slow fox is the hardest of standard dances. my mom/coach say it is not. (reprogramming) I believe her.

So I will assume she will tell me samba is much the same.

actually I know for a FACT she will tell me "Carol, just feel and walk" LOL

[dream a little dream]

I have tried Samba.  it is difficult for me to "get"...as I am still struggling with slowfox and waltz and quickstep right now, yeah, I just didn't want to dance a dance I liked but didn't love and struggle with it, too.
Now, I love watching it and listening to the music!

[malakawa]

yep like slow fx.

How was it taught to you?  I've watched many teachers say to their students right fromt he onset that it's the hardest dance.  I, luckily, learned to do it before ever being taught how to.  So my teacher only had to teach me how to style it a little bit here and there.  Hence, it's our easiest dance.  I admit that if I'm to explain to someone what I'm doing on every single beat it could get VERY complicated.  However, if I were to teach it to somebody, I think it'll be quite simple.  Actually, scratch that, I know it's simple to teach as I was able to do it twice now to folks who've had trouble doing it for years.  Grant it, it all depends on the student, but I know that if I was taught by my first teacher how to do foxtrot the way he teaches his other students, it'll be giving me the same trouble that my samba is giving me. 

can you explain this a little bit more 

[Some guy]

Well, to me, there's a huge difference between being taught something and being explained something.  The choice the teacher makes I believe, will directly impact the speed at which a student learns.  To illustrate the difference between teaching and explaining, I'll use an every day example:

- Brushing my Teeth (while demonstrating in person):
  --Teaching: 1) pick up toothbrush 2) squeeze out toothpaste onto it 3) open lips 4) rub the bristles on the teeth 5) rub on all surfaces of teeth. 6).... 7)... ... [a few more steps].  Then after a brief demonstration, the student should hopefully be able to manage the task without looking too awkward and master it with some practice and after watching me do it a few more times.
  --Explaining: 1) place thumb over the toothbrush handle edge 2) use other four fingers under handle while making sure that tip of thumb is in line with the handle of the toothbrush facing the end with the bristles and perpendicular to the other four fingers 3) apply moderate pressure and use bicep muscle to lift and bring toothbrush towards the toothpaste tube 4) rotate brush to face towards ceiling, place toothpaste tube's openning 2-millimeters from toothbrush head, hold toothpaste tube from bottom 5) apply moderate pressure to squeeze out... etc... 6)... 7)... ... [explaining how much toothpaste is required] 9) use bicep muscle and shoulder muscle to bring toothbrush to face and use wrist-joint and forearm muscles to rotate handle around it's own vertical axis 45-degrees ...10)... 15)....29)... 88) use left lip muscles to provide access to left front incisor tooth and apply rub toothbrush horizontally ... 96) and flex wrist muscles and biceps to control toothbrush... etc...

My point is that after I was "taught" how to do it, I could "explain" it at any level of detail necessary.  I could write a book about it and still have more points to add if I needed to write a sequel.  If I only received the "explanation" of how to do something, then  it would require me to actually use all that information and "teach" myself.  That process of obtaining lots of information and processing it, effectively, teaching myself, takes a lot longer in my opinion. 

The irony is that it's after one learns it is usually when one can actually understand all the bits of the explanation that was provided to them in the first place.  So if the explanation is given first, then the student has to teach themselves, after which point in time they can actually understand the explanation.  So it becomes a case of which comes first?  Chicken or the Egg?  Boggles the mind doesn't it?!
  
My coach usually tells me, here, do this!... and I do it.  Then he goes, "good! That's all you need to know!".  It's afterwards that I realize that I just did a same-foot lunge or a contra-check.  He won't even tell me the name of the step until after I have demonstrated that I can do it.  Once I know how it's done, I can explain it to anybody at any level of detail. 

However, as a disclaimer, I would like to add that I understand that there others here who probably would not be able to use that approach to learning... although I have yet to meet anyone like that (oops!  That was a disclaimer to a disclaimer wasn't it?!). 

[waltzelf]

Compared to the Cha Cha, the Samba is a cakewalk.

Samba has a very fluid action - once you've got the pieces of the jigsaw, it feels relatively natural to do. The Cha is entirely unnatural and uncomfortable, and physically more draining than any other dance.

[elisedance]

yep like slow fx.

sigh ..........

when I hear quite the opposite from my mom/coach.

exuse the hijack but she is (of course) right.  Once you stop trying  to  do it and get back to walking it becomes natural..

[elisedance]

I like the samba- can't do it very well but love to try..
sorry, I guess I came in a different door

[Rugby]

Love the samba.  I especially love samba music with a heavy African beat.

[QPO]

I love samba then rumba out of the Latin Dances. I am often told that I don't dance enough into the floor and also that I am bending one of my legs too much.