Samba

[pinkstuff]

I'm no good at explaining technique & I don't really know it, esp for Samba, but here is what I was told: to pretend I was dancing under a very low ceiling - avoided the forced "bounce" action with rise that I was doing and forced me to extend legs, bend knees and movement of hips/core (if that makes sense). I love the music & rythmn which makes it easier to move but then Samba is my favorite latin dance  Also I had to change the way I timed movements...I had all sorts of random words in my head for practice and moved to them to get the right rythmn, worked!

I don't do any social samba but what a routine I was taught at a social class was:
Forward/Back basic (2 each way) - and if we needed to we were told to rotate this slightly
whisks (4 - underarm turn on last)
2 botafogos
4 voltas
2 botafogo
4 volta
start again, think if we wanted to after 2nd 4 voltas did another botafogo and then rolling off the arm.

[TangoDancer]

I do find it the hardest dance.

As do we all.   

I see people practicing in the studio and they look like they have it. Nice long lines, that sense of bounce or dancing in the toes, that contracting of the abs and rolling onto the foot motion I was taught...but, after much ongoing practice of my front and back basics, bota fota's and volta's I still look and feel like an absolute beginner.

And social dancing samba, that's another story.  I need to learn I really simple routine I can dance with ladies socially. Any suggestions?

You really seem to have all of the right elements. It is just a difficult dance, and almost impossible to teach in cyberspace. A couple of things to watch for that might help... 1- when dancing the contraction, use it to literally bend the knees, and pull the heels from the floor (almost like Michael Jackson's famous move); this will take out unwanted bouncing, and prepare the legs/body for the push that comes after the hip roll. 2- make certain that the pushing leg (the back leg) is completely straightened coming out of the hip roll, and the body center is held upright (care to not drop the hip); this will give you the lines that you are looking for. 3- lastly, although there is this push from the contraction-roll of samba, samba is a 'pull' dance; ust he second/subsequent contraction to pull you through to the next step; this helps to maintain the integrity of the step, body position, and power. Hope it helps. If not, PM me if you like.

[QPO]

I love Latin  and Samba is one of my favs but  only socially, I find the music very enjoyable, but timing in our routine is very difficult for me, especially when I try to do the bounce....
I wont do it competitively...dont have the time to work on it Standard and NV are more than enough.

[cdnsalsanut]

Thank you all for the excellent advice. I'm off to practice it!

[ZPomeroy]

And social dancing samba, that's another story.  I need to learn I really simple routine I can dance with ladies socially. Any suggestions?

You could do something like:

3 walks forward and then step side
4 voltas to the left
4voltas to the right
2 stationary voltas
3 whisks
1 lock forward
2 sets of fallaways
and start again

Not too hard at all but it looks kinda flashy

Zac

[elisedance]

nice routine zac

[dlgodud]

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.

Agree. For me Samba is more natural and easy to execute. But, chacha is more demanding physically.

[TangoDancer]

I love Latin  and Samba is one of my favs but  only socially, I find the music very enjoyable, but timing in our routine is very difficult for me, especially when I try to do the bounce....

1. Realize that samba rhythm is not even (huge error for most). The first half is syncopated differently from the second. Think of it as 1 and a 2; 3 and 4 (da da-da-da; da da da). This is the base rhythm for samba. The confusing part comes in when we hear what is known as a conversa rhythm which is when the first and second halfs are overlapped (that is to say, played atop of each other so that one hears the triplet and whole beats on each half).

2. Forget bounce! Move "forward/back", and try to develop a contraction and roll of the diaphragm and hips. This will result in the "pull" action of the dance from step to step of the basic.

Hope this helps.

[ZPomeroy]

I do have a question for you TD, which hip action do you prefer? the figure 8 motion or the full circle action?

Zac

[TangoDancer]

The 8. The contraction and resulting ab/hip roll of the respective steps enables this action. The full circle style interupts this movement, I think.

[albanaich]

Nice article and diagrams on the Samba Rhythm. . . . . .

http://artatom.com/diagrams/

[ZPomeroy]

Does anyone know of any videos that show a 'slowed down' version of the samba hip movement, i'm still struggling with the figure 8 movement and would really like to see a good video where someone is actually explain the action...

Zac

[pinkstuff]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bs1Mnt7KQE
Is this helpful?  Not sure if it is what you are looking for but the samba is slow motion?

[elisedance]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bs1Mnt7KQE
Is this helpful?  Not sure if it is what you are looking for but the samba is slow motion?

W-ow! But he is SOOO much better than her.  I think he is the best I have ever seen.  maybe this was an off day for Joanna

[Some guy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bs1Mnt7KQE
Is this helpful?  Not sure if it is what you are looking for but the samba is slow motion?

W-ow! But he is SOOO much better than her.  I think he is the best I have ever seen.  maybe this was an off day for Joanna

Actually, Joanna is more true to what she does to music.  Michael is embellishing the motion in slow motion.  So I would say, watch Joanna closer as she's doing in slow motion exactly what she does to music.