Samba

[TangoDancer]

Have one in mind. Still trying to find it.................................

[samina]

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

huh... why do you say that, elise?

[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

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. 

really?  I find her dancing 'out of her body' too much arms so that she is a little behind the music.  Michael seems to defy physical limits and is always there with the beat, amazingly so...

[Burgess Penguin]

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.

So weird, it was the EXACT opposite for me, Cha-Cha came very natural to me. I've tried to do Samba before but it was a bear!

But now, I'm VERY determined to revisit and, horror of horrors, wonder of wonders, self-educate on this particular dance with the basics. Since no group Samba classes are scheduled at my local venues int he immediate future, I will take this route to start, and get further lessons when they become available.

[dlgodud]

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. 

really?  I find her dancing 'out of her body' too much arms so that she is a little behind the music.  Michael seems to defy physical limits and is always there with the beat, amazingly so...

A very different view indeed. I don't think she uses her arms too much compare to other ladies. The thing that makes you think is because her extension of the body is amazingly good. Another words, she uses her whole body for dancing from head to toes and in control. That is indeed extremely difficult. She is on the beat. The reason she looks late because she is very rhythmical following the changes of beat instead going on the same beat and dancing with the same strengths for the whole dance. Sometimes she looks very strong and fast, but sometimes very soft and slow. If you dance the Samba on the same beat and the same strengths for the whole dance, it would look very lazy and boring. That is my opinion.

[Some guy]

Completely agree.  

The thing that makes you think is because her extension of the body is amazingly good. Another words, she uses her whole body for dancing from head to toes and in control. That is indeed extremely difficult.

Yes, she does use her entire body for the movement.  Nothing is isolated.  I have a new pet peeve: isolation.  In my opinion, it's one of the many characteristics that makes dancing look fake and unnatural.  Our bodies weren't designed to operate body parts in isolation.  I also think that's why kids look so much better and so much quicker: they throw their whole body into the movement from head to toe without fear. 

[pinkstuff]

Feeling very grumpy about Samba.  I am curious to know who created some of the steps and thought it was a good idea to do samba walks (not cruzado just basic side-by-side) 

Am really not enjoying doing some syllabus steps, they just feel clunky & undignified, and just not like dancing.  I know I 'have' to do them (walks) but still.  I can't wait til the day they can be replaced.  I think the thing is that some "moves" are more like dancing than others, and basic samba walks are not in the dancing category!!

Enough complaining! 

[Some guy]

Is there anything in particular about the step that maybe someone here can help you with?  I found this video on the net:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC4OQ-jeSw8&p=89B3E4BE54D239CF&playnext=1&index=60

Unfortunately it's in Italian, but I thought maybe the inspiration would help. 

[pinkstuff]

Is there anything in particular about the step that maybe someone here can help you with?  I found this video on the net:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC4OQ-jeSw8&p=89B3E4BE54D239CF&playnext=1&index=60

Unfortunately it's in Italian, but I thought maybe the inspiration would help. 

Thank you!!  It's a really great video even if I only understand minute bits  .  Am working my way through them all - they are really clear.  I don't know whether it is the hold, or what, I may just have a mind blank or it doesn't look as horrible as I think, which is unlikely.  I think it is the hip action that I have issues with.  Other aspects of Samba I have far fewer problems but we have to do side-by-side/basic samba walks as a syllabus routine.

[dlgodud]

I always feel funny when people talk about how much they dislike Samba because Samba is one of my favorites.
It is a difficult dance, but I would like to suggest you that you might want to think you have a party and have fun when you dance samba.
It helped me a lot. Of course, technically you need to work on steps, but it would make you easy on the dance.

[samina]

i love samba. even when i stink at it.

Am really not enjoying doing some syllabus steps, they just feel clunky & undignified, and just not like dancing.  I know I 'have' to do them (walks) but still.

I know from my own history of dancing samba like a "garden troll" (as I've been aptly described with some wit by an instructor) that it all starts with my feet.

I'm wondering... and take anything I say on this subject with a truckfull of salt... are the balls of your feet sufficiently grounded into the floor and your heels up-up-up? Almost as if they are cemented between those two poles of up and down? And... are you in any way angling your toes in and not outwards? I found my own limitation regarding angling in was directly connected to my pelvis, which was too far back. I needed to bring everything closer, tighter, and forward in order for a proper open-ness in the front of my hips to allow the turnout which would allow my feet to contact the ground properly... and these corrections have helped my dancing samba less like a garden troll.

Perhaps you are way beyond me in this...in which case, just let it pass overheard. But this is what I've been working on in order to alleviate the same problem for myself.

[pinkstuff]

I really like samba too.  I just have issues with it   

Am being exceedingly grumpy about it, and told my teacher who laughed    Most of the steps fit into party mode & it is good but there are certain points where I just think "nobody in their right mind is going to do this at a party", ah well.  Thinking of it as a party definitely helps - thanks!

Feet & heels - the never ending problem, one thing right, the rest go wrong.  Have also been working on more "contact" & my heels/ankles/feet don't consistently work.  Guess it is just consistent practice but I tend to avoid doing the things I hate most.

Thank you for all the advice. 

[TangoDancer]

Am really not enjoying doing some syllabus steps, they just feel clunky & undignified, and just not like dancing.  I know I 'have' to do them (walks) but still.

Samba is, as has been said, very difficult. The basic reason is that BR has tried to blend Brazilian, Caribbean, and BR... add into the mix, DS, and you come out with a mess that is very difficult to dance. However, we can fix your walks rather easily. The real secret to samba is 'contraction/roll'.  

1. Know that samba is a pull dance, meaning that the movements are driven by a pulling action rather than by pushing the feet/body, or picking up the feet to move.
2. Here's the hard part. The pull is created by a contraction in the abs (as if the foot were connected to the upper abs by a string). To acheive this, place the thumb just below the sternum and above the abs (in that little hole/space), and the mid finger below the navel. Now, squeeze them together. See how this creates a contraction feeling?
3. Once this feeling is relatively natural, think of that string pulling the heels up from the floor each time you contract. Contract, and stand on the balls of both feet. A very, very important part of the samba at this point is to flex the knees the knees so that there is no rise. Do not... not, not, not allow there to be any rise. This is when one gets that dreadful bounce that everyone thinks is supposed to be there, but really kills a authentic samba, and all hopes of any real power in the movement to follow.
4. Once standing upright (not sloutching at the shoulders), contracting, and lifting to the balls of the feet becomes natural feeling, you will be able to feel when the contraction wants to pull the foot forward. Here is where you employ the last part of the movement... the roll.
5. Practice first by just standing with the weight towards the front of the feet. Now, gently press outward the left hip --not too much. Now, roll, make a semi-circle to the right hip. At the point where the weight is just over the hip, allow the roll to push the left foot forward. Reverse this for the right foot.

Wait, Mr Dancer Dude! You said this is a pull dance!  

And, it is. When you feel that you have the timing of the roll and push, then try it from the contracted position on the balls of the feet. Voila. The push has become a pull almost as if by magic. Of course, we then we have to discuss adding in inside edges, and third positions. When you do this alternatingly, you have a perfect samba walk. Damned difficult? Yes. Impossible to do in a short period of time? Absolutely not (though, it took me about 3 years).

[Rugby]

Ah, so nice to have confirmation of how I learned and do samba movement.  When I try and tell what you have mentioned to people they think I am crazy since their instructor has told them that samba is like hopping back and forth over a log.  They do the samba like polka on steroids with an even timing and refuse to listen to anything else.  The volte looks like they are dragging a broken leg but they are happy and they all do it so what the heck.   

[samina]

(thanks for that wonderful post, TD... will be printing it out and working with that for some time, i'm sure! )