Which comes first: dancing or technique?".

[elisedance]

From Dancesportinfo interview of World Champions, Arunas Bizokas and Katusha Demidova, Feb, 2010.

How important is technique in dancing?

[Arunas] I think it is the Key. Without technique I don't think you have the possibility to produce great performances and technique allows you to produce it, especially to produce it more consistently. It is very important.

Interesting quote.  And I agree - the critical thing though is that technique is the foundation of dance, but it is not the house...

[pruthe]

From Dancesportinfo interview of World Champions, Arunas Bizokas and Katusha Demidova, Feb, 2010.

How important is technique in dancing?

[Arunas] I think it is the Key. Without technique I don't think you have the possibility to produce great performances and technique allows you to produce it, especially to produce it more consistently. It is very important.

Interesting quote.  And I agree - the critical thing though is that technique is the foundation of dance, but it is not the house...

+1  :-)

[Some guy]

The article doesn't say that technique isn't important, instead Fred said to dance "in accordance with the book. Not according to the book".  I think what's prevalent is the latter.  I think what top dancers do is the former.  So sure, technique is important, because it HAS to be in accordance with the book.  That doesn't mean you dance according to the book.  It's like driving: you can drive in accordance with the rules, but if you drive according to the rules, you might break your car or kill either yourself or someone else. 

The technique book just mentions mile markers that you see as you drive by.  Not destinations at which you have to stop and get out of the car each time.

  

[phoenix13]

I'm with sami on this one.  You need both, so get some of both and have at it. Over time, you'll get to deeper and deeper layers of technique, but I think that focusing on too much technique too early is a great way to get paralyzed.

I also think that it depends on what you're trying to accomplish.  If what you want to do is dance for fun, go dance; don't overthink it.  If what you want is to become an effective high-level dance competitor in as short a time as possible, then start with someone who can teach you technique.

I also think that the article makes some great points.  I love the lion analogy. Lions naturally do what they need to do.  Nobody has to teach them how to align their bodies for proper stalking.  they just stalk.  I think it's possible that we adult humans may have spent a lot of time laying poor "technique" on top of the good stuff we knew naturally.  It's under there somewhere.  We've just forgotten it.  Example:  How much time have we, collectively, spent learning to walk?  Just sayin.