Ballroom dance swirls toward dancesport

Ballroom dance swirls toward dancesport

Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The couple twirled around the dance floor, rising and falling,
dipping and turning, keeping in time with the music. Smiles were
transfixed on their faces. When the music ended, the couple had
just a few short minutes to catch their breath before the next
tune obliged them to start dancing again.

The couple, Lin Kui Tsung and Lie Ni Lin, are competitive
ballroom dancers taking part in this year's Indonesian Dancesport
Championship at the Plenary Hall, Jakarta Convention Center.

With more than 10 years of experience, Lin Kui Tsung started
ballroom dancing as a hobby. This hobby has taken the middle-aged
man halfway around Asia for competitions in Singapore, Taiwan and
Malaysia, where he has won widespread recognition.

At last year's Dancesport Championship, the couple won first
place for Modern Selection Senior and Pre-Amateur classes.

"We practice every day, we don't want the quality of our
dancing to drop," Lin said, adding that their dancing is
complimented with a daily jog to keep the stamina in shape.

Lin's partner, Lie Ni Lin, only started dancing in the last
two years. Lin and Li met at the Safiel Dance Sport school in
Central Jakarta. "I love it, it's my hobby," she remarked.

After watching 83 couples dance it out at last week's
championship, it is understandable why ballroom dancing has
shifted toward competitive dancesport.

Instead of the leisurely dancing one enjoys on romantic
evenings, dancesport involves competition and fitness levels
that, with fast flips and lifts, resembles ice skating without
the ice.

"This is a sport, it keeps us fit and healthy. Just look at
her, just bones and no meat," Lin laughed, indicating to Lie who
was also laughing.

"It's true, since starting dancesport I rarely get sick," she
added.

The International Dancesport Federation (IDSF) defines
dancesport as partner dancing between a man and woman combined as
a couple, using the required technique together with floorcraft
and artistic interpretation to produce a highly disciplined dance
performance.

Today it includes any dance style that has achieved an
internationally recognized competition structure and has adopted
a sports-based culture. These include the Standard section, Latin
American section, the Ten-Dance section and the Rock'n Roll
section.

The dances contested in the Standard section are the Waltz,
Tango, Viennese Waltz, Slow Foxtrot and the Quickstep; while
those contested in the Latin American section are the Samba, Cha
Cha Cha, Rumba, Paso Doble, and the Jive.

The Ten-Dance section contested all the 10 dances of the
Standard and Latin America sections, and the Rock 'n Roll section
was contested in three separate styles; Rock 'n' Roll, Boogie
Woogie and Lindy Hop.

The Rock'n Roll championships are conducted under the rules
and regulations of the World Rock'n Roll Confederation (WRRC),
according to the IDSF.

The Indonesian Dancesport Championship contested last week the
Modern Ballroom section, or Standard, and the Latin American
section.

Participants must show talent, skill and art in Waltz,
Quickstep, Tango, and Slow Foxtrot for the Modern Ballroom
section; and Cha Cha Cha, Rumba, Jive, and Samba for the Latin
American section.

The performances are judged by timing and basic rhythm, body
lines, movement, rhythmic interpretation, footwork and
floorcraft.

The judges for this year's competition are internationally
renowned dance partners Jukka Haapalainen and Sirpa Suutari from
Finland, and Adam Reeve and Karen Bjork Reeve from Iceland.

The dance floor was a display of color, sequins, flared skirts
and feathers that night as the competitors vied for prize money
totaling more than Rp 26 million (US$3,000).

Winners of the Indonesian Dancesport Championship 2002 in the
Modern Ballroom section were: Sanov and Yovita of Yogyakarta
(Beginners: Waltz); Andrianus Que and Sandra of Jakarta (Novice:
Waltz, Quickstep); Adrianus Que and Sandra of Jakarta (Pre
Amateur: Waltz, Tango, Quickstep); Donny Oetomo and Evelyn
Phanjaya of Jakarta (Amateur: Waltz, Tango, Slow Foxtrot,
Quickstep); Andrew Yow and Rita Rahardjo of Jakarta (Senior:
Waltz, Tango, Slow Foxtrot).

In the Latin American section, the winners were Arie S and
Deana M of Jakarta (Beginners: Cha Cha Cha); Didin and Tari of
Bandung (Novice: Rumba, Jive); Ferry and Sri Nurhayati of Bandung
(Pre Amateur: Cha Cha Cha, Rumba, Samba); Nico Darmawan and
Melissa Phanjaya of Jakarta (Amateur: Cha Cha Cha, Samba, Rumba,
Jive); Dhenny Vebrian and Fey Cu of Bandung (Senior: Cha Cha Cha,
Rumba, Samba).

After the competition, at about 11 p.m., the four judges
demonstrated their international capabilities in front of the
participants.

Despite the lateness -- the finals began only after 8 p.m. --
all traces of boredom were swept away watching the grace and
power of the two couples.

Standard ballroom may be beautifully romantic, but nothing
could beat the heat and dynamics of Latin American dance, it
seemed, judging from the response Haapalainen and Suutari
received for their rendition of the lively Samba, Cha Cha Cha
Cha, and Jive.

Their mastery of the dance floor was something to be envied, a
far cry from the Indonesian participants who often bumped into
each other during the heat of the dance.

Description of popular ballroom dances

* Rumba: a slow and romantic Latin dance. Inspired by African
rhythms and Latin melodies, the Americanized version of the Cuban
Rumba is the basis for the Mambo and Cha Cha Cha. The Rumba is a
pre-requisite for good Latin dancing, and helps sharpen your
sense of rhythm, timing and muscle control.

* Cha Cha Cha: Originally an offshoot of the Mambo, the Cha Cha
Cha was the rage in the 50s and is probably the most popular
social Latin dance in America. It has an infectious rhythm that
has been used by many musicians, even those who are not
traditionally thought of as Latin. The rhythmical "split beat" of
the Cha Cha Cha and the many open movements add surety and poise
to your dancing style.

* Samba: a Latin dance with origins in Brazil. There are many
different types of Samba, including more elegant Salon dancing,
and the wild, uninhibited popular dancing associated with
Carnival. Samba has very distinctive and varied rhythms occurring
simultaneously within every song, which helps to build richness
in the music and excitement in the listening. It is often called
the "South American Waltz", as it features a "rise and fall" type
of motion which is associated with waltz.

* Jive: an international style version of Swing, a dance which
swept across the United States in the early '30s and was very
popular through the '40s. Single step, double step and triple
step versions make Swing a dance easily adaptable to a variety of
tempos of music, from moderately slow to very fast. Swing is a
highly adaptable dance, going equally well with Big Band type
music, rock-and-roll music, and many Motown songs. Swing music is
generally up-tempo and bouncy.

* Foxtrot: The Foxtrot has been America's most popular dance
since 1913. Introduced by a Vaudevillian named Harry Fox, it
quickly became the standard of social dancing. Foxtrot is a great
dance for beginners, as it teaches the novice variety,
maneuverability, and how to combine steps easily.

The music for Foxtrot is any slow to moderately slow Big Band
or pop music song, or "slow dance". Most pop music is written in
four/four timing, which is Foxtrot's rhythm (four beats to a
measure of music). The mantra for Foxtrot is the classic dance
teacher's phrase: "Slow, Slow, Quick, Quick".

*Quickstep: Although the music for Quickstep sounds like a fast
Foxtrot, it is actually considered to be a marriage between the
Waltz and the Charleston. The dance features both the light, airy
foot movements of the Charleston and the "floating through space"
of the Waltz.

* Waltz: The waltz might be the most popular dance of all time,
since it is considered the forerunner of popular social dancing.
Developed in Southern Germany in the 17th Century, Waltz's
popularity as a social dance blossomed with the music of Johann
Strauss. Waltz music has a distinctive one-two-three tempo (three
beats to a measure of music) and is very commonly played at
weddings and other social events.

* Tango: Tango was the romantic rage of the 1920's in the US,
introduced to millions by silent screen idol Rudolph Valentino in
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Born in the West Indies and
stylized by the gauchos of Argentina, simmered in the brothels of
Buenos Aires and brought to a boil in the elegant salons of
Paris, the Tango is considered a "dancer's dance". Its unique
rhythms offer fabulous training for timing and footwork, building
a foundation useful in any dance. Social Tango is not as
intensely intimate as Argentine Tango, as the dancers maintain a
regular social dance hold. In Argentine Tango, the dancers are
often cheek to cheek, and this effect, coupled with intricate leg
intertwining, gives Argentine Tango a much more sensual feel than
American (Social) Tango.