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.