Re: اغنية What Makes You Beautiful
Nichelle Gruger
Dancers, have you ever found yourself standing on the sidelines for the first half of each song trying to figure out what dance is supposed to be done to the music? Like my students you might be wondering: How do I know what dance to do to a song?
Once you know if the song is slow or fast (or somewhere in between), you can then rule out some dances. For example, if the song is fast, then all the slower dances are out, such as Rumba, Nightclub Two Step and Slow Waltz. Or if the song is really slow, you can cross off Cha Cha, Salsa, East Coast Swing and Viennese Waltz.
I think that about covers it. I would do a slowish kind of lazy waltz. You can move a lot, but keep it more shifting weight on the one and three. Trying to hit all beats would be too fast and not fit the song. Country western dancers and Mexican dancers do this well. Just think waltz, but feel the music, with a little bit of viennese posture, but not the triple tempo. hard to put into words, but feel the music on this and it will come easy and should be quite romantic and beautiful for a wedding.
Hey Steve. Very beautiful song. The 6/8 time signature and tempo of this song lends itself more to a specific type of waltz called Viennese Waltz which is much faster than just standard Waltz. Viennese Waltz can be a bit more difficult to learn but there are certain figures such as the balance step or balance and box step in Viennese Waltz which a beginner could learn quickly. You may check with your teacher.
Hello! I am a begginer and i will have my wedding next year and we want to dance on Soldier by gavin degraw ( =OfHUBcevBn0) and at first i really thought its a waltz but then someone has told me its blues. can you explain me which one is correct and why? for me it seems at counting as a waltz and im quite confused. Thank you in advance!
Hi Brandee, I have the reverse question. I am doing a cha cha with my instructor in the upcoming showcase. He keeps asking what song. I am only focusing on the dance. Any suggestion would be helpful. I have been dancing for 2 and a half years. This will be the fourth showcase. First time for cha. I want the tempo to be challenging and able to execute the steps correctly.
Hi Kandance: Thanks so much for sharing! How cool that you did a duet-style remix of the 2 versions of the song and choreographed a great Rumba to it. Congrats on getting married *and* rocking your first dance!
But if you want a more traditional/slow first dance, Foxtrot (Slow-Slow-Quick-Quick figures) would be one option. Although the song is on the fast side for Foxtrot, so it might not feel relaxed enough for what you want.
This is a beautiful song, although the beat is very hard to hear and follow! If you hear music well, you could dance figures from Foxtrot that have a Slow-Quick-Quick rhythm. This means you are stepping 3 times, which is the same as Waltz, so you can use pretty much any Waltz figure you know (Box step, Box with Underarm Turn, Progressive/Traveling, Whisks/5th Position Breaks, Twinkles, etc).
From this base, he can throw in a twirl or two for your daughter. Also, as long as her dress allows it, he could also travel this step a little around the dance floor by stepping diagonally forward (instead of straight to the side)
Note: This song is slow, so the tendency will be to go faster than the music. So remind your husband to breathe and keep things slow and mellow. Pro tip: Be lazy with the taps. Keep the foot on the floor longer than you think before picking it up to tap.
Hi I am getting ready for my wedding. The only dance we both know is the rumba which is perfect. However, we only know older songs and wondering if you know 5 current song that is a rumba. I have trouble finding songs and identifying the beat. Could you help me?
All of Me by John Legend (this one might feel a bit too fast)
I Found You by Alabama Shakes
Lovesong by Adele
The Way I Am by Ingrid Michaelson
Young and Beautiful by Lana Del Ray
Everything by Michael Buble
Hi My name is brandon and i am currently a ballroom dancer in high school. I am fairly new but i am in charge of choreographing a dance. I chose Come and Get Your Love by redbone. I was thinking rumba but couldnt tell. The bpm is 105. What do you think?
I am not in your area of the country to take lessons directly, however, trying my best to work with the basics I know, at this time of quarantine, and put them to some different musical stylings. I would appreciate if you would be willing to offer guidance, please and thank you.
Ah, thanks so much for your kind praise and appreciation. Sounds like you have more dance and music talent than you think, because the questions you asked are sophisticated and show great creative thinking!
Light of the Seven will definitely be easier to dance to. It too is 4/4 time but the tempo is faster, so will work nicely with Foxtrot Slow-Quick-Quick figures (as well as non-official moves and dramatic gestures).
I thoroughly enjoyed reading through all of your suggestions and it is very helpful. I am wondering about your recommendation for I hope you Dance by LeAnn Womack, specifically slower intro type parts.
An alternative to NCTS would be Foxtrot would work well. Foxtrot shares some steps with Rumba (such as the Box, a turning Box and a Box with Underarm Turn), but unlike Rumba, Foxtrot has sway and lilt that will match this song better.
60bpm is indeed very slow. At that speed, I recommend stepping on every beat. Your basic will just be that of a school slow dance: shifting weight side to side. Of course, you can travel, do slow turns and other moves just stepping on every beat.
I agree with you that this song is pretty darn mellow without any places that really pick up or call for fancy moves. You can still do some relaxed turns and spins, but a lift would probably look out of place.
What Dance would you recommend for Fix You by Coldplay. It starts melancholic but is actually an uplifting song about comfort and love. 4/4 time and I am stumped. My partner has a knee replacement so he has to careful in that respect. I was thinking adding some turns when it picks up to add drama. Thoughts?
Hello,
My fianc and I would like tom dance to the very non-traditional song Send Me An Angel, by Real Life, but have no idea what dance to do. We are not experienced dancers, though we will take lessons, but would need to keep things pretty basic. Would you have any suggestions?
My fiance have more of a rock song as our first dance and so do him and his mom. Love of a Lifetime by Firehouse and Simple Man by Lynyrd Skynyrd. What type of dance do we even try to do with these? Neither of us have formal dance experience.
Thank you!!
If either of those feels like too fast/too much stepping (Hustle is 8 steps every 8 beats; Cha Cha is 10), you could dance Rumba. Traditional Rumba is a slower Latin dance, but it works great for pop songs just danced casually without all the Latin technique.
Hello Brandee,
Thank you so much for your article.
My fianc and I have picked we have all the time in the world (the James Bond theme song) and we are struggling to figure out what would be the best dance for it.
Would have any advice for us ?
Thanks a lot
Alice
Hello, my wife and I were trying to figure out what dance to do to Panalangin by the APO Hiking Society for our wedding. She is Filipino and the song means a lot to her. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks so much!
Swing/Upbeat Feel: East Coast Swing with a single time rhythm (i.e. step, step, rock-step). The rhythm is Slow-Slow-Quick-Quick, so 1 basic step takes 6 beats of music. The song is a tad slow for this, so you have to relax into it. If you find you keep going faster than the beat of the song, try a 4-count Hustle. This means doing the same steps and moves of East Coast Swing but stepping on every beat: 1-2-3-4 instead of Slow-Slow-Quick-Quick. Alas, the song is a bit fast for doing this comfortably as a beginner dancer, so chances are East Coast Swing with a relaxed, casual feel will be best.
Alternatively, a simple side-tap basic would work great. Then build moves off of that (i.e. not an official dance style, just pulling inspiration from other dances making it fit the speed & feel of this song).
So instead I would recommend one of the following instead:
1. Foxtrot, Modified to dance double time. Slows would be 1 beat (instead of 2 beats) and Quicks half a beat (instead of 1 beat)
2. Do a basic slow dance: side-tap, side-tap and then build moves off of that, drawing from dances like Foxtrot, Swing and anything else you like!
So I recommend creating your own dance using a side tap basic step. You can then build spins, twirls and other moves off of the basic. For most/all of these other moves, you can just step on every beat.
Your question took a bit of research. There seem to be multiple versions of this song, at least one of which has a very hard to hear beat! This is the best version for dancing that I found: =OkOB57UcYk8
Then you can spice it up with some turns and more complex moves where you might do different things with your feet. But for your basic moves, you can keep it romantic and simple, matching the feel of the song using hesitation timing.
2. A Box Step (from Rumba or Foxtrot) could work nicely. The rhythm is Slow-Quick-Quick. You can then use other moves from Rumba or Foxtrot (like a Box with Slow Underarm Turn) that fit the vibe of the song.
Originally I had wanted to teach my daughter how to fox trot (which I know how to do). But her song choice did not work. The Foxy basic has two walks, so it feels fox trot-ish to me. And the videos show people doing fox trot stuff (which I already know) like promenade walks and the corner step turn.
Hello,
We have chosen our wedding song to be L.O.V.E by Frank Sinatra. We both absolutely love Frank and that song. I learned the Waltz some time ago and am a bit rusty, but with a few freshers will be able to pick it right back up. I know it is a dance for beginners and feel that my fiance will as well. My question is does that song fit with that dance. Unfortunately, I cannot locate any videos of anyone dancing the Waltz to L.O.V.E. or If you can recommend a different dance style for beginners that would fit our Frank Sinatra song. Your expertise would be greatly appreciated.