Flow Seekers: The Characteristics of Flow in Social Dance, Part 1
“To feel completely at one with what you are doing, to know you are strong and able to control your destiny at least for the moment, and to gain a sense of pleasure independent of results is to experience flow. The flow state has many names - optimal experience, playing in the zone, feeling on a high, and being totally focused are some of the more common labels. Whatever words you use to describe flow experiences, they’re sure to be associated with the most precious moments in your memory.”
- Susan A. Jackson and Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi
There has been a lot of research over the past two decades on the concept of flow in sports and other activities. Other writers have contributed to the literature as well with the concept of play, as with Diane Ackerman’s book, Deep Play. Regardless of what you call it, most people have experienced the rare and unexpected feeling of being “in the zone” or “on a high”. The fact that so many books have been written on the topic while the concept itself remains difficult to articulate testifies to the elusive and ephemeral quality of the experience.
Social dancing is such an attractive activity to so many because it is conducive to the flow experience and because it allows us to share that feeling of flow with another person. Anyone who has danced long enough will experience a dance in which everything - the connection with their partner, the rhythm and feeling of the music, the movement of their body - seems so right and perfect that they can’t stop thinking about the dance for days. Moments like these are addicting, and they turn the social dancer into a flow seeker, a person who pursues moments of bliss on the dance floor.
But what is so tantalizing about the flow experience? Why does it leave us wanting more? Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi has written and co-written more than a dozen books on the flow experience in sports and art as well as work and everyday activities and is the foremost researcher on the topic. Borrowing ideas from Csikzentmihalyi’s books as well as Andrew Cooper’s Playing in the Zone, I have selected three characteristics of flow that I feel are the most significant and relevant to social dance.
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The Neuroscience of Dance
Scientific American published an article this month on the neuroscience of dance. You can check out the complete article here.
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The Meaning of Tango: A Review
Copyright © 2008 Karin Norgard
Argentine tango is perhaps the most mysterious and alluring of all the social dances. Its basic structure – made up of walking steps – is simple, allowing great creativity in the movements and musical interpretation as well as requiring a deep connection with a partner. It is difficult to describe the intimacy and expression that Argentine tango allows, and yet many writers try to capture its essence in words the best they can, savoring this existential experience.
Christine Denniston succeeds in capturing some of this magic in The Meaning of Tango: The Story of the Argentinian Dance. Although the author focuses on the history, culture, and technique of the dance, she manages to do so in a way that does not divorce the important facts and figures from the “story.” Instead of offering an academic analysis of the dance’s history, Denniston attempts to demonstrate what the dance meant to those who danced it and how that meaning shaped the development of the dance itself.
Denniston’s information and inspiration comes from dancers who learned during the Golden Age of the tango in Buenos Aires – from about 1935 to 1955. Their experiences with the dance provide an interesting inside look into the history of the tango. Offering few dates and figures and more themes and anecdotes, the author weaves together an enticing portrait of what the tango meant to those who danced it and how their experiences shaped the technique that tango devotees spend hours learning and practicing today.
After providing an overview of some of the basic elements and relationships found within the dance, the author breaks down the fundamental techniques of the dance itself, from the embrace and basic walking steps to the cross and turning steps. Each technique is explained in simple language, emphasizing how the technique contributes to the meaning and purpose of the dance as explained in the context of history. Denniston places special emphasis on the connection between the leader and follower and how each technique contributes to that connection.
From the history and culture of Argentine tango to the relationship between meaning and technique, The Meaning of Tango offers an enjoyable read for complete beginners as well as tango enthusiasts. The book’s one major weakness is that although the author interviewed many Golden Age dancers for a unique perspective on the dance, she does not offer a single direct quote or experience from any of them. Hearing from these Golden Age dancers in their own words would have made the author’s message come alive even more. Despite this, however, Denniston offers an excellent devotional book on the history, the technique, and the meaning of the tango.
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