Is Kizomba just dry humping?

At my local salsa venue, Kizomba takes up an entire room. People here love it. To my eyes, it looks like some kind of slow motion zombie apocalypse. People don't even really know how to dance it because no one here gives instructions. It just "is".

Now, I can't argue with what people want. If people want to dance Kizomba and there is a scene large enough to support it, then why not. I don't know if I could ever get into this dance, because it just doesn't look like dancing to me.

One girl I know who had a fight with her boyfriend told me she needed to dance some Kizomba to relieve her anger. I was like, "huh?" I don't know if I will ever understand the motivation for that.

I always used to think that the sensual bachata stuff was bad for people in relationships because it seemed to incorporate too much unnecessary contact... but Kizomba takes it to a whole other level as it seems to be more psychologically and emotionally engaging.
 
I didn't get it until I took a workshop. It's actually very cool, the steps are grounded flat with the base and its slow and meditative, and the music gives it a dirty getto feeling, it makes me feel like I'm in a favela in Brazil. After I nail down salsa and bachata, I'll find a good teacher and nail it down too. It's getting more and more popular.
 
I like it, I couldnt dance it all night but it would be nice to dance 1-3 a night, it is a much calmer dance and when I see people dancing it well it looks amazing.
 
Daveil said:
I didn't get it until I took a workshop. It's actually very cool, the steps are grounded flat with the base and its slow and meditative, and the music gives it a dirty getto feeling, it makes me feel like I'm in a favela in Brazil. After I nail down salsa and bachata, I'll find a good teacher and nail it down too. It's getting more and more popular.
Click to expand...

I admit I am starting to get curious, mainly due to the fact that my scene is so small that the salsa/kizomba dancers are essentially the same. Whether I watch live couples or videos of Kizomba dancing, I see nothing that would indicate this dance is either fun or musical. Technically, it seems almost too easy. I spent years earning my stripes in social dancing salsa On1, then On2, and then something like Kizomba bursts onto the scene and people grab onto it like nothing i've ever seen before and suddenly I am standing on the sidelines again....

I get a feeling this is a dance you simply have to be comfortable dancing with somebody close and you either have it or you don't.
 
Chris_Yannick said:
One girl I know who had a fight with her boyfriend told me she needed to dance some Kizomba to relieve her anger. I was like, "huh?" I don't know if I will ever understand the motivation for that.
Click to expand...

Kizomba can be very relaxing.

Chris_Yannick said:
I admit I am starting to get curious, mainly due to the fact that my scene is so small that the salsa/kizomba dancers are essentially the same. Whether I watch live couples or videos of Kizomba dancing, I see nothing that would indicate this dance is either fun or musical. Technically, it seems almost too easy. I spent years earning my stripes in social dancing salsa On1, then On2, and then something like Kizomba bursts onto the scene and people grab onto it like nothing i've ever seen before and suddenly I am standing on the sidelines again....

I get a feeling this is a dance you simply have to be comfortable dancing with somebody close and you either have it or you don't.
Click to expand...

Kizomba can be plenty fun and musical. Depends wholly on you. But yeah, it can be boring to watch. There is a reason most kizomba performances only do half a song of kizomba and then usually switch to semba.
 
Platypus said:
Kizomba can be very relaxing.
Click to expand...

I'm definitely a "play with the music" kind of guy. I don't normally get stymied by timing and I enjoy the intricacies of the percussive rhythms, which is why i love dancing salsa On2. To me, it is very relaxing. But to most girls I dance with, very few are comfortable with dancing On2, thus i'm guessing would find it stressful to be continuously counting in their head.

With Kizomba, it's just sway, sway, sway to an unmistakable downbeat. It's close and sensual. Honestly, do any guys here think of Kizomba as a non-lead in to sex? That may sound like a ridiculous question, but around here, a fair amount of people would say that Kizomba is an excuse to increase the chances of coital activity.

Platypus said:
Kizomba can be plenty fun and musical. Depends wholly on you. But yeah, it can be boring to watch. There is a reason most kizomba performances only do half a song of kizomba and then usually switch to semba.
Click to expand...

My scene has gone crazy for Kizomba. I know many people here that will dance it non-stop for hours. Throw in the occasional Salsa/Bachata and call it an evening.
 
TSC said:
But it's not just us Cuban style dancers, at least not here. Some of the very best LA-style dancers are actually the best kizomba dancers here. The best NY-style teacher I believe doesn't care for it much, but he seems to be an exception.
Click to expand...


This exception is called a descent taste. :) AFAIK he's the only teacher to whom cream of the scene go to learn and they become more musical dancers. And it has nothing to do with the LANYCU styles - he's one of the best here in all styles. Even I'm tempted to take some classes after this advertising.

K* music here is getting better, but it's still horrible. I know, I've played it for money (thank sennheiser for headphones :headphone:).
 
:D don't really agree with your 'taste' statement, but I agree that he's the best teacher here (well, aside from a couple people teaching Cuban salsa) and I've also considered taking some classes with him even though I dance Cuban (hehe assuming we're talking about the same person).

Also, now I'm curious who you are :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top