Two of the most difficult questions to ask women (for me) is 1) how'd you learn to dance and 2) what influenced your dancing. Which is sux because whenever I do ask, they give me half-assed answers or I just don't ask so there's a lost opportunity. In any case, now I can ask you people!
Personally, way back when I was 18, I saw breakdancing on tv. Specifically music videos. I think Run DMC's "It's like that" video, but there was no way I could do that just by watching. But eventually I picked up some stuff, and while looking back I was probably very very very messy, it started me on the road to dancing.
This was years ago -- I was 18. My body fat and mass was lower than it is now (mass higher, fat slightly higher). So it wasn't a big deal that I could go into a club at around 730pm when it was blasting, and dance non-stop until 2am when the club closed. Yar. In any case, at first my dancing was chaotic, but still really fast. I also tossed in breakdancing whenever possible, but eventually I found it to be too erratic and difficult to integrate into regular dancing. As I proceeded, I started to dance to the beat and rhythm of the song. If the song's beats was more pronounced, I would dance to the beat (or bass). If it was lyrics, then I would dance to the lyrics.
Fast forward six years later. I have been clubbing extensively for years, with a few years took off to work and go to college locally. Years later I met my ex and started up dancing again when I discovered Windsor, Ontario's 'scene', whatever that is. My roommates there were very helpful, and they actually set the bar of what outgoing women should be like. I'd say there has not been an equal since, but it's too much of a compliment. Plus there was the benefit of us actually knowing each other.
Rawr.
Nowadays I listen to about five hours of music on a cd every day, memorizing the rhythm, lyric rate and beats. This has actual benefits -- when the DJ plays any of those songs, I can switch from one song to that song immediately instead of freestyling it. A couple of weeks ago a woman told me I had 'perfect rhythm'. Yay. We're talking perfect rhythm to songs, mixed songs, house music, and music that goes well above 100's of bps... :D
I'm supposed to pick up breakdancing again so I can do it for shluppy's wedding next year. I expect to just work on cleaner footwork and the ability to suspend myself in the air quickly and smoothly enough to keep with the beat. Actively imagining how this can be incorporated into the songs I listen to is what I do now.
Exhaustive? Hardly. Your turn.
