Put on your dancing shoes

Tired of feeling awkward on the dance floor? Helen Thompson goes on a mission to unearth Cardiff’s dance culture.

By Helen Thompson

Dancing is man’s most enduring form of expression and entertainment. Primitive dances concerned the changes that people experience in life – changes in seasons, age and through tribal conflict. These evolved into distinct forms, for celebration of special events and for magical or religious purposes.

The first choreographers were the medicine men who used dance to invoke the powers of God to end famine or cure the sick. All was coupled with a rhythmic beat provided by the dancers themselves or by primitive instruments.

This beat has reverberated through the ages, and the dances that complement it have modulated and adapted, from ritual tribal dances to European court dances and modern fashions like rock ‘n’ roll and street jazz. Go into a club now, though, and there are none of the intricate steps and routines that crazes like jive and swing made so popular.

Getting sick of the uneasiness that the combination of soberness and a dance floor inevitably created for me, I decided to rediscover the art of dancing. Non-dancers would be surprised at the proliferation of classes on offer in Cardiff; every day of the week you could be learning a different kind of dance, from Breakdance to ballroom.

The DanceSport club is a good way of getting into dance, not least because you’re guaranteed not to have to dance with anyone who’s having a mid-life crisis. Ballroom is often stigmatised as archaic and irrelevant; while it’s true that you won’t really be able to show off your slow foxtrot next time you’re out in town, it’s still enjoyable to learn.

Anyone who saw Strictly Come Dancing will know that ballroom is elegant and graceful when it’s done right, which takes considerable skill because it’s such a strict discipline. Believe it or not, waltz was once considered risque, and was banned by the German church in 1760, because it was considered that the couples danced indecently close together.

Salsa – O’Neill’s

Salsa emerged from a blend of Mediterranean style with African drumbeats in a South American setting, making it a relaxed but exciting dance that looks fast and sexy. It’s a sociable dance, and the man is expected to learn to lead well enough to be able to link together intricate steps on the spot to create a routine that his partner can follow.

Salsa is one of the city’s latest crazes – there’s a class somewhere in Cardiff every night, and everyone seems to be doing it. Unfortunately this includes overweight old men attempting to recapture their youth, which is fair enough until the teacher makes you switch partners. There’s something slightly disturbing about wiggling your hips in their presence, but some of them surprise you by being the best dancers in the room, and therefore the most fun to dance with.

Salsa’s a good dance to start with because the basics are easy, and you can learn something that looks impressive relatively quickly. It’s also practical, as plenty of places play salsa music, so you can go to a club and have fun showing off your new skill.

Capoeira – Talybont

These classes start off with the basics in waltz and quickstep, which can be perplexing to begin with, but if you persevere it doesn’t take long to learn an entire routine. Latin involves mainly cha and jive, with jive being everyone’s favourite because you feel like you’re in Dirty Dancing.

It’s fast and exciting, and is always danced last at competitions because it exhausts the competitors. After a while, you can progress to learning other dances including paso doble, rumba and tango. The best thing to do in the meantime is watch the experienced dancers, whether it is the University’s best couples or the professionals on TV, this gives you something to practise and aim for.

Capoeira is possibly stretching the definition of dance, as it’s officially a martial art complete with belts and white suits, but it’s non-combative and gave rise to breakdance. It originated amongst African slaves in Brazil, and involves a battle between dancers who cartwheel and kick at each other, avoiding each other’s limbs to produce a beautiful symbolic dance.

Similarly to breakdance, it does require a lot of strength and stamina; I managed to pull at least four muscles, so remember to warm up well. Starting off is slow, as you have to remember to kick, avoid your partner’s kicks and try to look graceful at the same time. Any other martial art experience is quite helpful, but you spend a lot more time upside down in capoeira than you do in most martial arts.

Don’t be put off by the show at the end of the lesson, where everyone sits in a circle and watches people ‘play’ against one another. You don’t have to participate in your first lesson, and it’s fun to watch the others battling to the accompaniment of singing and traditional instruments such as the berimbau, a single string bow with a gourd at the bottom, drums, tambourines and bells, which all combine to create a ritualistic atmosphere. Everyone tells you it’s good for you to start early, as this is what capoeira is all about.

There are plenty of other dance classes to be found in Cardiff, including hip-hop at Park Place and Argentine tango in Morganstown. It’s worth looking out for adverts for courses that come and go as well. Dancing has got to be one of the most enjoyable forms of exercise, as it’s sociable, graceful and diverse, attracting all types of people. Whatever dance you’re interested in, there will be a teacher not far away to instruct you, and before long you’ll be a natural on the dance floor.

Break – The Gate

Don’t plan anything that involves movement the day after your first Breakdance class. It’s not so much a dance as a full body workout that makes you ache for days. Also, don’t mention it to your friends until you’re pretty good, because they will undoubtedly insist that you spin on your head every time you show your face in a club.

After a quick warm up you begin learning the basic floor work. Six-steps are easy enough, but after a while I was struggling, because this requires a great deal of balance and upper body strength. Freezes generally entail supporting your entire weight on one hand and locking your elbow or shoulder in place to stop yourself collapsing. It takes a lot of practise, but it’s momentous when you finally hold a freeze for five seconds before collapsing to the floor, with your fellow beginners applauding all around you.

I got to do headstands too, something I haven’t done since I was about nine, and which I took a lot of childish pleasure in. What baffles me, though, is how you link it all together and keep in time with the music. I think you need to be pretty cocky to make this look cool. Also, take a shiny jacket, you’ll need it to get your back-spins going.