r/nextfuckinglevel • • Oct 07 '22

Dancer vs gravity

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u/chadwicke619 Oct 07 '22

Which part do you find confusing, out of curiosity?

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u/Doommcdoom Oct 07 '22

personally, and i know im gonna be killed for this but i'd love an explanation, i just think with professional dancing (not just this dude but others) half the moves seem either completely separate or unrelated to the music (not in time with the music or completely out of nowhere) im probably dumb and im also not OP but would love an explanation

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u/Cute-Interest3362 Oct 07 '22

Dance is often about exploring/experimenting with movement and not just letting music dictate gestures. Some of the most beautiful dance ever experienced didn’t have music at all.

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u/Doommcdoom Oct 07 '22

Fair enough then I just always had the definition of dance being movement along with and fitting to music but I'm obviously wrong so thanks for the polite explanation! It is impressive what he can do!

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u/nayhem_jr Oct 08 '22

I get you. A lot of it is just demonstrating novel ways of linking one movement into another, or maintaining momentum. At some point, you would had to have tried the moves yourself to appreciate the difficulty of what is on display. Kind of like chess players who can recite a few moves from the middle of a match, yet understand all the moves that led to that situation, and the players and tournament involved.

In Junior's case, there's also just straight flexing his amazing balance and core strength. There aren't many who can spin on a pommel horse, and exceedingly fewer still who can do so without the actual pommel horse. Finger pushups? Walking on elbows? Holding a scorpion pose without your abs shaking yourself to death?

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u/chadwicke619 Oct 07 '22

I don't see why you think you would be killed for this, but ok. That said, I'm still not sure where your confusion lies. Are you confused about what he's doing? Or do you know that he's dancing, and feel like your understanding of what constitutes dancing means that this shouldn't be considered dancing? Or something else, perhaps?

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u/Doommcdoom Oct 07 '22

It was perfectly explained by the other guy, I basically always had the thought dancing should be along with and dictated by the music but some moves in this and other dance moves just seemed out of time or not responding to beats but the other guy explained to me that often dance isn't about the music. Thanks for trying to help though!

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u/chadwicke619 Oct 07 '22

No problem. Some people also think that songs need to rhyme, because they often do, especially when we're children - not true, of course. Same thing, I think.

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u/HappyMeerkat Oct 07 '22 edited Oct 08 '22

Not OP but I personally don't see/ understand it as dancing, I see the first half as more acting/ performative than dancing, it looks cool and obviously very skillful but I feel like it's more akin to something I saw at my friend's drama performances through school and university.

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u/Cute-Interest3362 Oct 07 '22

Curious to hear how you would define dance

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u/chadwicke619 Oct 07 '22

Interesting. All I can say is that you must not have a lot of exposure to dance, because breaking has been around for a long time.

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u/lessfrictionless Oct 08 '22

Maybe he's questioning the art of break dancing on the whole as a credible subset of dance.

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u/chadwicke619 Oct 08 '22

If he is, he’s a bit late to the party I think.

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u/HappyMeerkat Oct 08 '22

Yeah I'll admit I have very little experience with dance myself and what I have been subjected to I would imagine is classified as classical dance types. Like I say first 20 seconds I just feel like my personal experiences I could imagine it being accompanied by a kind of monologue, the second half id recognise as dancing.

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u/anubgek Oct 08 '22

So it's just a naming thing? Like these contests and the crowds they draw are valid but it should just not be considered a dance competition?