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DANCE
PARTNERS
 SO
FAR, WE'RE THE BEST MATCH
(Why
my partner and I elicit oohs and aahs --and provoke envy -- from other
social dancers.)
While I've
occasionally danced with Rene Canlas several times before, we've never
really been seen dancing together regularly and almost exclusively until
the past year.
We
met five years ago at this quaint dance club with an octagon
floor, which he would visit after a booking with the 'matronas' or
simply to hang around.
Even then
I realized he was one of the best dancers in town, as the female guests
clamored to dance at least once with him. Other dance instructors (DIs)
would make sure to sit with him to catch a few pointers he'd care to
share. One phrase always summarized his little lesson: "Feel the
rhythm and move with the music."
Unfortunately very few amateur dancers -- DIs and guests alike -- could
grasp this. They are mostly concerned with their steps and variations,
executing these like waddling ducks.
We're
dancing together now, because we couldn't help it. Really, we couldn't
find other partners who could share the spontaneity of our individual
dancing.
We are
both social dancers, abhorring the choreographed and memorized moves
necessary for competitions. For us both, dancing is an interpretation of
the music, an art form made alive by individual and joint expression of
feelings and emotions.
Our dance
is never animated, albeit expressive. We feel and dance to the music. It
is always a give-and-take situation, even if he leads most of the time.
Oftentimes we surprise each other with new moves (those safe for the
social ballroom) and willingly try out (with care) more complex new
ideas from dreams (literally) and performances we've watched. The point
is: the dance connection is complete. He leads with his body, leaving me
with no choice but to follow. Rene's leads are very subtle yet decisive.
Women who've danced with him can attest to the fact. No arm wrestling,
no strained shoulders, nor bruised arms. Each dance is relaxed. Our
friends notice it. "You seem to enjoy your dancing so much".
Of course we do. We're social dancers, dancing for enjoyment, not for
trophies.
But that's
where the problem lies. In the world of ballroom dancing in the
Philippines, when dance connection is apparent between partners,
everyone thinks you're connected to each other beyond the ballroom. Hah.
We've solved the problem by not even considering it a problem. The
fact is: we're connected to each other beyond the ballroom. We're
business partners.
Rene,
who's better known as 'Smile' ( carried over from his band leader days),
isn't just a dance instructor. He's a businessman from Angeles City,
though his experiences and training in the military, the martial arts,
and as a band leader, singer and drummer bears heavily on his rhythm and
musicality in dance.
People
can't quite figure him out though, and many continue to think that he
survives on dancing alone. Unfortunately, that isn't possible in the
Philippines, at least, not yet, since dancing is still considered simply
as an expensive hobby and recreation. No he doesn't intend to make
dancing his full-time career, nor do I.
Rene and I now
manage the Heritage Dance Center together. We're a good match in
business and in dancing, and we know it.
"Great dancers are
not great because of
their technique; they're great because
of their passion." - Martha Graham |
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Side Steps
