What makes Blues dance distinct from Tango, Salsa, Waltz, or any other dance style? These are many of the characteristics, shared across all the Blues Idioms, that make Blues dance identifiable:
Athletic posture – Like a basketball player, but a little more upright. The body is sprung for movement, but in a chill way; the neutral posture puts the weight in the balls of the feet, with the hips slightly back, shoulders slightly forward, and knees a little bent.
Groundedness – Movement initiates from the body’s core, which keeps the center of gravity low. Dancers drive every step by pushing off the floor, which looks and feels like moving through molasses.
Pulse – The rhythm of the music is manifest in the dancer’s body, like they’ve swallowed the beat and can’t help but move to it. Depending largely on the style of Blues music being played, the resulting movement can be downward sinking, upward lifting, sloshing from side-to-side, or traveling across the floor.
Coolness – Dancers move energetically yet somehow effortlessly. Dancers use minimal muscle tone to connect to and drive/redirect their partner’s energy, remaining generally relaxed throughout. Overall there is a sense of calmness, confidence, and control with the effect of giving an unhurried, casual appearance of ‘coolness’.
Lag – The movement relationship of your body to itself, to the beat, and to your partner has a built-in delay. Lazily the steps strike slightly after the beat, but somehow feel perfectly “on time”. Body movements will initiate in one part of the core, travel through the body, and finish elsewhere, so that the body is never dancing “square” or with everything in sync, but lags to itself and maintains a sense of tension inner tension/opposition. Additionally, the follow always lags behind the lead, creating a squishy, gushy feeling within the partnership.
Shape – Dancers create interesting, dynamic shapes with their bodies, emphasizing angles and asymmetrical yet balanced shapes.
Rhythm Play – Dancers express the rhythmic complexities of the music (polyrhythms) in their bodies, sometimes moving to two or more rhythm layers simultaneously. Dancers play off of each other and creatively match or contrast with movements of their partner.
Polycentric Movement – Movements emanate from different parts of the body simultaneously, expressing different parts of the music. A dancer may express one rhythm in their feet while rolling through their chest to another one.
Improvisation – There is no prescribed step pattern; dancers create and combine steps and moves, many of them coming directly from or being inspired by a deep repertoire of African American Vernacular Dance Moves.
Dive deeper into the Blues Aesthetic with these great resources!:
Spurlock Museum of World Cultures – Blues Characteristics
Blues dance is connected to the larger lineage of African American social dances and share many of the same characteristics/aesthetics. Explore more with these resources: