I keep seeing Youtube and FB comments on clips of dancing, which mostly feature people dressed in a, shall we say, retro Northern Soul style.

Many of the comments say 'thats proper dancing' and I have to admit to being a bit mystified by this term. What do they mean? When I asked one of them they really meant a version that they recognise from a particular period, which in most clips is a hoppy, skippy, slightly teapot, wear my emotions on my sleeve, demonstrative style. 

Its a sort of judgement that seems to be on the rise amongst self-appointed dance aficionados, fuelled by a constant barrage of online clips filmed at oldies events. I have a problem with people, often long absent returnees, claiming authenticity in dancing because different people have different versions, all of which are correct to them. I personally enjoy watching people who are "in it', meaning 'in the music' and that might be full of movement or barely moving (eyes closed and gone!)

So, does anyone care to elaborate on 'proper' dancing please? Does this idea of a historicised, reified, certified version, fixed in time and space, come from the World Championships thing held at Blackpool and the many 'line dancing style' tutorial videos now available online where people tell you "this is how it's done"?

 

Cheers

 

Paul

 

12 hours ago, Steve S 60 said:

To dance "proper", there's only one thing you need, and that's soul.

and strong coffee 

Len 

12 hours ago, paul-s said:

"Dancing hard"...I like it Len!  In fact its great getting all these different insights from people on how they feel about the subject. 

Btw, the only dance competition I ever entered (knowingly) was the cleethorpes' one - We all did which was a great laugh! 

Len 

P.s - Ok, I will name a cracking dancer - Panch, but you never see it because he never takes himself seriously for more than 8 seconds at a time! 

42 minutes ago, Zed1 said:

Exactly......

Sorry folks but I don't buy all this 'Just do what you feel' bollacks,  It's Northern Soul , not Disco, or funk, or Jazz or Rock & Roll, and if you can't be bothered to even try and perform the most basic 2-step dance that people would associate with Northern Soul then you're just taking the pi55.

Sadly the dance floors these look little different to your Average Wedding disco, ie full of Dad Dancing pensioners, High Heeled Disco Divas or i-Pods (people you assume must be listening to their i-pods as they are clearly not dancing to the same record as everyone else). 

I think people 'dancing how they feel' does actually end up 'Northern Soul' in some form or another, which comes from being influenced by other dancers over the years (wherever that may have been) Not copying 'parrot fashion', just being influenced naturally. So yeh, I get your point.

Len 

24 minutes ago, LEN said:

and strong coffee 

Len 

I like my tea leafy, like trees.

6 hours ago, Zed1 said:

Exactly......

Sorry folks but I don't buy all this 'Just do what you feel' bollacks,  It's Northern Soul , not Disco, or funk, or Jazz or Rock & Roll, and if you can't be bothered to even try and perform the most basic 2-step dance that people would associate with Northern Soul then you're just taking the pi55.

Sadly the dance floors these days look little different to your Average Wedding disco, ie full of Dad Dancing pensioners, High Heeled Disco Divas or i-Pods (people you assume must be listening to their i-pods as they are clearly not dancing to the same record as everyone else). 

 

 

 

That what people would associate with Northern Soul? 

8 hours ago, LEN said:

and strong coffee 

 

and a wrap of that magic dancing powder!

I suppose it depends where you go? Doesn't it? The nature of the dancing? Not all events are "weddingy, dad dancy, throwing shapes round an imitation Gucci handbag" ones, are they? Do I ask a lot of questions? But it is true, isn't it? Some events have hardcore dancers only, and others are more commercial Motown and Northern Soul. Lots of people like "our" music, but not all consider it a way of life or a passion. They like to shake to The Snake once in a while. It does feel like the aliens have landed at times. Like an episode of The Twilight Zone or a zombie apocalypse. Without an effective antidote, I fear we may be stuck with them!

Johnsons or Imperial Leather?

30 minutes ago, solidsoul said:

and a wrap of that magic dancing powder!

Yeh or that  

Len 

On 11/16/2016 at 17:28, BabyBoyAndMyLass said:

Because I play in a professional cabaret band playing 50s RnR and 50s/60s beat ballads to a ballroom crowd we see great dancing done properly all the time, and it is very impressive, mind you in that kinda style you do get to hold a woman in your arms!

When it comes to Northern soul dancin' I'm always drawn to this video for inspiration, I wanna dance like him, no heroics, just very slick moves!

 

Right, I wasn’t gonna say anything……..but ‘hey ho’ you know me……

This is what I see (and this is meant to be complimentary to the guy in the vid) I see a man that no doubt has SOUL / I hear a tune that has none. He is obviously making the most of his weekend and good on him, but I am mystified why such an awful record is played at a SOUL venue - In addition, it’s so blo*dy light!…”Yeh it’s day time Len”……..”I know, so play a blo*dy SOUL record and make an atmosphere!”…....(Or close the curtains)

In my humble opinion of course 

I’d like to see the guy dance to this (He would smash it!)

All the best,

Len 

 

3 hours ago, LEN said:

Right, I wasn’t gonna say anything……..but ‘hey ho’ you know me……

This is what I see (and this is meant to be complimentary to the guy in the vid) I see a man that no doubt has SOUL / I hear a tune that has none. He is obviously making the most of his weekend and good on him, but I am mystified why such an awful record is played at a SOUL venue - In addition, it’s so blo*dy light!…”Yeh it’s day time Len”……..”I know, so play a blo*dy SOUL record and make an atmosphere!”…....(Or close the curtains)

In my humble opinion of course 

I’d like to see the guy dance to this (He would smash it!)

All the best,

Len 

 

Hmmm. I'm gonna make this reply pretty succinct Len and say that both the record he was dancin' to, which I have no idea what it was, and the Sharpees side that you posted are both to me a bit generic and the sort of records that would see me outside having a puff on me ecig!

What is proper dancing? You need to ask Fiona Smith...

 

Mark C

6 hours ago, professorturnups said:

What is proper dancing? You need to ask Fiona Smith...

 

Mark C

Or Sharon Finch? 

Edited November 19, 20168 yr by paul-s

Just now, paul-s said:

Or Sharon Finch? 

Yeah, wasn't Sharon Finch the one who claimed that she had memorised every NS dance move and therefore was the person who was most capable of giving a demonstration?!!

 

Seems name dropping is the way 2 go on this topic ! Boring wants shutting 

7 hours ago, hornet said:

Seems name dropping is the way 2 go on this topic ! Boring wants shutting 

Very useful contribution there Mr Hornet. Your ability to articulate an opinion certainly adds to the thread. Absolutely brilliant insights you offer. At least no one can call you boring with such an exciting contribution!

Edited November 19, 20168 yr by paul-s

On ‎18‎/‎11‎/‎2016 at 07:38, jim langford said:

On ‎17‎/‎11‎/‎2016 at 22:26, paul-s said:

Bloody hell!

I take that to mean you would, would you? Despite or inspite of the obvious mental?  

 

On 18 November 2016 at 10:38, Zed1 said:

Exactly......

Sorry folks but I don't buy all this 'Just do what you feel' bollacks,  It's Northern Soul , not Disco, or funk, or Jazz or Rock & Roll, and if you can't be bothered to even try and perform the most basic 2-step dance that people would associate with Northern Soul then you're just taking the pi55.

Sadly the dance floors these days look little different to your Average Wedding disco, ie full of Dad Dancing pensioners, High Heeled Disco Divas or i-Pods (people you assume must be listening to their i-pods as they are clearly not dancing to the same record as everyone else). 

 

 

 

Utter tripe Zed1.

There are folks who have been stalwart punters on the scene since its inception who, in the dancing sense, haven't got, did'nt have, a rhythmic or stylised bone in their body. However, when they hit the floor, they are, were, living and enjoying the music, no less than the folks who can dance 'Northern'. We all know what you mean by 'the basic 2 step' dance that is associated with Northern. When it's done well it looks great. If it isn't, so what. For crying out loud, most of us are in our 50s or 60s and just glad to still be movin' at all. Jeeze, debating who can and who can't dance belongs to the school common room of my youth!

For goodness sake, is how people dance what you think is a significant issue for 'the scene' today! 

Regards.

Drew.

9 hours ago, Drew3 said:

Utter tripe Zed1.

There are folks who have been stalwart punters on the scene since its inception who, in the dancing sense, haven't got, did'nt have, a rhythmic or stylised bone in their body. However, when they hit the floor, they are, were, living and enjoying the music, no less than the folks who can dance 'Northern'. We all know what you mean by 'the basic 2 step' dance that is associated with Northern. When it's done well it looks great. If it isn't, so what. For crying out loud, most of us are in our 50s or 60s and just glad to still be movin' at all. Jeeze, debating who can and who can't dance belongs to the school common room of my youth!

For goodness sake, is how people dance what you think is a significant issue for 'the scene' today! 

Regards.

Drew.

FFS Read what I posted....

It's got feck all to do with how good. bad, or otherwise you are at dancing, it's also got feck all to do with how young or old you are. It's about having a little respect for the scene and making at least the most rudimentary attempt to dance in what anyone blessed with the gift of sight would recognise as a northern soul style dance. It's REALLY not that hard,  HONEST!.

Just more examples of the dumbing down of the scene to suit the party pensioner generation and get numbers through doors.

" Eh!, look at me Luv - I can dooo this ere norvern Soul dancing"

Edited November 20, 20168 yr by Zed1

On 11/18/2016 at 23:50, BabyBoyAndMyLass said:

Hmmm. I'm gonna make this reply pretty succinct Len and say that both the record he was dancin' to, which I have no idea what it was, and the Sharpees side that you posted are both to me a bit generic and the sort of records that would see me outside having a puff on me ecig!

I must apologise for my 'not so' humble opinion on my post (It was in actual fact 'opinionated').....What I meant was, the guys' dancing was pretty 'on point', but you can't really do too much to that particular record, so it would be good to see him dance to a record with a bit more 'going on'. Not my cup of tea that tune - I've always had trouble understanding why peoples' taste in music isn't exactly the same as mine 

Oh, and atmosphere is near on impossible to catch on camera - It was an afternoon do which of course can be light (because of that 'damn' sunshine)

All the best,

Len 

P.s - Listen to 'The Sharpees' again - It's awesome (Yup, I still can't understand.....) 

It's a pleasure to see someone that happens to look pretty graceful when 'doing their stuff'. The first time I saw unique, yet 'Northern' style dancing was when I was in my teens at Cliff Steeles' 'Detroit Academicals' Soul event at a place called 'Friendlys'. This bloke had that 'Mick Hucknell' look, he was almost bent double for lots of his dancing - He was so into it, facial expressions, his feet doing all sorts, (and his long fringe somehow also adding something to it) To some people he may have looked a bit strange, but I remember being absolutely mesmerized by it.

I guess that must have been 'Proper Dancing' 

All the best,

Len 

 

22 minutes ago, LEN said:

What I meant was, the guys' dancing was pretty 'on point', but you can't really do too much to that particular record, so it would be good to see him dance to a record with a bit more 'going on'.

A lot of people seem to have a "one style fits all" dance and don't vary it regardless of the type of record they're dancing to.  Not saying it's the case with this guy, but I witness it at every event I go to, people doing the same dance no matter what the beat or tempo.

That's because they've not yet been to the 2nd lesson , or their 'tutor' packed in after one YT video so they're in a kind of limbo ...

21 minutes ago, Steve S 60 said:

A lot of people seem to have a "one style fits all" dance and don't vary it regardless of the type of record they're dancing to.  Not saying it's the case with this guy, but I witness it at every event I go to, people doing the same dance no matter what the beat or tempo.

True - But my comment was from 'gut instinct' Poor bloke - he didn't ask for all this attention (It is complimentary mind) 

Len 

proper dancing just ask paula bryan

9 minutes ago, WoodButcher said:

That's because they've not yet been to the 2nd lesson , or their 'tutor' packed in after one YT video so they're in a kind of limbo ...

If I'd paid £20 for the first lesson I'd expect to be the dog's dangly bits on the dance floor.

16 minutes ago, LEN said:

Poor bloke - he didn't ask for all this attention (It is complimentary mind) 

Len 

That's a ten from Len.

Just now, Steve S 60 said:

That's a ten from Len.

You stayed in too last night then - Maybe we should go out more and get practicing 

.......For chr*st's sakes 'Soul-source', I'm meant to be welding here at work today not discussing dance moves! 

Len 

4 minutes ago, LEN said:

You stayed in too last night then - Maybe we should go out more and get practicing 

.......For chr*st's sakes 'Soul-source', I'm meant to be welding here at work today not discussing dance moves! 

Len 

A rare photograph depicting today's soul police uniform and PPE. All of it original. "It's not?", "It is!", "It's not!!", "It definitely is!". "Well I think it's a bootleg!".

still recovering from a broken left leg so trying to get back into my good old shuffle routine , I know quite a few world champion dancers including the most recent one and  I can say some are reasonably good dancers.. I have seen much  better , great dancers (IMHO) who wouldn't be seen dead on the competition dancefloor .the guy in the Whitby vid is a classic example ,think he is from Peterborough or Northampton seen him loads of times and is a joy to watch , used to watch a guy called Clive from Sheffield who passed away not long since and he had a unique and endearing dance style in which he was totally in his groove ,and could give many more examples of great dancers  who would not be seen dead in a competition , think they demean the scene and are not what the scene is about , once again the promoters are grasping the lowest common denominator to get people in and involved , and as for dance lessons lordy lordy what ever next , talc spreading studies , bar towel hand stitchin sessions  . FFS

Edited November 20, 20168 yr by barney

2 hours ago, Steve S 60 said:

A 'proper' job 

Len 

1 hour ago, flamingemeralds said:

A rare photograph depicting today's soul police uniform and PPE. All of it original. "It's not?", "It is!", "It's not!!", "It definitely is!". "Well I think it's a bootleg!".

 

I'll take that as a compliment 

Len 

I think it's actually Alex the welder from the film Flashdance? Her name is on the helmet. You're the original welder Len, she's the bootleg welder. Alex the bootleg welder.

You can talk about dance styles all day long, what is and what isn't "proper" dancing, who is and isn't a good dancer if it comes down to it take anyone from a Northern floor and plonk them in the middle of say a wedding disco and people there would say "what the ***** are they doing, they might think they can dance but in my opinion good or bad they would stand out on a non northern dancefloor . Someone I know I used to think was a pretty good dancer, always had that look at me kind of attitude then they started to copy various moves off other dancers and now from thinking they were pretty good I think they look ridiculous incorporating all kinds of flicks and spins ,waving of the arms yet when they kept it simple it looked so natural. Lost the point I was trying to make  not for the first time.

Here's some proper shuffling for you!

 

 

Edited November 20, 20168 yr by Stubbsy

6 hours ago, Stubbsy said:

Here's some proper shuffling for you!

 

 

Good clip. Move over Michael Flatley. These girls know their stuff. Proper dancing. Dancers moving to the beat, feet following the music, having a good time, no showing off, how it should be done. I could watch this all day long.

Why is it so light everywhere? It wa different in my day. Don't people suffer with bad paranoia these days either?

Just the camera settings make it look lighter 

7 hours ago, Stubbsy said:

Here's some proper shuffling for you!

 

 

Why do they have to make it look so bloody easy!! 

Oh dear the 'Northern Police' been at it again ?

Been into this beloved music of ours since 1972,been on and off the scene many times and currently back on it, do I give a toss about how other people dance ? Nope, we are all there for that one same reason, the MUSIC. I dance the same as I did back in 72, feel no need to change, cannot be as energetic as I once was as this 58 year old body will not play ball these days !!

One thing is for sure, those that take the piss out of others dancing and feel the need to comment on such have no place in my memory of the scene.

 

2 hours ago, Twoshoes said:

Why do they have to make it look so bloody easy!! 

Where's the talc? Not much beer spilt on that Dancefloor:)

 

Ed

On ‎20‎/‎11‎/‎2016 at 09:20, LEN said:

I must apologise for my 'not so' humble opinion on my post (It was in actual fact 'opinionated').....What I meant was, the guys' dancing was pretty 'on point', but you can't really do too much to that particular record, so it would be good to see him dance to a record with a bit more 'going on'. Not my cup of tea that tune - I've always had trouble understanding why peoples' taste in music isn't exactly the same as mine 

Oh, and atmosphere is near on impossible to catch on camera - It was an afternoon do which of course can be light (because of that 'damn' sunshine)

All the best,

Len 

P.s - Listen to 'The Sharpees' again - It's awesome (Yup, I still can't understand.....) 

No apology necessary Len, I don't mind a bit of banter even, we're all soul fans after all, all in it together, keep the faith and all that...

Nah both those records are good sides it's just that my ears crave the old biggies from the Torch, Mecca and Casino, not that I ever went, I'm too young see, a mere lad, to explain a little I much prefer Lorraine Chandler to Gail Nevels , or The Belles to Dottie Pearson, or Bobby Garrett to Tommy Navarro.

All good records but, some I prefer more than others, purely a taste thing and therefore meaningless!

Best wishes Len!

18 hours ago, FRANKIE CROCKER said:

Good clip. Move over Michael Flatley. These girls know their stuff. Proper dancing. Dancers moving to the beat, feet following the music, having a good time, no showing off, how it should be done. I could watch this all day long.

I believe you could Frank!

Some lovely lasses who are really diggin' it!

Now here's a shuffler .........  Amazing !

 

 

7 minutes ago, veedub said:

Now here's a shuffler .........  Amazing !

Great stuff - how do you learn how to do that 

You see, people have started to post up so called 'proper' dancing examples of Northern Soul. I really could not do that as the scene that I have been on for four decades has always moved in different ways on may levels, music, attitudes, venues and dancing. It has many nuances, personalities and idiosyncrasies. Defining or giving examples of 'proper dancing' by offering footage of dancers, for me, starts to homogenise and judge....the examples often seem well lit or as if the dancer is aware of the filming and of course the film maker is the judge of what gets filmed and what does not. Whereas, when it is discussed and people mention 'dancing hard' or 'being in it' or 'lost in it', it leaves room to move.......

It's a state of mind, Northern Soul. At least, it should be.

When I got introduced to it late 70s/early 80s, the dancer I most enjoyed watching back then was Tony Gordon from Bournemouth. Did he dance 'proper' Northern Soul? Did he heck. Did he dress in Spencers, bowling shirts or Fred Perry? No way. Bowie pegs, winkle-pickers, Tony Curtis hairstyle and big 50s style jackets. Coolest guy I ever saw on the dancefloor, whether it was 70s Mecca, funky Mecca, traditional 60s Northern. Never afraid to try new steps either. Just felt the music and expressed himself.

So we're all pretty much agreed that there is no such thing as proper dancing to Northern soul, there is good dancing and perhaps not as good dancing but as long are you're enjoying your record and having a good time on the floor then that is the proper Northern soul dancing!

Really works for me that, it's what I thought from the off!

Dancing style, now that's a whole discussion waiting to happen. My lass always gets comments, she does that slow style, very fluid, she describes it as 'the way all the Stoke girls used to dance at Wigan' people see it and immediately recognise it as a Wigan style. Maybe they're just trying to chat her up...Nah it's a real thing, I trust all my soulie mates! (He said with a wry smile...)

A move that I have seen done by lasses is the 'Aunt Sally', it's where every few bars or every turn around in the music they do a sort of 'Malfunctioning Clockwork Marionette winding down' thing... My lass says it was pioneered at Yate by the Gloucester girls, it's very cool and very cute...

Anyone else know what I'm talking about?