i think this is a little harsh... i've been dancing since i was a small kid
and i always made up my own steps--but not everyone is like this! as a dj,
i
often get people that are new to certain types of music ask how to dance to
it
--and often i'll say "listen to the drums". w/jungle, however, it can be
confusing--especially if you're coming from a house/disco perspective where
the beat is a lot more straightforward. i remember the first time i tried
to
dance to reggae i got kinda lost. i was coming from a funk background which
is all about the "1" (i.e. downbeat). the reggae i was exposed to was
one-drop (i.e. the emphasis is shifted from beat 1 to beat 3) so the
downbeat
i was looking for felt like it "wasn't there". the same thing is true
w/afro
-cuban mambos--the emphasis isn't on the 1, quite often it's on beat 2.
all this is just to say that i don't find it ridiculous to ask "how to dance
to jungle--or whatever". while i tend to find my own ways of moving to
music
(though quite often influenced by others), i listen to music differently
than
many people. i have always danced, i'm a musician & dj so my relationship
to
music is different than the casual listener/dancer.
i have to admit i'd rather see people pack the floor that know how to dance
well, but music isn't about looking good, it should be much more fun than
that
--besides, then i'd have no-one to talk about...
t-bird
... jazz for your foot, dance for your head-jazz not jazz