On Dancing and Whiteness

[valarltd]

A friend of mine recently used the phrase "hopelessly white" to indicate a character could not dance. I jumped all over her about it, and was probably out of line.

But as a person of pallor (lift my shirt and the ensuing flash of light turns people to stone) who has studied dance since she was 4, I find the idea that white people can't dance to be frankly offensive. It's like having a character unable to do quantum physics and saying he is "hopelessly black." Or any other negative stereotype you'd like to name.

I've been hearing it for 20 years, that white people have no rhythm and cannot dance. It makes me grind my teeth. And I believe this attitude to be a product of the 70s and 80s, created by men to get out of dancing because they didn't understand the new styles. In the 30s-50s, men were not ashamed to dance, and knew that doing it well was one of the hallmarks of a gentleman. The big screen heros of the era always seemed to end up with a lovely lady on their arms. It was the era of the MGM musical as well. Some, Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby, even managed to sing at the same time. Now THAT takes lungpower and stamina.

White people can dance. Hells, we invented any number of dances. Depending on your definition of "white" you can include everything from English Country Dance to Belly dance to Ballroom Dancing to Tango.  Then you get into Bob Fosse and Martha Graham and Twyla Tharpe who redefined choroegraphy.

Here, have some white people dancing:

First off, Fred and Ginger. Who else?

A Viennese Waltz. Guys, where is Vienna?
 

Ballet. Swan Lake.

 

 

Jenny Pluck Pears was always a favorite of mine because the guys tried to be all macho about the skipping and do it with their hands behind their back. 

 

And I defy you to tell me these Morris Dancers have no rhythm.

And you don't get any whiter or nerdier than this:

 

Check the Lindy hoppers. The Lindy Hop was created to celebrate Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic flight.

Irish step dancing, anyone? Nope. White people got no rhythm.

Virginia Reel, Saratoga Lancer's Quadrille, Black Nag, Horse Bransle, Pease Bransle, Korabushka, Belle Starr, the Charleston, the Foxtrot, Strip the Willow, Hole in the Wall, Road to the Isles and those are just the ones I can remember the steps too off the top of my head.

Comments

[ellabel.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure if Ricardo Montalban counts as "white" in that he's not, like, Nordic, but by God I like to watch him dance.



There's also my Wifeband, the Bellydancing Chocobo



Also, since I'm spamming your journal unasked ;)
again, I don't know if he counts because he's half Japanese, but Apolo Ohno pleasantly surprised me, and Julianne is certainly fine:



edited to add:
does Ice Dancing count?

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

I dunno, I always thought Montalban was white. Which is probably Hispanic erasure of some sort, but what did I know when I was 9-10 and watching Fantasy Island?

[ellabel.livejournal.com]

Haha he also makes a pretty convincing Italian guy in Sweet Charity as well as a genetically engineered SUPERBEING that is I guess of Indian descent? dear GOD that man was fine.

[(Anonymous)]

The D-Man Chekcs In: Many Spaniards are considerd "white." There is a difference between Hispanics & Latinos. Depends on the lineage.

FYI: Strictly translated, "Hispanic" means, "Property of Spain." Guess which colonial era -that- word got coined in, and then wonder why said ethnic group still embraces it to identify themselves.

[coneyislandbaby]

Vienna is in Austria :) I can tell you that one. It may be the capital city but I"m not sure on that without googling.

and I agree with the rest of the post.

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

I know whwere Vienna is. That was a rhetorical question with plenty of sarcasm.

It is indeed the capitol.

[coneyislandbaby]

Ahh. Sorry, I didn't realise.

Thank you - I was 99% sure but wasn't certain it wasn't like Sydney - better known worldwide than our actual capital.

[firefly67.livejournal.com]

But... belly dancing was not "invented" by Caucasians... though certainly that 'geek' version was! Most likely it started as exercises/rituals for childbearing in the Maghreb (North Africa)...then the Roma picked it up & fused it with Indian moves...the Egyptian Ghawazees and Ouled Nail made it racy...not to mention the Turkish chengis...and finally the theatrical West gave it sequined bra tops and high heels...and invented Tribal Style, sure enough... But I agree...stupid stereotype...everything on the planet's got its own dance!

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

Depends on how you define it. I was taught it came from the Middle East, around Mesopotamia. Which puts it into "white" in my categorization.

Of course, that's probably some form of erasure.

But yes, the girls doing cabaret style 1960s moves to Weird Al is as white as it gets.

[firefly67.livejournal.com]

Indeed those Mesopotamian gals might have originated it...so many different legends & most likely all contain some truth!

[(Anonymous)]

The D-Man Checks In: Exactly which dance style was this friend of your's critiquing? I believe you will find that notion regarding "White folk can't dance," to be primarily related to various (and often regrettable, if not downright embarassing) attempts by white folk to dance hip-hop or other mainly African-American-inspired modern dance bits. It just doesn't look right when we try it... anymore than most white folk can pull off doing rap music or wearing dredlocks.

I notice you don't have any examples of white folk trying to dance hip-hop (probably because good examples are very hard to find).

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

Any type of dancing at all. I think it was a basic two-step.

And I did not include hip-hop because it wasn't invented by whites.