AIBU to prefer Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers dancing to twerking, lol

[WeWantSweet]

Different times and mores I know with both positive and negative aspects but BBC2 have been showing their old films and the elegance and floaty dress fabulousness is something to aspire to I think..

Surely there’s room for all the dance styles and more ! Just watch what you like

I agree that comparing the two is ridiculous. They are two completely different dance styles. One is appropriate for one situation/music; one is more appropriate for a different occasion.

And yes, shit twerking looks rubbish; but you can say the same about shit tap dancing/ballroom.

Twerking is incredibly trashy. Nothing at all enjoyable about seeing a person of any colour repeatedly thrust their groin.

It's not groin thrusting, though. It's an extremely difficult rhythmic dance, and requires strong thighs, stamina, strong abs and a flexible lower back.

It is hard.

Twerking is incredibly trashy. Nothing at all enjoyable about seeing a person of any colour repeatedly thrust their groin.

Key phrases missing here: imo, to me, in my mind...

Wasn't aware that their purpose was to give you enjoyment...we must inform the twerkers that even though it gives them pleasure, MN says no!

@Dyrne yeah I’d rather watch some actual decent twerking style dance than my colleague who thinks she’s Manchester’s answer to Shirley Ballas attempt a rumba or a waltz at the Christmas do after a year of adult ballroom lessons.

I just don’t like all that groin clutching.

Gene is good, but Donald o'Connor was brilliant in Singing in the Rain.

Make Em Laugh

m.youtube.com/watch?v=SND3v0i9uhE

Fonteyn and Nureyev's pas de deux from Act III of Swan Lake.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=CDB8fV9PVTU

The Royal Family- hiphop crew- from my country.

It's not ballet, but still beyond most mortal human beings.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=-mKzJIW9w2c

While I agree that there wasn't any need to compare the two, people don't constantly have to clarify that something's their opinion. Most people can figure out that statements like
"Titanic was a shit film"
"Paris is the best city in the world"
"Fleabag is the funniest thing that's been on TV in ages"
"Fanta tastes much better than Coke"
"70s music was much better than all this modern bollocks."

...Are not supposed to be inferred as dogma. As it happens, I've not been to Paris but if I was to assert that it was the greatest/most beautiful/most romantic city in the world, I doubt anybody's going to step in to tell me to be careful to include "in my opinion".

Backs out of thread.

Cultural perceptions or opinions on what defines "elegance" are very much not "colour-blind".

Listen, I'm half blank and I promise you- nobody thinks tweaking is elegant. Not even those who do it lol

...Are not supposed to be inferred as dogma. As it happens, I've not been to Paris but if I was to assert that it was the greatest/most beautiful/most romantic city in the world, I doubt anybody's going to step in to tell me to be careful to include "in my opinion".

That's fine if you are talking about Paris, cheeses or something else uncontroversial. If we're talking about twerking which is predominantly done by people of colour and has been looked down on by mainstream society, then being mildly called out is not a big issue. Particularly when said twerking is called "trashy" - another word often used to describe things black people come up with.

And tbf - is twerking supposed to be classy or elegant? It seems odd for us to judge it for not being something it doesn't claim to be.

I don't twerk, not interested in it myself - but I always think the words used to describe things are interesting.

The thing is that you need a partner to dance Ginger Rogers stylee.
Whereas you can twerk alone, a la Beyonce Single Ladies.
I appreciate the skill of breakdancing as well as group dancing like Diversity or even Riverdance.
I love watching good dancers.

And I love dancing all night to what I call good music eg trance or drum n bass because again, you don't need a partner.

I always found Michael Jackson clutching his groin very unpleasant...

Ps I have been known to twerk in the past & you don't dance alone for long lol

If you said to an Irish person that Irish dance is daft stomping about they’d be offended

If you said it’s not to your taste but you can see why some people like it I’m sure they’d accept it

We should have a board for twerking on MN. I'd contribute to it. Twerking is an art. Just imagine that your lower spine, hips+waist and arse aren't connected and try to freeze one area waist whilst moving another. It requires rhythm. Not sure MN is the right demographic for it.

@Terralee

The thing is that you need a partner to dance Ginger Rogers stylee. Whereas you can twerk alone, a la Beyonce Single Ladies. I appreciate the skill of breakdancing as well as group dancing like Diversity or even Riverdance. I love watching good dancers.

And I love dancing all night to what I call good music eg trance or drum n bass because again, you don't need a partner.

Did you know that the other two dancers (Ashley Everett and Ebony Williams) on the Single Ladies video both trained in classical ballet, and Ebony Williams went on to perform professionally in a ballet company?

I’ve just been catching up with those on iPlayer. I like the bit where Ginger runs amok with a shotgun before turning up to her wedding with a black eye.

I can believe that about the Single Ladies dancers because seriously doing that kind of dancing well & making it look easy is actually hard

You are being unreasonable enough just using lol as punctuation, especially when nothing at all is funny.

@allfacepalmedout also Heather Morris who was Brittany the Cheerleader in Glee was one of Beyoncé’s original single ladies dancers who performed it live with her (not in the video though!), she’s an amazing dancer !