Patrisha suggested a thread on this... so I'll start.

I've had the opportunity to dance to live music three times, and all three times it was my great fortune to to have Mirage playing.

Thank goodness. They have always been VERY kind to me, and it's always been a rewarding experience. Their music is just great; beautiful, flowing, well-done, and that all makes it so easy to dance to.

For me, it was scary (and still is) because of that 'fear of the unknown'. You're never sure what's going to happen next. Not always sure how fast or slow it will go...

But when I think about it, I'm really never all that sure what's going to happen when I dance to canned music, either. After all, I might catch my fringe on something, or my cymbals get caught in my hair (THAT happens ALL the time, and I look like a dork fighting to get my fingers disengaged from my long hair). The cd might skip... the speaker might decide to play only the back up vocals track and only faintly play the bass line... and completely leave out the melody track. (It's happened. Many of us were there when it happened. THAT was...interesting.) You never know when the power's going to go out completely.

That's the thing about dancing... it always has those unpredictable possibilities. I find it's easier to deal with them as a soloist than in a troupe setting. After all... when it's just me, all I have to worry about is pretending I know what I'm doing. At least I don't have to try to subtly communicate with several other people about behaving in a uniform manner.

So...yeah... we can build up dancing to live music as frightening in our minds, but it really isn't any worse than dancing to a cd. In some ways it's better. Musicians can see what's going on with the dancer and adjust to what she's doing, just as she can pay attention to THEM and adjust to what they're doing. (Something I need to work on. I'll get better, I promise.) It's organic, it flows, and it can be great fun.

Polite communication is probably a huge factor in dealing with musicians who will play for you. Still considering myself a 'green' dancer, it would NEVER occur to me to demand something. I rather have the attitude that they've been musicians for a long while, and have played for many dancers. They know what they're doing, and for me, it can be a learning experience. I can try to adjust, and chalk it up to growing as a dancer.

The big thing is stepping outside the comfort zone. Funny thing is...once you do... it's not such a big deal after all.