Why has it been publicly said that Vocalist disks are not appropriate for ballroom dancing competitions. The reason being it masks the underlying beats. Is this why there are no vocals at the British. For those among us who advocate not counting the beats a vocal shouldn't be any trouble. Why do many orchestrers record with a Vocalist. Because they are also hoping to sell to the general public, if they relied on dancers they would go broke. The general public want vocals so that's what they get..

Lots of ballroom music has vocals. The British Open has a tradition of using only that small orchestra.

Juice 23. Can you tell me of any major competition IDSF or any other who play vocalists live or recorded. What exactly do you call a small orchestra. Is that four or over ten.

Anna, where do you live? This could just be a British thing, you know. Have you been to competitions in other countries? US Open and Embassy Ball are huge, hosting both IDSF and WDC events and play vocalists along with most other comps around the world. Just because what you've seen occurs somewhere, doesn't mean you can generalize. Songs like "Fever", "Oye Como Va", "42nd Street", "Mas que Nada" are so commonly used and all have vocals and the voals don't get in the way at all.

"Why has it been publicly said that Vocalist disks are not appropriate for ballroom dancing competitions. The reason being it masks the underlying beats."

Rubbish. A lot of championship dance music is not simple and does not have a clear beat. But it doesn't give experienced dancers a problem.

Now I'm not recommended you go and use a Frank Sinatra recording or something - the musicians do need to take dancing into account. But they don't have to be an ensemble of metronomes.

Words are hardly a distraction!

"Why do many orchestrers record with a Vocalist. Because they are also hoping to sell to the general public, if they relied on dancers they would go broke.
The general public want vocals so that's what they get.."

Guess what. Most dance CD tracks (with a few noted exceptions) are recorded by the house orchestra of the dance CD labels - specifially for ballroom dancing. No, they don't write the songs, they merely license popular music and make dance-appropriate recordings of it. If leaving out the vocals would help dancers, I'm sure they'd do so - but it doesn't matter (many of us like listening to them) - so they leave them in.

I've got a foot in both worlds: dance and vocal.

As a vocalist, especially in a performance piece, interpretation is everything. We were just at a pro-am event. Two equally competent couples performed to Kenny Rogers' "If I were a painter?" One couple did a straight but terrific performance. The other couple had the man actually painting the lady. It was one of only 3 performances called back for the evening.

At the same time several couples performed beautifully to a popularized version of the Adagio from the "Concierto d'Aranjuez" by Rodrigo. There are no words. Because I have background these performances are always a disappointment for me compared to the general audience. Rodrigo wrote this piece after his child died at around the age of 3. Because the dancers don't have the words or background to help make an emotional connection, for myself, their dancing lacks art.

Other than being in a straight competition where you don't know what's going to be played, anything that helps you understand the intent of the composer helps the dancer project better IMO.

Words help make the emotional connection.

OB

Hi,
Just to say, well wrote, Operabob. Merry Christmas and a merry Christmas to all.

Operabob. What style of dancing was danced to the music Concerto d'Arantuez. Was it played as it should be played or was it turned into a dance tune. Did the dancers choose the music they danced to.
I've got a fair collection of discs many with classical tunes turned into dance music. Sherezade played as a Waltz is one of my favourites. I have a disk by Gunter Norris called Dance to the Classics. There is everything from Beethoven Bizet to Chopin and Liszt on it.Best Wishes

As a dance tune as is the case with most classical music. This is only natural as most classical music does not keep strict tempii.

The "Concierto D'Aranjuez" is the famous guitar concerto. Rodrigo was virtually totally blind from a very young age. The Adagio is instantly recognizable even if you don't know it's name. It's been used in many movies where a spanish theme is needed.

I'll have to try and research the danceable version. I think, if one knows thr background, this piece would lend itself to an incredible artistic performance. How often have you seen a couple exhibit grief or despair (until after they've left the floor ).

One conversion that works for me is commonly called "Musetta's Waltz". It's actually a theme taken from the Cafe Momus section in La Boheme.

OB