THE POETRY OF DANCE IN ZURICH, SWITZERLAND
Cream Magazine - April 2004
I am acutely aware that dancers who are fanatic about what they do seem to be continually in search of rekindling the emotions they feel upon the dance floor. I ponder if there is a genetic receptor in these individuals which makes them crave such experiences, as the dancers I have encountered over the past few weeks in Zurich come from all walks of life. Dancers are not stereotypical in nature besides the fact that they love to sway to a rhythm.
In speaking with most dancers, I discovered that once they started dancing, it was as though something inside took over. For dancers of the Tango, it was the feeling of intimacy and ability to express their feelings so clearly that had hooked them. Salsa dancers became fascinated with the sultriness of the dance, the love of percussive instruments and the beauty of its form. The dancers of the Lindy Hop became addicted not only to Swing music itself but the ability to transform the Lindy Hop dance into a multitude of styles and to challenge themselves physically. What all these dancers have in common, regardless of the genre, is that dancing in Zurich helped break them from the isolation they feel within this culture. And it is with thanks to the hard work of aficionados Robert Ilg (Swing), Pedro Martinez (salsa), and Rolf Schneider (Tango), who personally made this possible by bringing these dances to Zurich around twenty years ago. Their efforts have created a nightlife full of color and fascination from which anyone can benefit from.
LINDY HOP
To begin to understand what dance is like in Zurich, I started out with a crash course in the Club Silbando for Lindy Hop, a form of Swing Dancing otherwise known as the "Jitterbug". There is one way to classify Swing dancers in Zurich: they are known not to drink during their weekly dance parties. Their reason: “they can’t dance anymore when intoxicated.” And after taking a crash course, I understood what they were talking about. Every Saturday night, at the Silbando Dance Club, it is at these parties where business men, artists and dance teachers alike strip off their everyday composure and slip into some fun by swinging to the beat. Most swing dancers I encountered were first fascinated by the music of swing and then had to attend the crash course a few times to get the hang of the dancing part. Like any good dance, it looks easy until you try. Once hooked, the first goal of Zurich dancers seems to be a specific summer festival where dancing parties go around the clock for weeks on end.
When you hear Zurich swing dancers talking to one another, you quickly learn that swinging has taken on a special meaning to them. Although a lot of them first got into swinging as a means to get either back into dance or as a way to begin dancing, this dance is more than an extra-curricular activity. The swing scene in Zurich is a community of people who find joy in dancing and the challenges it brings them. Swing dancing involves taking chances - in order to learn a new step or ask a stranger to dance. It also helps people feel good in their own skin as they shake away the cultural standards of how we should hold our bodies and behave in the everyday world.
Invented in the 1920's in Harlem, USA - right after Charles Lindbergh "hopped" around the world - the Lindy Hop quickly became the rage as it enabled people to dance alongside ballroom dancers to the top Big Bands of that time. Moving my feet to an eight-step rhythm, I got a clear sense of how come swing looks like "play" as this music literally keeps you on your toes. After every eight steps, you and your partner - communicating through the channel of interlocked hands - can decide whether to break out in a stylistic intermezzo, or to continue on with the eight-step standard. And it was there in those breaks that certain stylistic steps and tricks resulted, propelling Swing dancing to its ultimate when a man named Frankie "Musclehead" Manning invented air steps at the Harlem Savoy Ballroom - transforming Lindy Hop into a spectacle of visual, acrobatic eye candy which spread like wildfire. At the weekend parties, it is easy to see these air steps being performed by many swing dancers who tell me “they just can’t get enough.”
Since its introduction, the Lindy Hop has evolved into many dance forms, including West Coast Swing, Rock'n'Roll and the Boogie Woogie. Even today, the world of Swing continues to develop. During a Swing evening in Zurich it is not unusual to see people Lindy Hopping to Hip-Hop or other forms of music which happen to be in 4:4 time. Seventy-five years after its onset, today's Swing enthusiasts are charting the globe to dance at various conferences, live bands and workshops - including the renowned Herräng Dance Camp in Sweden - where, ironically, even the founder of the legendary, the Harlem Savoy style (Manning), has made it out to lend his expertise at age 90.
TANGO
Some say that the word "tango" comes from the Latin word tangere, meaning to touch. And nestled in a nostalgic filled room with golden lighting, watching beautifully ornate individuals dancing in moving romantic worlds - captivated within their own circumference - tells me a lot as to why this could be so. It is unequivocally romantic. In close proximity to one another, with eyes closed and feet occasionally touching, the dancers seem transfixed within the arms of one another. Yet, the tango did not originate as I had imagined - as a romantic dance style epitomizing the glamour of high Argentinean society. Instead, the tango was actually founded in the social underbelly of Argentina during the late 1800's, where immigrants from Africa, Europe and elsewhere drank heavily and sought companionship in brothel houses to escape the hardship, lonlieness and strife they faced in their new country. Its beginnings were exceptionally improvised, vulgar dance scenes, choreographed to personify the relationship between a pimp and his prostitute. With the introduction of an accordion-like German instrument in 1886 giving the tango a voice, together, a dance was born which is said to speak more than of frustrated love. The tango is the dance of sorrow. As life improved for the immigrants, the tango dance became absorbed into larger society and through this transition, lost some of it crudeness, yet its original structure remained intact.
In being introduced to tango for the first time, some Zurich tango aficionados felt it was a boring dance to watch, yet, once they tried it, they felt that it was more intimate and internal than they had ever imagined anything to be. It was while dancing the Tango that that they found the vehicle for their heart, mind and soul’s expression. And because of this, dancers of the tango work hard at perfecting their dance movements on the floor so that they can use it to better express themselves.
To many tango aficionados, tango is life. It is further a gift which enables individuals to bring some sensuality into their lives. In a town like Zurich, where the culture lacks a sense of community, people are attracted to the tango because it serves as a bridge over the cultural gap in creating a platform which allows men and women to relate to one other.
While I watch the dancers at the Club Silbando skirt cross the floor - rapt in each other with closed eyes and concentrated movements, the sound of the swish their stiletto heels make, wearing facial expressions that could be immortalized - I find myself captivated by these moving worlds of passion. Tango people are passionate people and watching them makes me want to fall madly in love.
SALSA
In Spanish, the world salsa literally means "sauce." No one is exactly sure how the same salsa came to name this dance form, but it is believed that when big bands in the 1960’s "took-up the heat" by increasing the tempo and incorporating the syncopated Clave rhythms, Bongos, Piano and Timbales, that they were regarded as "playing with sauce!" The origins of Salsa dancing are also unclear. Cuba popularized Salsa dance and its history is said to have Afro-Cuban roots, yet many Salsa paramours believe that Salsa actually stems from the Latin barrios of New York, where dancers fused Cuban, Puerto Rican and Jazz rhythms together.
At the Club El Cubanito on a Friday night, you can see for yourself why this form of dance is salactic. With female dancers dressed in small “Latino style” tops in various tropical colors, surrounded by men who really can dance - it is the epitome of Latin sult. The salsa scene in Zurich is a young and sexy group of individuals who frequent the bar, are not coy in asking others to dance, and turn electric once they hit the dance floor. For many, salsa dancing is a way to meet potential dates; seeing the dance as something you can “get down and dirty with.” Others appreciate salsa dancing for its style. Stella Dell’Anna, head of the Academia de Salsa dance school at El Cubanito, turned to salsa dancing a few years ago when she became captivated by its beautiful movements and expressiveness. Today, she works to promote salsa in Zurich, believing that the Zurich dance scene has still to reach its pinnacle.
In Zurich, Salsa unifies the music of the islands and the people of this city. Through it, you too can learn to bring the hot and spicy side out of you.
The dance scene in Zurich is very open and accommodating. You can easily show up by yourself and find at least one partner to dance with, learn a few steps and perchance make a new friend by the end of the evening.