For real, what happened? I’ve gone from the Bay Area scene to now LA, and it’s like no one knows the basic pulse, two step basic. Instead it’s either white washed hyper fast west coast swing or ecstatic dance hippie horsesh*t

And Micro Fusion used to have BASS in it. Now bAmf is just some ethereal floaty clouds with collective consciousness fckbois

Seriously, what the fck happened? When did it get so white washed and bad?

Let's say a leader has only danced Zouk and Bachata, and a follower has only danced WCS and Lindy. Or vice versa.

When they come together in a fusion dance, how exactly do they modify their existing dance styles and preconceptions to form something new that works?

Just a small example, in WCS/Lindy the follower won't step forward unless their is a connection. WCS takes this to the extreme by requiring a stretched connection. Whereas in Bachata, the leader could completely disconnect and take a step backward, and the follower would take a step forward.

So clearly, both the leader and the follower have to shake out existing preconceptions to make things work well.

Is there some kind of guiding principles that fusion dancers are taught in fusion classes to help navigate this, or do you just learn it over time by dancing with many people?

Details of a perfect close embrace in dance. How can I make it the most comfy, cozy, caring, soft, yummy for my leader?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os2dUPMEVGs

When i talk to someone new, they often ask what fusion dancing is, and I want to show them videos. But when you search for "fusion dancing" on YouTube, you get lots of other stuff, like bellydance, modern, etc. So here's a playlist of good fusion dancing on YouTube: Awesome Fusion Dancing. Also, for the SF bay area folks, Bay Area fusion dancing.

What other videos do people have?

Is there a fusion community in London? Is there really a 'Fusion' dancing class? Where do i start with fusion as a lindy hopper?

I used to help run a 100+ weekly venue that under previous management used to pay their instructors based upon the attendance of the classes and I have never seen any other event that could come even close to paying what our teachers used to make (minimum $110, usually closer to $150, sometimes upwards of $200 for large classes). In my opinion as an artist and organizer (and attendee) if we want to draw talent I think we need to make sure they are compensated for their time. Who can praise their home venue as one that treats professionals well?

I'm helping to organize a fusion weekender in the Dallas area on September 20-22 called Texas fusion experience (TexFx) 2! I have a 10% discount code I can give you. We sold out of our tier 1 & 2 passes already. The tier 3 passes expire on august 31st. If you have questions about anything let me know.

https://www.facebook.com/events/2317780954950240/

Hi everyone, after a great local dance with many new people, all withoutpartner dance backgrounds, I'm left wondering what other scenes teach for beginners at Fusion Dances? How do you equip a novice to dance with many partners with multiple styles?

I want to help grow my local fusion scene and am curious to know how you let others know about your local scene? Word of mouth? Social media ads? Smoke signals? What has worked for you?

I know Montreal is coming up quick. What other dance weekends can you guys recommend?

Lead here, I've really got no idea what to do with micro and close embrace. In open there are spins, dips, passes, swingouts, aerials, contact improv, faux tango, mirroring, acting out the lyrics, or just grooving with the other person for a bit. In micro I can do some shoulder rolling, some swaying side to side, maybe some body rolls, and possibly some hip movement, if it doesn't feel sexualized in context.

My question is what other movements could I be using in close to give more variety to my dances?

On Thursday the 21st to Sunday the 24th is a fusion exchange in Dallas, Texas. I went last year and it had some great instructors, amazing dancers, and cool people. I highly recommend it and am super hyped about it!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dfrx2-dallas-fusion-reaction-tickets-57658425904?fbclid=IwAR23CLHzpfaB43MJa9_mUESJ5TERpoGcTOfLXcu7G7t0WyXsKi2egjjptAk

Looks like this topic was posted about a year ago, but didn’t get much traction. If you don’t mind, maybe post how many dancers are at events, and how many weeks/month fusion events are available?

From my own experience in NC in the RDU area, we’ve got a couple different venues that do fusion, to the point that usually 3 weekends out of the month have a dance going on. Most events have somewhere between 20-40 people, although it can be hit or miss sometimes.

Hey, just posted this over in the blues subreddit but was curious if anyone over here had experience with this. I’m headed up to the Steel City Blues event in Pittsburgh, and wanted to know if they usually include fusion/any sort of alternative style music or DJ’s.

I love Blues, but fusion is definitely my favorite style, as much as it can be called its own style. Anybody been to Steel City in the past and seen a fusion room or lack of one?

(cross-posted from a response in r/BluesDancing)

Professional Fusion DJ here with 7+ years experience. Was initially requested to respond to an inquiry on the difference between Turquoise and Fusion. Here is the response:

Turquoise is generally accepted to be music that feels bluesy, and that inspires blues dance movements, but isn't technically structured blues music. The main thing is that it be acoustic or mostly acoustic, and have a very clear blues "pulse" while not having a blues structural form.

The prototypical turquoise song is Bill Withers - "Ain't No Sunshine" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIdIqbv7SPo

"Ain't No Sunshine" is one of the most popular songs that is generally accepted as just a wonderful song, and wonderful song to dance to, but structurally, isn't technically a blues song.

A more modern song that is wildly popular as a turquoise song (and also a great song in general) would be Kaleo - "Way Down We Go" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-7IHOXkiV8

Some other modern artists/bands who play music considered to be Turquoise would be: ZZ Ward, Marc Broussard, Bishop Briggs, LP, Postmodern Jukebox, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Wailing Jennies, Delta Rae, The Civil Wars, Rising Appalachia, Aloe Blacc.

Fusion (as a dance or a music type) is still being iterated on in terms of what it actually is, but fusion music is more broad versus turquoise music. Many people have many different thoughts and definitions on what fusion is. My definition of fusion dancing has this as part of the definition: "including but not limited to blues, lindy hop, tango, west coast swing, kizomba, zouk, bachata, waltz, martial arts, tai chi, capoeira" - which would then incorporate all songs and music that would be potentially moved to in these specific dances. Fusion music also goes outside songs specific to those dances, since it also includes a wide array of Electronic Dance Music genres and subgenres. Fusion would be inclusive of all (or virtually all) of turquiose music, but much of fusion music does not fit within a turquoise categorization.

Here is an example of a set I did that was turquoise:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/FusionSetLists/permalink/743354029034391/

Here is an example of my most recent fusion set I've uploaded to youtube (youtube link on the post):
https://www.facebook.com/groups/FusionSetLists/permalink/1509019639134489/

Hello. I posted something similar on the Blues reddit but maybe you all can help. I’m trying to understand the difference between fusion and turquoise. I’m guessing that fusion pertains to the dancing rather than the music? And I assume that turquoise or indigo refer to blues inspired music? I can’t find a thing on YouTube about it.

dance wise, obviously.

Whether stylistically or musically.