Playlist from one of the DJs with a total of 3 DJs.

I believe that my companion and I were the only newcomers at Fusion.

The event took place at Anex Dance in Toronto, at Bathurst and Bloor. The initial class was about Zouk and was led by two women whom I believe are a couple.

The class consisted of the basic step with two types of turns and ended with vertical and horizontal body undulations. In the end, they demonstrated the dance using a Brazilian song. The dance is very fluid, masking the basic step well.

In general, the event's music had well-marked beats and was easy to follow, or it was practically only melodic, where creative expression seemed more pronounced.

I believe that about 50 people attended the event in total.

My first two dances were not satisfactory. I spent a few dances just observing the participants. In order to understand the culture of the event, something like understanding the event's Underscore and then allowing myself to be influenced by people. I came to the conclusion that my initial dances were focused on musicality and not necessarily on my partner. I executed changes in rhythmic patterns, such as triple steps, but not effectively enough for the follower to follow. This reminds me of the phrase that Dan, the salsa teacher in the technique class, says:

My subsequent dances focused on paying more attention to the connection and less to the music, resulting in more interesting dances.

A second problem arose. The followers started responding better to the dance, but the lack of shared vocabulary created disconnection. Sometimes, I executed rhythmic patterns, such as triple steps, which caused confusion among the followers. The realization of this fact led me to simplify dance patterns, focusing only on the groove of the music.

Melodic songs allow for a more integrated dance because neither party is executing rhythmic patterns, which becomes very close to a Skin Dance of contact improvisation.

Without consciously realizing it, I ended up getting into the dance and letting the follower take a stance, informing me of the type of movement the person had. Additionally, I began to observe different people carefully to understand their types of movement. In general, styles like Zouk and body rolls in bachata were prominent. There were also salsa and tango dancers.

I had two dances with Summer. Her first dance was focused on clear connection, using the body as a driving vehicle. The dance was successful but not satisfying. Summer is a salsa dancer. Observing her dance with other people, I noticed that the dances where she seemed more comfortable had patterns of elastic tension, as in enchufla. Using this information, my second dance was much more satisfying because there was a more intense and clear connection between us.

I had similar dances with different people, all satisfactory and well-executed but basic. All these dances were close to the style of blues dance. The slowness of the music and the ease of finding the groove of the music allow for practically instant connection that makes the dance flow. An important piece of information I obtained when attending the blues event is that the timing of turns is determined by the person executing them.

I had some dances more focused on contact improvisation with. I noticed that the response to movements were monolithic, with no flexibility in the trunk and rigid, taking time to respond. Perhaps this perception became evident due to the Amenti Listening Exercise, which highlights the fluidity of response.

There was a CI dance I had with someone that was more interesting because they understood the concept of weight sharing. The dance itself was good, but I realized that I have more pleasure in more traditional partner dances.

The best dance of the night was with a French Canadian woman. Her dance background is primarily Kizomba and then salsa and bachata. The dance was great due to the sensitivity of body listening and openness to frontal body connection. Her ability to follow is keen, creating a sense of uniqueness in the dance. I am very interested in exploring Kizomba in the future.

Conclusions

Body language (dance history) matters to establish a good connection.

I imagined the possibility that people could be more faithful to their dance style even if the partner was not from the same style, but this did not happen. Reflecting now, I imagine that this would only be possible with two leads, as the follower will try to adapt to the offered leadership.

The lead has to be much more focused on adapting to the dance style and body movement of the follower, and only then leading the dance.

The best dances came from people with advanced body listening, allowing for a harmonious dance. This reinforces my theory that people should learn body listening before learning steps.

I believe that Fusion, as it happened at the event, is not a dance style but rather a cultural phenomenon or mentality, a reflection of urban centres with varied dance options where people allow themselves to explore what they know in alternative contexts, thus being creative. I believe that without attending classes of other dance styles, personal development is very limited. Possibly what I aspire to as dance is Fusion as a dance style.

I believe that a person without dance experience would have much more difficulty than at an event with a more structured dance style like salsa or tango.