Corporeality in Partner Dance: Rediscovering the Body Through Forró
- Rafael Piccolotto de Lima
- May 26, 2020
- 6 min read
In partner dancing, we often talk about technique, musicality, connection, and repertoire. But there is another layer that is much harder to define and explain: corporeality.
Corporeality - Of the nature of the physical body; bodily.
Today I share with you a recent experience of mine, a process in which I’m still very immersed. I am living a phase of new discoveries and internal exploration in my dance, part of a journey that started some time ago and intensified during the period of social distancing and online teaching.
Entering Someone Else’s Dance Universe
In 2019 I had the joy of hosting at my apartment and traveling with two of my very favorite forró dancers and instructors: Camila Alves and Milena Morais. We were on a United States and Canada tour for a little more than two months.
It was a period of great impact on both my dance and my life, and this was not by chance. I wanted to help the local forró scene evolve, but I also found myself in a privileged position to fulfill a personal wish: to work closely with two artists I deeply admire and, through that experience, challenge the limits of my own dance.
Camila was here between August and September. Milena arrived in October.
I remember telling both of them something very similar:
“I want to enter your dance universe, learn a little bit of your way of dancing, and, in a way, be able to see through your eyes for a second.”
I also explained that one of the main reasons I invested so much effort into making this tour happen - and it truly was a lot of work - was precisely because I wanted to challenge myself dancing and teaching alongside them.
Since my late teenage years, I have understood the importance of surrounding myself with people I admire artistically. I believe this is one of the best ways to evolve intentionally and create work we are genuinely proud of, and this story is another example of that process.
The Frustration of Not Knowing Exactly How to Improve
I asked both of them many times:
“What and how can I improve?”
“What could I do differently in my dance?”
But their answers were often elusive.
Sometimes they would ask for time to think. Sometimes they would unintentionally dodge the question. And yet, after every dance, every workshop, every demonstration we taught together, I felt deeply challenged.
Every performance and every shared dance created in me the desire to contribute more fully to that artistic partnership.
I admit that this was sometimes frustrating. I couldn’t clearly identify what exactly needed to change. My thoughts became as undefined as their answers. At every dance I experimented with something different, trying new possibilities without having a clear path in front of me.
And yet, that challenge was also deeply satisfying. I could feel the transformative power of those moments, and there was something beautiful about that process of adaptation and discovery.
Partner dance allows us to create unique experiences as a result of two individuals finding a middle ground between their corporeality, musicality, and repertoire of movements.
If you want to explore more about how musicality and movement interact beyond choreography and memorized patterns, I wrote more about this here:
Corporeality and Creative Adaptation
Dancing with Camila and Milena made me feel, more than ever, the creative possibilities hidden inside partner dance.
With their bodies they suggested things that their words sometimes would not say.
It was - and still is - a process of rediscovering the possibilities of my own movement.
One particular night here at home, Milena and I decided to dance in the yoga room inside my building. It is usually empty late at night. That evening she finally made a more substantial comment about my dance. She told me something that felt abstract at the time, but gradually became clearer over the following months:
“Explore more your body in the dance.”
At that moment, I did not fully understand what she meant, much less envision a concrete path for transformation.
But we danced many songs together, and little by little she began suggesting small possibilities for me to explore. We experimented with those ideas together, and it was wonderful.
At the same time, I knew it would be a much longer journey.
Rediscovering the Body During Isolation
Months later, I started understanding those conversations differently. I felt that I was beginning to understand better what she had tried to communicate that night. Something in those dances with Milena and Camila stayed with me long after the tours ended, and this process became even more intense during the pandemic a few months later.
Since I stopped teaching my regular in-person classes, I started focusing heavily on online teaching and individual movement exploration. Most of what I practiced and taught during that period involved ways of expressing music through the body using the entire body - not only through figures or partner dynamics.
Corporeality and musicality.
If you’re interested in how practicing alone can transform partner dancing and body awareness, I explored this topic more deeply here:
During almost two decades of social dancing and several years teaching weekly classes in New York, much of my focus has been on flow, connection, a comfortable embrace, musicality, and partner interaction.
But after these experiences, the exploration of my whole body in the dance started becoming another central focus of my practice. I began seeing new movement possibilities and realizing that my body itself could become a much larger source of creativity, musicality, and expression within the dance. Interestingly, much of this exploration happened while dancing alone.
Almost three months of isolation passed, and I spent a huge amount of time practicing individually. It was both challenging and deeply satisfying in its own way. Even while immersed in these discoveries, however, I anxiously waited for the opportunity to rediscover what happens when this individual corporeality encounters another person again. That interaction remains one of the most beautiful aspects of social dancing.
Corporeality, Musicality, and Partner Dance
The more I explored these ideas, the harder it became to separate corporeality, musicality, and connection.
I began noticing that the more movement possibilities I discovered on my own, the more possibilities seemed available when dancing with someone else.
I also started thinking differently about creativity in forró. Increasingly, I found it less in the invention of new movements and more in what happens when movement, touch, rhythm, timing, and musicality reorganize themselves in real time between two people.
If you want to explore more about how this affects connection and interaction inside social dancing, I also wrote about this here:
No two dances ever feel exactly the same. Each person brings different possibilities, habits, sensitivities, and ways of responding to music. Somewhere in that encounter, something unique can emerge.
Corporeality. Mine, yours, and, perhaps, ours together.
Epilogue
Once I finished writing this blog post (dated May 2020), I sent it to Camila and Milena, since they are the protagonists of this story.
The result?
I received a list of critiques and comments. Haha.
Jokes apart, both of them made important comments and suggestions throughout our tours together. That particular night of explorations with Milena expanded my horizons regarding forró dance and made me rethink my dancing as a whole.
Camila, on the other hand, constantly challenged my posture and we had long conversations about stepping patterns in relation to the zabumba beats. The themes we prepared together for classes and workshops also had a profound influence on how I think about teaching dance today.
Their comments to students during events and workshops also became opportunities for me to reflect on my own movement and teaching process.
I do not believe there is only one correct way of dancing or moving.
Each dance is unique, and each partner brings different elements into the experience. Over the years I have heard many different perspectives, sometimes even contradictory ones.
And I’m glad it is that way. Let’s continue this exploration of the body.
If you want to explore more about rhythm, musicality, body awareness, and individual practice inside forró, these articles may also interest you:
Luckily, I was able to record many videos during those trips, classes, and events. If you are curious, there are playlists on my YouTube channel with videos organized from those experiences.
Over the years, many of these reflections gradually became part of the way I teach musicality, body awareness, improvisation, and partner dance through Forró New York classes and online courses.
If you want to join me in this journey of exploring corporeality, musicality, and body expression in forró, you can learn more here:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rafael Piccolotto de Lima is the Founder and Educational Director of Forró New York, as well as a Latin Grammy-nominated composer, arranger, and music director.
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