Matching the Music - Dax and Sarah

Looks like I've been on a little Dax and Sarah kick lately.  I just discovered this recent post of a social demo they did at GLHC.

First thing, the song, "Lindy Hopper's Delight" is just great.  This is one of those tunes that comes on and makes my feet want to move.

Second thing, I really enjoy social demos from the pros.  They give a sense of what's possible in a social dance where the lead/follow dynamic becomes the primary focus.  Yes, the pros have so much more practice, larger vocabularies, and are much more familiar with the music, but they give us something to aim towards.

Notice how they change in and out of different types of steps?  They throw in some Charleston, some break away Jazz movement, some large sweeping lines, and some close and tight movement.  They dance with how the music speaks to them.  They creatively play with instrumentation in the song. 

You can also tell that there is a conversation happening in their dancing.  He offers up a movement, she accepts and offers something back.  At one point when they break apart she isn't ready to come back in yet, and he catches this and continues with a new movement while separated and then waits to reconnect a few phrases later.

Personally, I've been striving to expand my dancing to match more closely whatever I hear in the music.  I find that my preferred mode tends to be faster and larger, but that isn't always a fit, so over the last few months I've been working more on smaller, tighter, slower, more nuanced and more efficient movement.

What do you think is your preferred dance mode?  Where do you need to find balance in your dancing?