Dance Spotlight : 'Girls Like' by Neville Fitzgerald & Julie Harris
Welcome to the first in a new series of posts where I will be shining the 'spotlight' on a different dance each week. This new feature will include a weekly review of dances from the line dance catalogue of both the older 'Classic' dances alongside the newer line dances. The dances chosen will be based on a number of factors: dances I have been taught in class, dances I see on the circuit, at workshops, weekends and 'blasts from the pasts'.
I'm going to kick this off with 'Girls Like' by Neville Fitzgerald and Julie Harris as I've just learnt this one in the last week.
GIRLS LIKE
Dance information:
64 Count
Advanced Dance
Music: Tinie Tempah feat Zara Larsson
Choreographed by Neville Fitzgerald & Julie Harris
Date: March 2016
Review:
I learnt this for the first time in this weeks class. I had seen it danced at a recent social and I've heard the song on the radio and tv music channels but I've never had a chance to have a go at this one... until now...
It's funky, there are a few tricky turns in particular the first one where you have to remember to transfer your weight so that you can then rock out to the side otherwise you end up a bit stuck and on the wrong foot.
There are a lot of syncopated steps so you really have to watch out for the timing on this one, I got caught out a few times either being too quick or not holding a step long enough but once you've got that timing it feels really good and goes great to the music.
You can really put your own stamp on this one, from the 'sit' in the first half of the dance, the heel splits and the sweep steps. All you need is a bit of attitude and some inspiration and you can really make it your own.
It's tricky - I would say high intermediate to advanced so not for lower level of dancers due to the turns and syncopated steps, but what I did find was that when I did go wrong it was easy to get back into so you aren't 'out' for long and I did find that I didn't tend to get lost when I was dancing so that was another positive.
There are restarts, but only two of them and they are both in the same place in the music. In addition you can hear them very clearly in the music as the female singer starts singing the chorus both times.
Watch the Dance:
My verdict
I liked this one, it was good fun to dance to and I like the heel twist/splits and the paddle turns, the timing is tricky and takes some practice to get and I like the bouncy beat of the song which the dance fit really well into. Some of the dance steps are fairly unique or we don't see very often which is also good as you do go through phases of seeing similar steps popping up in multiple dances. This gives the dance a feel of being a bit different to some of the other dances out there so it is a bit refreshing in that sense to dance something so different.Speaking for myself, I think this one is going to take me a few weeks to completely get to grips with as I still am not perfect on where the tags are - I hear them coming and know they are due and that's usually when it all goes a bit wrong. I'm also looking to see more of the professional dancers dance this one (perhaps at the CBA's) as I think this is a dance you can really get going on and put your own unique stamp on.
I think this has a pretty good shot for CBA Advanced dance of the year (remember you heard that hear first lol!). Let's wait and see shall we.
0 comments