Talk:Syncopation (dance)

After some reading I was tempted to add the following piece
 * In Ballroom dancing the term "syncopated timing" has traditionally been used in reference to patterns when a beat is split and an extra step is taken. An example would be the Syncopated Lock Step figure of Quickstep performed with the timing q&qqqqS.

However after some thought I came to conclusion that the above explanation, although commonly heard, is in fact misleading and hides the "true" nature of syncopation in the Syncopated Lock: the first lock is indeed syncopated in musical sense: the overall rhythmic feeling is q&QqqS (the second Q feels accented due to longer time interval between steps 3 and 4 compared to interval between steps 2 and 3). `'mikka (t) 08:52, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

Not using syncopation?
In the paragraph that begins "Many dance teachers criticize...", I'm assuming it refers to the second meaning of syncopation, but I'm not sure enough to put this in the text. If someone could confirm this...

-- TimNelson (talk) 06:43, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

This is all wrong
Syncopation in the musical sense is not 'splitting' the beat. You can split the beat and still be on tempo (as in the Cha - Cha) In true syncopation, as found in the Swing Dances and Argentine Tango the dancer deliberately dances some steps 'off tempo' the steps to not follow in a regular pattern that is in alignment with the music. The steps slow down and speed slightly to hit the accents in the music. Swing music and Argentine Tango have syncopated accents and the dancer should be focusing on hitting the accents. It cannot, and should not be done with steps that follow a regular beat pattern. Most dancer teacher's don't understand the different between 'splitting the beat' and true syncopation. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.146.117.46 (talk) 17:07, 4 June 2012 (UTC)