Two-time Walkers Category champion Drew Alexander reached out to ChiStepper.com to address the Walking vs. Greystone discussion. Sarcastically, Drew asks, “T, should I keep Greystoning, or finally learn how to Walk?” I asked Drew what he thought about Tyk’s comments, and Drew broke down some key differences between Walking and Greystoning. Check him out.
Drew: Well T, to me the difference is [that the steps in] Greystone are a little more elongated. [Compared to Steppin the] steps are a little more stretched. With Walking, the dance isn’t so elongated, there are more dramatic pauses and stops, both partners separate and walk with space in between. From what I’ve been told from some of the old heads of Steppin’, and I feel extremely privileged to hear them tell me this, I actually have an older style of Walking, where it was more of a glide across the floor.
T. Pratt: Would you say that Greystone influenced your Walking?
Drew: Actually Ballroom Social influenced my Walking, and [I] used certain Greystone techniques.
T. Pratt: What about the direction of Greystone ... When I watch Darrell and Angela Brown do it, they move all over the floor.
Drew: That is true, so tell me T, ‘What kind of Greystoning did I do in the contest that had me all over the floor? Walkers on the outside, right?’ Greystoners on the whole floor … Out, in, clockwise, counter clockwise.
T. Pratt: Honestly, I didn't know enough about Greystone to make a fair critique. I thought that Tyk was talking about the way you dropped your back foot behind the other.
Drew: How come dropping one foot behind the other is not considered being creative ... Adding something other people don't do.
T. Pratt: I took it as creativity, but I've never seen it before so I thought maybe it was borrowed from Greystone. So I went and watched a couple videos of Darrell and Angela and I didn't see it, so I wasn't sure.
Drew: Well there it is then …Creativity, which is what really wins contests. I’ll say something Casper always says when I see him … "If everyone is doing the same dance how do you determine who the winner is? You can’t … that’s why I had to be creative and dance with the skates and do magic tricks." So I say how do you judge when everyone is doing the exact same thing? So I added a few different things to [set] me apart from everyone else now. Isn’t that the name of the game?
Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites
Tags: Drew Alexander
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
