Opening tonight for private lesson

I have an opening tonight for a private lesson at 7:30 at the Dance Corner on Fulton Ave. in Sacramento. Just $50 for one or two couples. Give me a call if you're interested! 916-671-9637

New article posted: Why you should change partners in class

I posted a new article today, this one about changing partners in dance class. Give it a read!

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/6207066/why_dancers_should_change_partners.html?cat=2

How do you view beginner dancers?

As someone who's been around dancing for a long time (15 years), I have seen a lot of different people in my time. Of course, a lot of these have been beginners to the world of dance. One thing that many people will agree with is that we always need to bring new people into our sport. We need to keep the studios alive, the dances fun, and we can always use more partners...especially men. Therefore, how we treat our beginners is very, very important.

Most people are very welcoming of beginners and try to help them out as much as they can. As an example, Greg and I recently took up Argentine Tango. The community has been extraordinarily welcoming of us, even though we go to practica after practica with just one (now two, after last night) lesson under our belt. For the most part, the people who have danced with us have been very encouraging and very kind in offering us helpful advice, without being overbearing or rude. This attitude is part of what has gotten us addicted to this very fun and challenging dance!

Other people are not so great. I once had a student who came to a ballroom dance after a couple of classes. He was pretty solid on the few basic steps he knew, but he didn't know anything fancy yet. I encouraged him to ask women to dance, because he needed the practice and most women would rather do basics than sit and not dance. Also, personally (and I know other women who have the same viewpoint), I would rather do basics reasonably well with someone who is pretty comfortable to dance with than advanced stuff crappily with someone who wrenches me around because he didn't learn to lead proerly. Anyway, I digress. So, this very nice man goes to ask a woman to dance. She accepted and stood up, and he said, "By the way, I'm a beginner." She actually said "never mind" and sat down again. I was blown away by her rudeness. Really...you can't give 2.5 minutes of your life to dance with a beginner?

I've seen others who will accept the dance, or dance with a beginner in class, but their bad attitude about it shows on their face. How do you think that makes the poor beginner feel?

I should add: not all Tango people are welcoming and helpful, and not all Ballroom dancers are rude. There are both types of people no matter where you go, whether it's Tango, Swing, Ballroom, Country or whatever.

Think of dancing with beginners as an investment. If you are kind and encouraging to them, they are more likely to stick with it. NICELY encourage them to take lessons if they aren't already and explain the benefits so they know how important it is. Eventually, that beginner will get better and better and will grow into a good dancer. They are likely to remember who was kind to them and who wasn't when they can be pickier about their dance partners because they're so in demand. And, because of your encouragement, the dance world will have one more great dancer! Besides, if you take a chance and dance with a beginner, they may not turn out to be as bad as you think.

Sure, it can be a little uncomfortable and maybe even a little boring to dance with someone who only knows the very basic step of the dance. However, if you adjust your attitude about it and find the fun in dancing with someone new who is making an effort, you'll find it much more enjoyable. It's just a couple of minutes, and far better than sitting in a chair and watching everyone else have fun. And don't forget...your investment now may pay great dividends later.

As for my readers who are themselves beginners, I encourage you to get out there! The more practice you get, the better you will become, faster. I can't overstate the importance of taking lessons, either. You really do need to learn to dance properly in order to be the best dancer you can be, even if you never set foot on a competition floor. You can learn a lot just by getting out there with experienced dancers and doing it, but there is a lot to learn. However, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't start going to dances as soon as possible. The practice and encouragement will help you improve, and you'll meet some great people! Just ignore the rude ones. :)

Don't forget: Club dances every Friday night at The Dance Corner!

I will be DJing again this friday at the Dance Corner, so come on out! The dance normally starts at 8, but this week we will start at 8:30 due to some Argentine Tango workshops happening today. I will stay late to keep the party going! The Dance Corner is on Fulton near Marconi, across from Town & Country. Just $5 per person or $8 per couple...what a deal!

Foxtrot Class Thursday nights in November! Club Dance 11/5

It's a new month, and that means a new class on Thursday nights, 8:30 at Mission Oaks! This month, the dance is Intermediate Foxtrot. The cost is only $15 for the whole month--where else can you get a deal like this? You can sign up at the front desk.

Also, I will be DJing my club dance at The Dance Corner on Fulton this Friday from 8:00 to 10:30. Please come, and bring all your friends! Although the emphasis is on club music, I also mix in some ballroom and latin.

Are you a bottom-up dancer or a top-down dancer?

Greg and I had a great conversation the other day about learning to dance and adding styling. This applies to, as far as I can tell, every type of dancing there is: if you learn to dance well, and that means learning proper technique, you will look good even without learning fancy styling. In fact, this applies to learning to do lots of other things, as well.

I liken it to a bottom-up or top-down approach. If you start from the bottom, i.e., concentrate on learning fundamentals like good footwork, lead and follow, timing, body flight, being smooth, proper turning and all the other things that make for good, solid, basic dancing, you are going to look good even if you never learn a lick of styling. In fact, if you take the time to learn all of that, you will probably pick up a little styling along the way whether you think about it or not, and then when you are a good technical dancer, it's much easier to pick up more styling and make yourself look even better.

The other approach is to start from the top and work your way down: maybe learn the basic steps, but concentrate more on styling from the very beginning. Those who take this approach do so because they want to interpret the music and be more dancerly right away, rather than dancing like an automaton. I can appreciate this--I can. However, from what I have seen MOST of the time (not always--some people learn this way and end up being good dancers), people who learn this way lack the fundamentals and therefore do not look as good as people who learned the basics first. In fact, and please don't take this as a personal insult, but some of them are laughably bad, because their styling is disconnected and their technique is awful. Really...it doesn't do any good to swing your hips or fling your arms around if you're doing it at the wrong time, in the wrong way, you're not leading/following and you're not with the music. I'm sorry. It's harsh, I know, but it's true. I'm telling you this for your own good (unless I'm not talking to you at all).

There are exceptions to every rule. Some people learn to dance the "right" way and never, ever become good dancers. Others learn the "wrong" way and turn out great. It has a lot to do with your natural level of grace and talent. I'm just saying, this is an observation I've made from watching a lot of people dance.

I've had people come to me for lessons who want to learn some styling so they look better. My advice is almost always to improve their technique first, and then worry about style. They usually follow my advice, and it works out great. That is not to say they don't get to learn any styling at all--I'll show them things they can do with their free arms, etc., but they soon learn that good basics are the best way to look like a good dancer.

How Ballroom Dancing has shaped my life

My ballroom dancing journey began in the spring of 1995. I was living at home with my mother and one of my brothers, Bill. He had been taking ballroom dance lessons for a year, which I thought was an odd thing at the time, but when he informed me one afternoon that I would be going with him that evening, I decided I didn’t have anything better to do—so I went.
Bill and another brother (I have three) and I had spent several years roller dancing, so in some ways ballroom dancing was a natural progression. I had thought I would take right to it—after all, how hard can it be? That first night I was the very picture of awkwardness. I didn’t know what to do with my feet, I was off balance, and I just didn’t “get” it.

Naturally, I was immediately hooked! Despite my complete incompetence, there was something alluring about ballroom dancing. The music and lead-and-follow nature of the dance was so different from roller dancing, which is usually a set pattern done to boring organ music. I was intrigued and determined to learn more. I insisted on going back the next night, and before I knew it, I was dancing three to five times per week between classes and social dances.

In the 15 years since that first attempt, I have gone from absolute beginner to a competitor, performer and teacher. I have met many wonderful people, some of which have come and gone, and others I have known for years. One of the people Bill and I met through one of our performance opportunities is now his girlfriend, Sharon, and she is a good friend of mine as well.

Most importantly, it was through ballroom dancing that I met my husband, Greg. I was actually dating someone else at the time that we met, but that relationship had been going downhill for some time and I had just not gotten around to leaving yet. Greg was good friends with the DJ and would come in to visit with her, although he only danced West Coast Swing.

One night after surveying the room to see who to ask to dance a swing with, Greg decided that I was the only vaguely competent dancer there (…but actually, I was pretty poor at West Coast Swing then. I just happen to be less poor than the other choices), so he asked. After that, we danced all of the West Coast Swings together.

This went on for several months, and then my relationship finally fell apart for good (unrelated to my dancing with Greg—at ballroom dances, everyone generally dances with several partners during the night). I swore off men for a year to “find myself”, but it turned out to be only a month before I started dating Greg, and we’ve been together ever since. That was the year 2000.

I cannot imagine where I would be now if it were not for dancing. It’s a wonderful way to bond with one person or meet new friends. It’s therapeutic—no matter how bad I’m feeling, physically or emotionally, a night of dancing lifts me up and makes me feel better. It’s great exercise, burning about 300 calories per hour, on average, and working every muscle in your body. Finally, it keeps you young. I once met a 96-year-old woman who looked like she was in her 60s, and she attributed her youthful outlook and appearance to years of dancing.

Ballroom dancing has been a major part of my life for 15 wonderful years, and I wouldn’t trade a minute of it. I plan to continue for as long as my legs will carry me.