Your dance. Your place. Your schedule.
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Musicality in dancing, put simply, is the ability to change your dancing with a change in the music. To do that, you need to know how long your patterns are, and how long a particular section of music is. Enter the 8-count, the basic unit of measurement we use to tie what we dance to what we hear. Continue reading "Keeping Time, Part Two: Understanding the 8-Count"
Let's be honest: attending classes at a studio for a senior isn't as simple as just checking what's nearby. There's some important considerations - like how many stairs there are between you and the dance floor.
There's also the challenges of protecting your body during a lesson from partners who don't know better, as well as keeping up with the pace of the lesson. If you want your dance class to be an enjoyable experience, watch on! Continue reading "Dancing at Any Age, Part Two: Doing Classes with Class"
It's one thing to want to learn to dance, quite another to have the time and space necessary to practice. True, this is a BIG advantage of going to a dance studio, where the space is provided along with the lesson. But there's plenty of options for a creative home-schooled dancer as well.
When I was first learning dance as a teenager, my parents would pay for ONE group lesson a week, and sometimes the occasional private lesson, nothing more. And I couldn't use the studio space to practice in between classes.
So I, like many of you, had to make-do from home. Usually the only place that wouldn't put me in anyone's way was my own bedroom. The walls were about 10 ft. apart, less a shelving unit on one side - but you better believe I made the most of it!
Every night after completing my homework, I practiced, learning to take smaller steps, or even break some of the patterns into two pieces so I had room to complete them. It wasn't easy, but it was enough to prepare me for that next group class, or social.
Now that I think about it, I had plenty of other options, but they simply never occurred to me at the time. Since I can't rewind the clock, I'm including them here.
For more tips on making time for dance practice, check out my video on Positive Dance Habits. Continue reading "The Home-Schooled Dancer, Part Three: Practice Strategies"
Take a couple of hours - or in the case of this vlog, about 5 minutes - to understanding your options before choosing, and you can save yourself hundreds of hours of wasted time.
Novice dancers choose the first instructor a studio sticks in front of them, without knowing if another could have taught them in half the time. And many home-schooled dancers rely on YouTube for their information, then spend years unlearning the many bad habits they picked up along the way.
If you decide to learn, or at least supplement your learning from home, it's important that you understand that YouTube isn't your only option. It's not even your only FREE option. Continue reading "The Home Schooled Dancer, Part Two: Finding Videos"
"What do you mean I need to buy dance clothes and shoes? Haven't I spent enough money on lessons already??" I know, I know.. Truth is, having clothing and especially shoes for dancing makes it a lot more enjoyable. And they don't have to break the bank.
I didn't always dress this snappy (my wife bought most of my clothes worth wearing), and I've always tended to buck the trend towards dance studio-themed clothing. Not only do many other clothing choices do the job just as well, they're cheaper too.
Over time, I met others who felt the same way I did, who managed to cut costs on their dance wear, while still buying what looked good and felt comfortable. The tips I'm including today are a combination of their advice and my own. Enjoy! Continue reading "Dance Wear, Part Three: Buying on a Budget"
Dressing well for a social dance is about more than simply leaving your sharp jewelry at home and dressing in breathable clothes. Different venues call for different costumes, as my interview with ballroom instructor revealed.
Now, before you start telling yourself how superficial all this is, remember that fitting in is often a way of saying "hey, I'm one of you". And of course, this leads to more dances. That's why you came, right? Continue reading "Dance Wear, Part Two: Different Venue, Different Costume"
Every year, a 5-Day West Coast Swing (WCS) dance camp is held in Ancaster, Ontario. That’s 5 days of workshops, assessments, and coached practices, from morning to night. It’s quite the endurance run. And it’s often a painful process, as I discovered last year.
So this time, I kept a record of my journey, as a reminder to others who sometimes face doubts and negative thinking in their learning process; that they are not alone, and yes, it does get better. Continue reading "What A 5-Day Dance Camp Taught Me about Perseverance"
There’s an assumption that’s made about ballroom dancing sometimes, that many opportunities are closed to you if you didn’t learn to dance from a very early age. And I confess, it’s an assumption that I believed as well, though I didn’t know it at first. Continue reading "You Don’t Need to Start as a Child to Learn to Dance"
Every time I greet a new student, I like to take them out on the floor and move them to music right away, so they can get a taste of how much fun ballroom classes can be. It’s usually then that I hear the phrase ‘I wish I’d started dancing sooner.’
Why do we hold off on pursuing the things we enjoy? There’s a mentality that traps us, where we feel the things we really want can’t come to us without years of hard work and toil - as though we could somehow free ourselves of all responsibilities, if we just pushed hard enough. Continue reading "5 Reasons to Enjoy Ballroom Dancing Classes NOW, not Later"
In the past, I’ve tried to explain how to improve dance timing in a variety of ways. In return, I’ve frequently met with frustration. I recall one reader brusquely replying, ‘I’m not a music major.’
I needed something simpler, some ideas that worked for anyone. And so, after hours of research, I’m finally ready with five new exercises. I recently used these in a group class, and they worked great! I hope they work for you too. Continue reading "5 Easy Tricks to Learn Dance Timing"