Ballroom Dance Lessons

[Lisa141]

Hey all!

Smooth I am so sorry to hear about your injury. We will miss having you up here for the comp. Get well in time for your cruise!!

 

We leave on our 8 night Eastern Carib cruise on Radiance of the Seas this Saturday! I am so excited. I have read so many good things about this type of ship I can't wait to see it!

 

On the dancing front, DH and I have started working on a Waltz routine for the Summer showcase. We are still working on all the other dances as well, got a few new moves for the upcoming cruise, hope we get to dance a lot!

[GCurry]

Dancing With The Stars is back, any thoughts early on?

I'm thinking Billy Ray will be the first to go, and "Clyde the Glide" ain't no Tommy Tunes!!

 

We are going to a casual dance at Moody Gardens in Galveston Sat., rock band and 3DIMAX for the same price. It's tough to pass up a deal like that!!

 

We continue to take at NASA, but probably need to move up to the advanced class as we are learning more techniques, but no new steps.

[tropicalsunset]

I'm no fan of Billy Ray.... I LOVE Cheryl Burke... wonder if Ian Ziering can keep up with her and keep it professional!! ;)

We will miss monday night for our private dance lesson... --

 

We have been doing group classes on Thursday nights..usually there is a very small group and we get a different instructor so hopefully when our present instructor moves on ... we will have a better idea who we want to continue with..

 

Smooth: how's the healing going??

 

GCurry: did I miss something... did Lance retire???

[GCurry]

I'm no fan of Billy Ray.... I LOVE Cheryl Burke... wonder if Ian Ziering can keep up with her and keep it professional!! ;)

We will miss Monday night for our private dance lesson... --

TIVO is an amazing thing, that Susan (ComputerSuperGodess) wanted as a present. Wow, this is something else, from a guy whose family got their first B&W TV with one station out of OK City.

Since we are a wireless home anyway, we now play dance music from the computer to the TV surround sound Bose system, the quality of which far exceeds my ability to dance. But, we can record our favorite programs, and watch them later.

 

Smooth: how's the healing going??

My question too, Mummsie as well.

 

GCurry: did I miss something... did Lance retire???

We don't know, Thanksgiving he fell and broke his hand and wasn't found for three days, causing him to miss two weeks of classes. We think the college was looking for an opportunity to dump him, so they didn't schedule any Ballroom. Lance is 83 and very frail physically, but never in temper or attitude, and his weasaly little eyes never missed a missed step.

What he did really well, was to work at all levels developing dancers; giving you new steps with each lesson. So, we are not technically perfect, but we know a lot.

 

Regrettably, our new teacher is hung up on foot position etc which means a lot to a Smooth or Mummsie, but doesn't make a rat's at a casual dancer in Texas!!

 

Thanks for responding Tropical, we keep seeing your weather and know that spring is having a difficult time up there.

[mummsie]

Hi all, Its been a bit quiet here on the boards :D My foot is still giving me some problems especially now the weather is getting cooler. I just learn to live with the pain. We are heading into autumn here and the cooler weather seems to make it hurt more. We are going to be dancing our first comp Easter weekend down the Gold Coast at the casino. Its a 3 day event - The Qld Open and of course we have events on 2 days so we have to stay down. Could drive back Saturday night as its only an hour journey but the Sunday morning we would have to leave home by 7am with full make up and hair so its not practical. Will be nice to have a weekend away anyway.

Our Argentine Tango lessons are going well on a Monday night - very enjoyable. Will be better when the weather becomes a bit cooler - its a very small hall with not very good ventilation and no a/c so has been a little uncomfortable. We have moved up into the intermediate class now so we are starting to learn some fun stuff. Our ballroom lessons are also going well - our teacher is happy with our progress over the last few weeks so not sure if its because of the Argentine Tango's different dance position and its making me more aware of my body position in ballroom but something is working :D

Only a few weeks until we go to Alaska. Have been madly trying to work out what to take. Its certainly going to be interesting packing as our baggage allowance is only 1 bag x 20 kilos each. My coat weighs a couple on its own.!!! - Mummsie:D

[smoothdancer]

Well horray the cast is off and now I am wearing an elevated shoe that is bringing my heel down slowly, a few days at a time, so as not to stretch my tendion to quickly.... I should be back on the ground in a few more weeks! The healing process is going good. I think I told you that the DR was suprised that I healed so fast... There is something to be said to being flexible!!

 

Sure McG I understand as a social dancer you want the fun of learning and using new steps. Me, I enjoy learning technique and can work on the same step for months and never become bored. We each take what we want and enjoy from dancing.... Still, while you have the opportunity thoes foot placement lessons might help you with control and balance that will in turn help you with your social dancing as you are taught some of the more difficult step patterns.

 

I thought Ian was pretty good for the first time out on Dancing with the Stars... But oh my gosh Billy Ray... shoot, I have seen first time dancers in our studio after just one lesson a week dance better than that in a month!!

[GCurry]

Sure McG I understand as a social dancer you want the fun of learning and using new steps. Me, I enjoy learning technique and can work on the same step for months and never become bored. We each take what we want and enjoy from dancing.... Still, while you have the opportunity thoes foot placement lessons might help you with control and balance that will in turn help you with your social dancing as you are taught some of the more difficult step patterns.

 

You are right of course, we are improving as dancers from learning the proper basics, and are correcting the steps we already know. We decided to stay where we are for the short term anyway. It's a pretty big group class, and she works on three dances each 8 week session. This next session will be Foxtrot Tango and Rumba, which should all be fun and we haven't had with her.

Our instructor is very organized and disciplined, which appeals to MsGCurry as she feels I can benefit from more of both in a number of things having nothing to do with dance!

 

Dancing With The Stars - at this point I think Laila and Joey are doing a great job. Little Apollo has a lot of talent, but no fan base. "Hanna Montana" fans must be supporting Billy Ray, as he should have been put out to pasture for that "I want my mullet back" Cha Cha after the first show.

Any thoughts?

[smoothdancer]

I could not beleive that Billy Ray is still on!. True, his quickstep was an improvement, but overall he should of been the one gone. I also love Lalia.

 

On a personal note I am also pulling for Brian Fortuna. We know him personally as he is from our area and very active in the competition community. Just one of the nicest kids you would ever want to meet. I think he needs to get a bit tougher with his partner if he is going to have any chance at all. This exposure could do great things for his career; he has been ballroom dancing since he was about 5 year old and I would sure love to see him get his shot!

[mummsie]

We are having the same issues with our DWTS series 6. There is a gay guy David Graham who has the worst co-ordination I have ever seen. For his Paso this week he scored a 4 but the gay community are behind him and he keeps getting voted in. Even he said himself he doesn't want to be in the competition anymore as he is really struggling. I feel sorry for the decent dancers who are getting voted off all around him. As well as voting for who you want left on you should be able to vote who you want to leave. I would certainly send a couple of text messages if it meant getting him off. I mean he is a lovely guy and all but it really is not fair to him or the other competitors.

On another note, our Argentine Tango is coming along nicely - Shannon and I are miles ahead of the boys - we have been doing a fair bit of dancing with the teacher and he just leads us into stuff. We are having a ball :D

Our first ballroom comp is coming up Easter weekend down the Gold Coast - the Queensland Open. Hopefully we will do well. We haven't danced at a major comp for a couple of years so will be interesting anyway. Mummise :D

[tropicalsunset]

Smooth: so glad to hear you are "heeling" well..

how exciting to know one of the professionals..!! he's a cutie!!

 

Did I mention last thursday we did a group class Dave and I .. the male instructor and a male student who was kinda slow.. and we were doing some new turns for the Chacha... I danced my tail off.... the room took on a new spin as it were!!

but I think I got the moves down alright... ... yes, I "travel" too much...ooooeeee!!

 

Mummsie: good luck on your comp... hopefully we will get to see some more videos!! :)

 

The snow is nearly gone up here and we are having warmer weather... got out to do some raking today..tho' the ground is pretty wet here.. .. I think I'll cut some branches off my forsythia and try to force it inside!! :D

[Krunu15]

Hello, the ballroom thread seems like a lot of fun. I've been dancing for years (started as social swing dancing at 13) then started taking lessons in high school then joined the ballroom dance team in college (free lessons from a pro...yay) currently go to the YCN (youth and college) competitions...mostly just for fun. Anyway I'm going on a cruise on Carnival Miracle in a few months with my friend/dance partner and I was wondering if some of you more seasoned cruisers could answer some questions for me. Is carnival going to have opportunities to dance ballroom or is it just going to be club music at most venues? I suppose you could cha cha or samba to some of it but I'd really like jive, rumba, foxtrot, waltz and quickstep music as well. Are the dance floors large enough to actually dance on? I know (most) latin and rhythm dances won't be a problem but what about waltz or quickstep where you really need a large floor and semi clear path. I wouldn't even dream about attempting something like v.waltz but I do love to quickstep.

[GCurry]

Hello, the ballroom thread seems like a lot of fun. I've been dancing for years (started as social swing dancing at 13) then started taking lessons in high school then joined the ballroom dance team in college (free lessons from a pro...yay) currently go to the YCN (youth and college) competitions...mostly just for fun. Anyway I'm going on a cruise on Carnival Miracle in a few months with my friend/dance partner and I was wondering if some of you more seasoned cruisers could answer some questions for me. Is carnival going to have opportunities to dance ballroom or is it just going to be club music at most venues? I suppose you could cha cha or samba to some of it but I'd really like jive, rumba, foxtrot, waltz and quickstep music as well. Are the dance floors large enough to actually dance on? I know (most) Latin and rhythm dances won't be a problem but what about waltz or quickstep where you really need a large floor and semi clear path. I wouldn't even dream about attempting something like v.waltz but I do love to quickstep.

Welcome Krunu15, I will give you the courtesy of a quick reply, as I won't take my first Carnival Cruise until next January, some of the others can address Carnival specifics. Dance floors are never very large on the ships we've cruised although they were usually adequate for most dances. The old NCL Wind would retract the show stage which gave a large dance area but it was the exception. The good news is that every ship usually has at least one band that plays ballroom & Latin music, some of course better then others. Along with the large floor, the Wind had part of their show band playing "standards" for 45 minutes before every show. Dancing on a cruise is something we've always looked forward to and enjoyed.

 

Six inches of rain yesterday here on the Texas Coast, but it cleared off enough for a very pleasant outside fajita party last night. Temperatures are approaching the 80s with humidity to match. The Angel Trumpets are blooming and a Yesterday Today & Tomorrow (Brunfelsia) is giving us it's annual show.

[smoothdancer]

I have been on Carnival. It is a great time, but as McG said, the dance floors are small. You definetly will not be doing quickstep on a cruise, even if you had the floor to yourself, there just is not enough room. The floors are large enough for social waltz foxtrot and tango, but think more american style with underarm turns, passing twinkles or anything where you can weave in and out and still not make other dancers uncomfortable.... Think social dance floor....

For international standard, there just is not enough room. Still we have a lot of fun ballroom danicng on ships. People just love to talk to dancers and after just a few dances others come by to chat with us and we always seem to strike up fun friendships.

 

As far as latin or rhythm, the floor is more than adequate and you will not be lacking in this type of music through out your cruise.

 

Hope that helped and have a great time.

[Krunu15]

Thanks for the info!

[GCurry]

I was really disappointed in the Tangos, boorring, and how could Laila's pro partner choreograph something that totally broke the rules of the dance?

 

The judges call down one couple for unnecessary hoorah on the stage and let Joey get away with that hokey Star Wars routine??

 

We watch a thousand football games with numerous cameras and instant replay and yet have the only camera in the show go off to Mars or somewhere when Ian missteps?? What happened?

 

And don't get me started on Heather Mills, a lot of women shouldn't wear yellow, so her jive dance with a frock from the Wizard of Oz and the Michael Jackson shoes didn't wow me nearly as much as it wowed the judges.

 

We'll miss Miss America as eye candy if nothing else!! Although most of the pro women seem to favor the beach wear from Rio look!!

 

Now that I got that out of my system, what did you think?

[smoothdancer]

Finally got to watch the show.... I am with you what is with the star wars props??? And then for the judges to call them back at the results show to do it again???? The dance itself was not worthy of that.

 

Although some open work, I thought that Lialia's was the best. Thier closed work with excellent. I thought Miss America did a better job then the basketball player, and was sorry to see her go. I am afriad a lot of who stays and who goes is fan base rather than who is the better dancer. I mean just look at American Idol, and the horrible kid that remains on the show. He created the strongest fan base, thus he survives.

 

I was the most entertained by Ians dance and style on the floor. And have to admit the most impressed by Billy Rays turn around. I think he gives hope to your beginner dancer...

[critterchick]

Finally got to watch the show.... I am with you what is with the star wars props??? And then for the judges to call them back at the results show to do it again???? The dance itself was not worthy of that.

 

Although some open work, I thought that Lialia's was the best. Thier closed work with excellent. I thought Miss America did a better job then the basketball player, and was sorry to see her go. I am afriad a lot of who stays and who goes is fan base rather than who is the better dancer. I mean just look at American Idol, and the horrible kid that remains on the show. He created the strongest fan base, thus he survives.

 

I was the most entertained by Ians dance and style on the floor. And have to admit the most impressed by Billy Rays turn around. I think he gives hope to your beginner dancer...

:D

 

I think San---- gets voted on by the "Vote for the Worst" voters that Howard Stern stirred up a couple of seasons ago.

 

I thought that Blondie should have been the first one out, followed by Clyde, as much as I like him. Billy Ray just cracks me up - "why are you depressed?" "Because I suck!" And he really did do a good job on Monday, so I'm glad he stayed.

 

DH and I are to the point where, during the practice snips, we notice that the stars are being criticized for the same things we are. I don't know if that's good or bad!

 

Our teacher always laughs at us when we do the waltz or foxtrot - DH turns in little circles rather than using the whole studio because that's all the space you usually have on a cruise ship! We've taken up samba again and have a couple of travelling steps that are likely to carry us off the dance floor, out of Bolero's and down the Promenade Deck!

[smoothdancer]

Yes, I am a bit bias as I know Brian, Blondies partner! I wish he could of hung on for just one more week, oh well.

 

We have a permanent mental block on the Samba, just cant do it and gave up years ago trying, but yes that dance can travel, cant it! Some day though when we dont have such a crazy competition schedule I would love to spend more time on the Bolero and learn the west coast swing. ... Hey I wonder why the dont do WCS on DWTS.... That could be fun to watch, dont you think?

[Truluv]

Just a quick thank you to the folks on this board. A year ago I posted with some questions about dance lessons for my teenagers. Well, they tried it and really liked it (in fact the 18-yr old jock is at lessons with his 15 yr old sister tonight, and the 21 yr old will pick up lessons again when he returns from college). The jock discovered that girls are really intrigued by the fact that he's willing to take lessons, and he'll be going to Prom with the gorgeous Dance Team Captain. The older one thinks it will help him in business to be able to handle himself at charity events (he's majoring in hospital administration, with an eye on law school). My daughter just thinks it's cool. I get a huge kick out of listening to them discussing dance steps.

 

And no, I don't dance myself (never did) -- I just love watching you all!

[GCurry]

Just a quick thank you to the folks on this board. A year ago I posted with some questions about dance lessons for my teenagers. Well, they tried it and really liked it (in fact the 18-yr old jock is at lessons with his 15 yr old sister tonight, and the 21 yr old will pick up lessons again when he returns from college). The jock discovered that girls are really intrigued by the fact that he's willing to take lessons, and he'll be going to Prom with the gorgeous Dance Team Captain. The older one thinks it will help him in business to be able to handle himself at charity events (he's majoring in hospital administration, with an eye on law school). My daughter just thinks it's cool. I get a huge kick out of listening to them discussing dance steps.

And no, I don't dance myself (never did) -- I just love watching you all!

How great it is that even though you don't dance you have given your children that opportunity. I think about everyone on this board continues to take lessons, as we can never learn it all.

 

As my DW and I are both at the University of Texas Medical Branch a very major medical center of 13 thousand, we can address Hospital Administration at length. A degree in Hospital Admin. with an additional MBA or Law degree would make your son a very valuable commodity.

 

DWTS - IMHO - My guess tonight is Leeza Gibbons gets the ax. Clyde ought to, but he's got a larger fan base.

Joey really did a great Paso, not that I dance or even like the Paso Doble, but I do know a good performance when I see one. Actually little Apollo is should have done the Paso, he's the size of the average Matador. I was an aficionado of the Corrida in my El Paso/Juarez years. (That's what comes from reading too much Hemmingway!)

Ian really shows nicely, and Johnathan Roberts is literally carrying Heather through the competition. It seems the judges have done a 180, and are back to actually judging for a change.

 

Any thoughts?

[mummsie]

YAHOO - we won on the weekend :D We got a first place for our Level 4 New Vogue and a 2nd for our Level 3 standard (I got the judges results for this as I felt we should have won). The marks were crazy. We got all 1's and 2's except for one judge who marked us last for the foxtrot. Pretty unusual when the rest of the marks for this same judge were 2 and 2 and foxtrot is our best dance.!!! Anyhow that's water under the bridge. We also got back to the second round in the Open New Vogue which we were very pleased about. Took a day off work yesterday and went looking for material. Decided on the weekend I needed a new gown and I couldn't afford $3K for one so Went and bought some material to make a new standard dress - going to have two going - one for New Vogue and one for standard. I have only bought the lycra so far for the dress bit. Its a beautiful dark pink. Going to have 3 layers of chiffon under it - the top layer will be rose pink and white swirls, the middle layer will be white and the bottom layer will be a plain rose pink. Should look good when its swirling around :D So far its cost me $38 - big difference to $3K:D Mummsie

[REDZONE]

My DW and I took lessons for our first cruise in 04 and been dancing together ever since. WE take a private lesson once a week. Love it.

[clofty]

Congratulations Mummsie.

 

Did you do the Barclay Blues?

 

How talented you are to be able to make your own dress. I did some sewing at school and have just bought a sewing machine to start learning the basics again! My 9 yr old daughter has started showing an interest in designing her own clothes!

 

You must be thrilled to bits.

[mummsie]

Congratulations Mummsie.

 

Did you do the Barclay Blues?

 

How talented you are to be able to make your own dress. I did some sewing at school and have just bought a sewing machine to start learning the basics again! My 9 yr old daughter has started showing an interest in designing her own clothes!

 

You must be thrilled to bits.

Hi Clofty, Our Level 4 we did Lucille Waltz, Carousel, Tango Terrific and Gypsy Tap. Open was Twilight Waltz, Barclay Blues, Tango Terrific, Gypsy Tap and Charmaine. Our lesson last night we started working on a lot of open work as our Teacher says we are ready for the big time :D It was a lot of fun and certainly makes the dances more interesting.

I have been sewing for 35 years - mostly ballet costumes and tutus for my daughter and when the kids were smaller I sewed all of their clothes including trousers. I used to also sew most of my clothes until I got lazy - poor old sewing machine is on its last legs but it keeps chugging along. I bought it in 1968. My daughter is keen to start learning how to sew now she is married and moved out of home. She has done some of her curtains for her new house with my help and she said she also wants to learn how to make costumes and dresses so she is going to help me with my dress. :D Mummsie

[smoothdancer]

Congrads Mummsie! Such a wonderful feeling isnt it? I am too quite envious of you that you have sewing talents. I cant sew a stitch and I sure wish I could because it sure would save a lot of $$ that I end up spending on costumes.

 

DWTS--- Me too for some reason I just am not partial to the Paso. The dance has just no appeal to me but there was no denying that Joey did capture the charector of the dance and it was a great performance. Most people really dont like the Jimmy Kimmell skits while my husband and I think they are just so funny... We must have a warped sense of humor!

 

We took our first lesson last week now that I am no longer in a cast. We went slow of course, but it was sure good to be on dance floor again!