Ballroom Dance Lessons

[mummsie]

Hi Smoothdancer, I think there are a few similarities with American Smooth in that there is a lot of interpretation with body and arm positions but in New Vogue everybody is doing the same dance steps in a big circle. In the lower grades in competition is very restricted in what you can and can't do. When you go to the high level and Open which we now are, you can do a lot of things with your arms and body lines but the basic dance is always the same. The music is even phrased so that at the end of the sequence and the start of the next is a chorus change. It feels really strange dancing New Vogue to a piece of music that isn't phrased - this is particularly noticable in the foxtrot rythem dances. They all have wonderful names - Merilyn Schotissche and the Barclay Blues to name a few. Good luck this weekend with your comp. We have 2 weeks before we compete again. Gayle

[smoothdancer]

Tropical

What is the name of your studio? I'll cheer along for your group too!!

[GCurry]

Let us not forget twojays in England with her Costa Cruise in the Med..

I think we've got a fantastic forum; England & Australia (or is it Oz these days?)

Southern Calf. to Conn., South Texas to Chicago, San Fran area to was it Florida or New Jersey or both?

So many dances and styles, advanced competition and beginners, ballrooms and cruise ships, they all have a home here.

Smooth vs New Vogue, Argentine vs American Tango, Foxtrot vs salsa, something for everyone.

 

I, of course, will continue to promote social dancing, whenever and where ever you can, for beginners, and stand as a noted authority whenever the "Cotton Eyed Joe" and Shottiche are discussed!!

[texancruzer]

GCurry, I agree - this thread has really evolved. Very interesting when you have diversity. I would love to see a competition in person someday altho I don't think it is my cup of tea personally to compete and I KNOW IT'S NOT FOR DH. When I danced from age 4 until after married I did love to perform each year at our recitals. In my teen years I performed solo and there is nothing like being out on stage and in costume and doing a perfect routine. One year I was performing my ballet (on pointe) routine when everyone in the audience (the ones I could see in the first few rows due to bright lights) stood up. Seems one of the huge backdrops came loose and s-l-o-w-l-y started dropping and then WHOOOSH came down with a bang and missed me by inches. I kept going without missing a beat and danced around it. Was one of the few times I got a standing ovation..... not really the way to get one either !!!!! Maybe someday I will figure out my scanner and post some pics.... any one else have pics ? That would really be fun - to put faces to all of you (as well as see some of the comp costumes !). Anyway, welcome to the new guys and stay with us !! Cheryl

[dreamscometrue2]

Welcome Gayle! It's great to hear about more people who love dancing:D .

[abbydancer2003]

Hi All,

 

I just started catching up with this thread again - two weeks ago what I thought was food poisoning turned out to be a blocked and possibly perforated (I don't have the results yet) intestine, so I had emergency surgury at 4:00 am. I was in the hospital for a week, and then basically resting, so I haven't been surfing much. The bad news is that I haven't really been able to dance! I have tried a little bit of waltz (including trying to do turns around my IV pole while do the mandatory walks around the hospital). I'm hoping to start practicing tomorrow, and go back to lessons on Saturday.

 

Anyway, I've enjoyed all the postings on competition, back leading (I actually promised not to back lead as part of my wedding vows - my teacher says I still do it sometimes), and posture. (Also my problem).

 

I am curious if anyone else is watching "So you think you can Dance" on Fox. I'm enjoying it, even those there are a lot of hip-hop dancers. Last night's episode had Giselle Peacock. That was interesting because, although they didn't mention it, she was in the top 10 under-21 latin amatuers in the world a few years ago. Her husband got to the next round, but she didn't.

 

Glad to be back,

abby

[smoothdancer]

I sure agree that this is a great thread. A few years back there was a thread on ballroom dancing on the special interest cruise forum, and almost no posts at all... I am glad to see such an interest, and such a wide varierty of posts here with all different reasons for dancing, type of dancing, and relationships.. It is great.

 

Texas, here is a link for you. http://www.accessdance.com/

This is a site that lists all comps, and you can search by state. I know there are comps in Texas, but I dont know where you are... Now compared to CT, Texas is a big state!!!. I sure would recommend that you catch one of these comps. They are just so entertaining, even if you never have a desire to do this type of dance. Some day we will do a comp in Texas. My son lives in Dallas, and we always try to get in some vacation time when we travel for a comp.

[tropicalsunset]

Abbydancer: that doesn't sound like much fun... Hope you are up and about and dancing around real soon!!

 

Janet: our studio is Steps in Time in Canton, CT.

 

GCurry: this is a great thread and the diversity makes it even most interesting..!!

 

So many dances.... so little time and energy!!! :eek: :)

[dreamscometrue2]

Abbydancer I wish you a speedy recovery and hope you get to dance again real soon. Take care and don't rush your recovery.:)

[critterchick]

So many dances.... so little time and energy!!! :eek: :)

 

I have to say that my energy levels are WAY up since we started doing several classes a week. I really look forward to getting out and being a klutz - I mean learning something new - and burning a few calories!

 

Of course, I have an addictive/obsessive personality!:D

[GCurry]

Welcome back Abby, sorry you've been ill, that was a pretty serious event.

We watched the program, although most of what they did was pretty bazaar by our standards, it was interesting. Where do they come up with these judges?

I missed their introduction or why they are running the show.

 

Thanks for the link smoothdancer although they don't show any competitions in TX for the near future, and only two studios in Houston.

I guess we'll have to stick with ole Lance in TX City when MsCurry gets well enough to dance. Although, TX City blew up again yesterday, which can get in the way of getting to class. Nothing like a good petrochemical fire to close your roads and jam up the neighborhood with them useless media types.

 

Y'all have a great weekend.

[twojays]

Hi everyone,

 

I am still very interested in this thread and send my Get Well wishes to those who have been ill.

 

Our main dance class always closes for the month of August, and I must say we really miss it, and get withdrawal symptoms. Anyone else experience this?

 

Anyway, as we now also attend a different class on a Sunday, this one is staying open in August, although not for lessons, but the dance teacher's father said he will open up each week, and put music on, so at least we can continue to practise - which we find to be very important.

 

I was interested to read about about the New Vogue in Australia.

 

We have now started to learn Sequence Dances. Do you do them in the States? We all do the same steps in a circle, so there is no probloem with bumping into each other. They all have names e.g. Balmoral Blues; Mayfair Quickstep; Catherine Waltz; Rumba No. 1; Jaqueline Cha Cha etc. etc.

 

There are literally hundreds of them.

 

Sorry to go on. I'll stop now.

[nkpeeps]

Hi All . My wife and I have been to the dance camps in the Catskills. They are a lot of fun. The next one is in September. They have them 4 times a year. Its called the Stardust Dance Weekend. Its a good deal if you can drive there , about $300 for the whole weekend. Lessons , room , food , and shows. You can dance from 10:00 am til 4:00 am. We live in Chicago , and still get a group of about 40 to go once a year. They have at least a dozen dance hosts for the single ladies.

Eric and Nancy

[smoothdancer]

I thought so Tropical. You are so lucky to be close to this studio.... Great studio and great teachers, not to mention the facility itself. On occasion our stuido does do joint events with yours!!... A while back I worked with Sarah on a Chrisanne gown, but did not end up buying one.

 

I have never seen sequence dance in the states, but that is not to say it does not exsist... Closest I can compare it to is line dances, which are done a lot at socials.

 

Hey I'll find you a comp to watch MCurry! If you are in Houston I know of two. The Texas Challenge in MArch and Houston Lonestar in June. Then there is the Soutwestern Invitational in October in Dallas, but from what I understand this would be quite a trip... I can give you contact telephone numbers if you have an interest.

[tropicalsunset]

Canton is about 15 minutes from us.. and we enjoy the group at Steps in Time... We started out with Ann and she was alot of fun and didn't push too much which is probably a good reason why we have stuck with it... we are now working with Sahra and like her very much... she is more focused on perfecting our technique where Ann was always teaching us new steps... We very much needed to go back and fine tune our technique !! After 2 years.... I think we are feeling more comfortable dancing together and not constantly counting steps!! :rolleyes: :) a few weeks ago it was very busy at the studio and Eddie taught our Foxtrot group class...That was a GREAT class!! I'm sure we will get to meet one of these days!!

I must ask what studio do you go to??!!

 

I think it will be a while until my hubbie will be ready for dance camps and competitions... he really was resistant to do this one class on sunday morning... but I am looking forward to it and hope he enjoys it!! ;)

 

Lorraine

[smoothdancer]

The studio we go to is Lets Dance In Rhytym in Branford. We work with two different instructors each week and a coach/judge that comes in from Fla one Saturday a month. One of our instructors is certainly much more technique focused and a lot harder on us. It is great to get the perspective of the two coaches. And yes, Eddie is great!

 

Fortunately for me, just about as soon as we started to take lessons, both my husband and I had the same level of interest. We push each other now, when one of us gets lazy!! This isnt always the case though. I have seen often one partner continue to dance, and the other stop.

 

Beleive it or not we did our first dance comp with Arthur Murray after just taking lessons 4 or 5 months. It was then we realized that dance comps motivate us to work at it, and still it is a short term goal... Works for some, and not for others..

 

Man oh man I remember that first comp... My husband and I were shaking so hard that we could feel each other tremble. I remeber as we were walking to the ballroom we felt like we were wallking to the death chamber or something!!..... Now, we dont even think about it, it just comes as second nature to us. When we totally blow it on a comp floor, we can just laugh it off.

 

We travel a lot to compete, and this is certainly the advantage of dancing as a couple. We choose comps in fun places, and then extend the stay to vacation. In June we competed in New Orleans, my two boys flew in and we then spend the week-end enjoying New Orelans. We always plan to do the comp first, so I dont have to watch everything I eat after!!

 

Each to his own, as they say!

[GCurry]

So I'm just staying out of the heat sipping a Shiner and fixing MsCurry a mango black bean salsa to go with her BBQ, when I got to thinking about this subject, and thought I'd ask.

These sequence dances, please explain does everyone do a sequence of the same steps say to a foxtrot or waltz at the same time?

 

Thanks Smooth for bringing up linedances; every women in TX can do the Four- corners, and the Halem Shuffle (must be a State Law). Since a lot of them are married to Bubba or Junior, who can't dance and won't dance, it's sometimes their only opportunity.

 

No linedancing at our ballroom clubs, however.

[Ms Belvedere]

I'm glad to see this thread still going strong and to read that so many are still actively dancing over the summer!

 

Our dance instructor asked if we would assist again this fall with his beginner and advanced classes so I guess we'll be starting over in September. I love to see their faces when we show them what they'll be doing when they finish the 8 weeks of classes, and most of them really are doing all of the steps when they leave.

 

We need to find a place to take some private lessons and pick up some new steps to the dances we've learned.

 

Thanks for all the encouragement from you who are competing and taking lessons through the summer! I love that there are so many who take dancing seriously.

[twojays]

Gcurry,as you asked, here is a basic explanation.:)

In sequence dancing all couples do the same steps at the same time - something like formation dancing, but in a circle, so you work your way round the room.

The sequence is usually 16 bars in length. So the sequence of dance steps is repeated several times during the course of the dance.

Sequence dances may be based on the slow foxtrot, cha-cha, quickstep, tango, waltz etc. and as I said before, there are hundreds of them. We are only know a few so far, as we only started going to this class in May this year, but the list is never ending.

There is also a great feeling of togetherness. Everyone is working towards a common goal - to perform the sequence as well as possible - and we find it most enjoyable also, as there is no possibility of getting in anyone else's way.

There are also many websites available to look at.

We will be going to our class this evening.:)

[smoothdancer]

So does that mean that you need to know the entire sequence before you can participate? Is this partnership dancing, or does each person do each sequence or step alone? I wish I could see this in action! It sounds so interesting.

[abbydancer2003]

Hi,

 

First thanks for all the good wishes. I'm getting better each day, and have danced a little (slow stuff - waltz, foxtrot, rumba and nightclub 2-step - we did do a little quickstep so not all slow) but I still get winded easily.

 

On sequence dancing - is that similar to something we did in Scotland called old time dancing - it was basically a program with various dances listed - a something waltz, a something else foxtrot etc. The couples were all in a circle, and each dance consisted of a series of steps, all moving forward and repeated several times.

 

I think they did teach each dance. It was fun, but it reminded me of the dance scene in Woody Allen's movie ANTZ. (We also went out in the hall and did regular dancing to the music). My 7 year old niece really enjoyed it.

 

The people were very nice and friendly.

 

abby

[twojays]

You do dance with your partner, and you do need to learn the sequence of steps for each dance.

 

We have so far learned about 9, but as I said before, the list is endless.

Some of the dances are classed as Old Tyme, but the ones we are learning are mainly based on modern ballroom or latin.

 

We found that as we have been dancing for a few years, it certainly helps.

For example, if the teacher says the next step is a "wing" or "spin-turn" or "whisk" or "hover" or "new yorker" etc. etc. then we know what to do - whereas, if someone hasnt done any dancing before, they would find it difficult.

 

We are learning a new one every couple of weeks, and as long as we keep pactising the ones we have learned, then we can build up our repetoire.

[mummsie]

Hello, regarding the sequence dancing. Yes it is as you say. You dance with partners in a circle and everybody does the same steps. There are 15 syllabus dances that are used in competitions in Australia and about another 20 or so that can be used in medal exams (I think I have pretty much done them all at some time or orther). If you go to the Dancesport Australia Website http://www.dancesport.org.au/ down the left hand side is a subject called New Vogue scripts. It gives a rundown of all the competition dances and the different holds and steps. I am currently doing theory to get my Level O accreditation to teach and we have to know some of the basic ones intimitely. The main ones for competition are waltzs, foxtrots, tangos and marches. The social dances are usually the more interesting ones with some latin thrown in. The English Old Time dances are much slower and use more ballet steps. They also have wonderful names like the Gavote and the Tango Solare. Gayle

[rumba]

Hello dancers,

 

Am so happy to have found this thread. My husband and I also loved ballroom dancing and never misses an opportunity to do it when we go cruising. Although we liked the standard dances, we are more partial to latin dancing. Rumba is also my favorite. We also loved doing West Coast swing, salsa and are into bachata right now. Ballroom dancing is popular in Toronto and we have so many venues offering Friday, Saturday and even Sunday dancing night dancing. For $15.00, you get a free one hour lesson, dinner and of course dancing from 8:00 pm to 1 am. So, if you happen to be vacationing in Toronto, it does not mean that you cannot bring your dancing shoes with you.

 

For those who live in Florida and Western New York, I find this link interesting and helpful.

 

 

http://www.dancinglist.com

 

 

Happy Dancing everyone!

[GCurry]

Mummsie, I explored the site, very interesting, I would love to see it done, then I could better understand why the code/instructions are written the way they are. I assume there is someone announcing what the next sequence will be?

Do you also do standards and latin inbetween or is the evening New Vogue Sequence? I don't believe I've ever seen marches done as a dance are they the same as a Grand Promanade. The Gavote 1700- early1800 ballroom dance?

 

Welcome Rumba, I spent a week in Toranto in Oct. one year, what a beautiful city. The people were very friendly although a bit low key by Texas standards (whatever those happen to be). MsCurry and I love the rumba BTW.

 

Sounds like you are well on your way to recovery Abby; good for you. MsCurry is doing better everyday. We are headed to Vegas later this month, perhaps she'll feel like dancing.