I hope everyone enjoyed our January Dance.  We had another record-breaking night for attendance.  We also had the largest group I can remember for the Quickstep lesson by Jonathan Medlin and Malin Allert.  They really did a wonderful job with such a large crowd.  Jonathan and Malin also preformed a beautiful Quickstep and Viennese Waltz later in the evening.  We are really fortunate to have such high caliber dancers in our area that are willing to share their expertise and time helping us improve our dancing skills. 

There is a great competition coming this month that I would encourage you to attend if possible.  The Heritage Classic will be held February 27- March 3rd at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville.  This is a great event to attend and cheer on some of our local amateur dancers.  It is also the place to see some of the top pros compete and preform.  There are also lots of vendors selling dance-related items such as: music, jewelry, costumes, dresses, tuxedos, shoes, etc.  I usually try to attend Friday night, Saturday afternoon and evening .  Hope to see you there.

In dancing I have concluded that every woman is a goddess and every man a hero. Since I started dancing in January, 2005, dancing has taught me many lessons.  There is no doubt that learning to dance and participating in Ballroom, Swing and Latin partner dancing has transformed me.  Learning to dance has freed me to be more socially outgoing and less introverted.  In general, I find myself responding in the moment with more grace. I attribute this to dance.

See Dance Photo Gallery

In the same way singing allows me to "give voice" to what I feel, and art allows me to "share perspective" on what I observe, dance puts me "in touch" with my whole self; body, mind and spirit. As an artist, when dancing, I imagine myself expressing and releasing creative energy as well as sharing an expression of human spirit. I often find myself in a state of timeless awareness within the moments of the dance, and that awareness is shared with the partner in the dance. 

It is interesting to note every indigenous race shares in a primal dance, and in doing so, they do not require psychotherapists to recover from their days events, social programming or life struggles, but rather they dance it away every night, awaking the primal and archetypal heroes and goddesses, celebrating life by expressing the human experience through music and rhythms, which gives rise to a rebirth, and freedom each morning to create a new beginning filled with hope and anticipation of infinite possibilities for a fuller creative expression of the human spirit.

I have also noticed a change in others whom I have watched learn to dance. The men, who were once self-conscious, now seem to be released and smiling broadly as the heroes leading the dance. I see dancing as somewhat akin to "swimming with dolphins;" with lots of respectful and affectionate touch.  As a woman, I find it refreshing to dance with a man who is at once, both respectful and affectionate. I would suggest partner dancing such as ballroom or swing dancing allows both women and men to interact in such as way that builds trust and confidence in each other.

As an athlete of sorts, I have been swimming laps, cycling and walking for many years along with periodically working out in the gym. Initially, I saw dancing as another form of exercise which was better than 45 minutes on the treadmill any day. However, now I see dancing has taught me both grace and gracefulness of movement and has brought me closer in touch with my femininity.  At a time when dressing casually is the norm, it is dancing which gives a woman an opportunity to adorn herself, thus creating a place where women are feminine and men are still strong leaders, gentlemen, and partners in dance.  Perhaps if more couples danced together there would be better relationships based on respectful trust and cooperation between the partners, resulting in less angst between the genders in all walks of life and love, work and play.

I hope you, too, as the reader will choose to learn to dance as it will surely enrich your life. Sure, it takes more than a few lessons to learn to dance. It also takes putting your ego and all self consciousness aside, but once a simple mastery is obtained you find yourself joining in the fun and committed to learning more as it builds your confidence in yourself and others who join with you in the dance. May life be a dance!

More for the female dancer!  Submitted by Leslie Young

A LITTLE ABOUT NECKLINES!

The following guidelines are really for general necklines and are not

specific to competition dresses. Styles must be chosen based on the

level of "enthusiasm" with which you dance. I am not sure a few of these

would be so great for doing the Jive!

A dress or blouse neckline frames the wearer's face,

Leaders: In general, lead the turn with the connection that is closest to her center.

The way two dancer's bodies connect through the arms has a lot to do with how turns and spins come out. If you have a good connection with your partner, and he is reasonably good at leading, turns will be less and less of a problem. See everything above!

Tips for good turning technique? Practice is the answer usually given. Others include:

• Keep knees slightly bent and relaxed-don't lock your knees!
• Keep spine, neck, head on a vertical axis. Maintain good posture-remember "KEEP NOSE OVER TOES." Keep the body "square"-head straight over shoulders over hips-not to one side or the other. A person's head accounts for about 10% of his/her body weight, thus head placement and orientation have a huge effect on balance. Looking at your feet is as sabotaging as windshield-wiper-like oscillating your head from side to side. But so is the placement and orientation of every other body part. Dance posture is terribly important. Don't arch your back.
• Keep eyes looking forward, not down!
• Don't go up high on your toes.
• Spot on your partner in a turn.  
• Keep feet together, turn on the balls of your feet, not heels.
• Stop in a definite pose.

First learn the "paddle" turn and "hook" turns instead of trying to spin on the ball of one foot. Once you get the paddle turns perfected, you can gradually switch to spins.

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