Ballroom Dance Lessons

[smoothdancer]

Hope I have not missed you.... Have a great cruise, and a great Birthday

Bon Voyage!

[tropicalsunset]

Packing frenzy tonite... I'm packing the dancing shoes and the back is much better.... well, I'm anxious to get the party started.... :D :D

[mummsie]

Well this page is getting nice and busy at last. Smooth, I still haven't received that video so it must have gone via Antartica or somewhere.

Also welcome to Happydancer. Good you have entered your first comp - I hope its the first of many. I know what you mean about aches and pains. We have our first lesson of the year tomorrow night. Not even thinking about our first competition of the year yet. Probably sometime in March when it cools down a bit. GCurry the foot is getting a bit better although its sore by the end of the day. I bought some special inserts and they seem to make life easier although I haven't worn them dancing yet. I have been helping our technicians install phones in a new building for the last couple of days so have been doing a fair bit of walking and so far so good. Gayle.

[GCurry]

Have a great cruise Tropical. What is your itinerary? We are revving up our engines for Hawaii, leaving the 27th.

 

Mummsie, glad the foot is better, heel spurs are no fun, and surgical outcomes aren't very good. I found better shoes and an anti inflammatory seem to help. I use the inserts as well.

 

Had our weekly lesson last night, helped some friends with East Coast Swing, and practiced Tango the second hour. We did learn a new cross over open flair that is pretty.

[smoothdancer]

Mummsie..

 

I will send it out again. You have a DVD now right, so I send you a CD... Maybe we will make out better!. I should be able to get to the PO Saturday.

 

It is so strange to hear you talk about waiting for the heat to go away while here we are counting the days until the heat come!!

 

MCG. wow your cruise is coming up soon. So do you fly to Hawaii and then cruise? Cant wait to hear about it. I think Tropical said she was doing a Eastern Car. on Celebrity ( I think)

[mummsie]

Hi Smooth, DVD or CD will be wonderful. Thanks very much :). Yeah we have had a shocker of a summer here - lots of heat and humidity but not much rain so are are having very strict water restrictions. Our pool is having trouble coping with the loss of water through evaporation and very limited hours we can use to keep it full. Mummsie

[GCurry]

Feb. 2, expected high today of 77, humidity also 77%. You don't have to go to OZ for heat and humidity, we've got plenty of it.

 

Smooth: Hawaii is interesting because of the Jones Law, you either sail from the West coast touching at Ensenada and spending 4 days at sea, or like us on the Wind, going two days down to Fanning Island in the Kiribati Republic; one day there, and two sea days back to Hawaii. That is if we make it. Because of medical emergencies, engine troubles etc the Wind does not have a very good record of getting there. What we bought is a ten day cruise including four of the Hawaii islands and Fanning. What we get might be entirely different. So far, we've booked rental cars on all the islands, whale watching off Maui, two luaus, and still need to arrange snorkeling at Kona. We'll also drive Waimea Canyon on Kauai, and Volcano National Park on Hawaii.

Norwegian now has 3 or 4 American flagged ships that don't have to touch at a foreign port. They do 7 day cruises just around Hawaii. But, they are getting ripped in cruise reviews for poor service. Norwegian was not my choice for a cruise line, but our friends had already booked it. There will be three couples we dance and socialize with on this vacation. So it's about travel with friends and seeing the islands. If the Norwegian Wind turns out to be a pleasant cruise that will be good too. I know you are cruising soon on this line, so I'll let you know how it went.

We have a nonstop (8 hr) out of Houston to Honolulu Feb. 27th, and a nonstop coming back the night of Mar. 11th. One good thing about living near Houston is great international flights. I've done a 9 hr nonstop to Amsterdam out of here too; it's an ordeal, but at least your luggage is on the same plane. To cope with the flight, we plan two days on Oahu staying in Waikiki to get adjusted before boarding the ship Mar. 1st.

 

All that being said, we hope to dance every night on board.

[smoothdancer]

Oh that sounds so incredible. Never been to Hawaii, but would love to go.

 

I am not too worried about NCL. Our cruise docks for four days in Bremuda, so our ship time will be limited to getting there and back. I understand dining is quite an experience in Bermuda so we will be planning a few dinners off the ship...

 

I love to cruise, and end up happy on just about any ship I am on!

[mummsie]

hi Gcurry, You would feel at home here. To-days temps. Humidity is around 80%

BRISBANE METROPOLITAN AREA

Fine. Mostly moderate SE winds. A high fire danger.

Brisbane Maximum ... 32 (around 90F)

Bayside Maximum ... 31

UV INDEX - 14 [Extreme]

Saturday ... Fine. MIN 23 MAX 31

Sunday ... Mostly fine. MIN 23 MAX 30

Monday ... Mostly fine. MIN 23 MAX 30

 

Well our first dancing lesson went better than I thought - we stuck to New Vogue last night as slightly less chance of hurting my foot. Stuck to the foxtrots as they are slower. Actually went well. Considering its 8 weeks since I put on dance shoes - our bodies moved quite well except the heat got to me by the end of the hour. Was nice to go home to a cold shower.

Some good news on the home front - my daughter who has been looking for work for quite a few months finally got a job. She starts Monday as a web developer.

She gets married in September and has been madly trying to save for a house - they are currently living rent free in my mother's house which now belongs to my brother and I after my mum passed away last year. So now they should be able to save the deposit easily and buy it. A big relief. Gayle

[GCurry]

Glad you are back on your feet, so to speak, Mummsie. I usually take a towel to class with me, and use it often, as the center is cool, but very humid. Pretty much nonstop dancing for an hour or more, really works up a lather. Good news about your daughter; so they plan to buy your mom's house?

You would feel right at home here, mid May through mid October the Houston weather is just what you described. When you step out of the airport, the heat and humidity just hits you. Our problem here on the Third Coast, is that it doesn't cool down at night either.

An interesting difference in your weather report is the use of the word "fine" "Mostly fine", what do they call it otherwise, not fine, terrible weather, better get your Wallaby in off the street weather?

 

Smooth, I'm sure NCL will be alright, but there sure are a lot of negative reviews from cruise critic members.

 

Bermuda sounds interesting, it's just sort of out there all on it's own. My sailing cousin Dick was taking his 53 ft Ketch in there one time, when lightning struck his mast blew out all his electronics, and a filling out of a tooth!!

[smoothdancer]

Mummsie,

Glad you are back to dancing!... We are still struggling with the V Waltz here!

 

Glad your daughter had some luck. My husband is a web developer as well. He switched career about 10 years ago, from an accountant to a developer. It was hard for him to break into the field, but once he got his first job as developing he did well... I am sure your daughter will also be fine... Hey ever see the Pepsi site?? That is my one of my husbands many designs!

 

Talking about NCL... YEARS ago, we sailed on NCL on a big band cruise... Was incredible! Anyway, back then the reviews were horrible and I considered cancelling the cruise... It turned out to be fantastic... So I have learned never to make my decisions based on reviews. If I had I would of missed one of the best cruises I ever went on.

[DPKIRISH]

WOW, I have been skimming through this site and you all seem to be accomplished ballroom dancers.

My husband and I have never tried ballroom dancing, but we are interested in our first lesson.

We are travelling on RCCL Splendour of the Seas 2/18/06 and thought it would be fun to try it out at sea.

- Does RCCL offer ballroom dance lessons?

- If so, what is the cost?

- What types of dances are usually taught?

- Do you know when the classes are generally offered during the cruise?

I appreciate any help you could offer. Thankyou!!!!!!:D

[mummsie]

Hi GCurry. Yeah I hate it when the heat just hits you. Our studio was like that at Saturday practice. It was the first one of the year and so hot. It was about 36C inside with all the fans going. Everybody took it easy. We didn't do any latin - partly because of the heat and partly because of my foot. Didn't want to push things too hard. It actually copes better with dancing than walking strangely enough. I guess because you are trying to use compression through the knees it takes the pressure off the foot.

Never really thought about how they call the weather. This is todays:D

Mostly fine. A shower or two during the morning. Light to moderate SE to NE

winds.

 

Yeah the kids want to buy my mum's house. It will be good because its only about 1.5 kilometers from where we live and its close to major public transport and shopping malls. If they were buying independently they would have to move about another 25 kilometers out of town to buy something in their price range.

 

Smooth - good luck with VW. We don't do it here very often so very seldom practice it fully. The only time we really do it is at the end of the New Vogue waltz's - there is always 4 bars of viennese to finish the sequence.

Now we are dancing Masters II for over 50's we only do 4 dances in the open and its usually VW that get's taken off as we are considered too old to do it. I tell you most of use Masters II have more stamina than some of the youth and adult competitors. :D

DPKIRISH - welcome to our group. We are a friendly bunch. I only have experience with Princess and P&O. The dances they teach are very basic - basic cha cha, waltz, swing and some basic foxtrot. The lessons are free and usually are only run on sea days. They usually go for about an hour. The idea is to teach you something very basic so you can get up and have a go. We always do the classes when we can as its good to get back to do some fun basic stuff. :D Gayle

[GCurry]

Ditto what Mummsie said, HAL and Princess, usually had lessons on sea days, about one to 1 1/2 hours each day. It would help to start lessons ashore so you could enjoy more dancing at sea on your cruise.

 

Mummsie we had our Mainland Club dance Saturday, there was a young couple from Perth who were excellent dancers and compete. I visited with them a little about New Vogue.

 

Smooth we don't do the V. Waltz either, although Ole Lance can teach it. We would love a big band cruise if they set it up for dancing. Usually the floors are too small for very many couples to dance. Another thing we've found with some of the performing big bands, is that they were more about the music then about playing for dancers. Have you ever noticed that?

[mummsie]

GCurry - for some reason Western Australia always has the best dancers. They seem to win pretty much everything especially in the youth and Junior grades. Its strange because its a very isolated state with Perth pretty much the only big city in the whole state. Did they do any new vogue for you?? Its a bit hard to see the overall effect with only one couple doing it - you need to see at least 3 or 4 couples doing it to see the differences in styling :) Hopefully we will be going to the US next year so you never know - we might just get down that way. I think we are going on an Alaska cruise but will probably spend another couple of weeks touring around different places. Mummsie

[smoothdancer]

Mummsie,

When you get close to making it to the US, let us know, and we can lead you in the direction of a comp to observe. I bet it would be interesing for you to see how our comps differ form yours.

 

MC..

When we went on the big band cruise, they did have good size floors for the dancers, but when you have 2000 dancers on a ship, you do end up doing a lot of sway!! We found the best time to dance was before dinner... Half of the group was at dinner, and the floors were open and room to dance. After 10:30, though forget it! Still ,it was one of the best cruises we went on. Around here it just is not possbile to find a 16 piece big band group... I really enjoyed just going to the bars and watching and listen to the bands.. Some of my very favorite music CD's , I bought on this cruise. Also, you have something in common with so many of the passangers and conversation comes easy.

 

If I could find another cruise that was 7 days with big band I would do it in a second!

[GCurry]

Here ya go Smooth,

 

http://www.americanweststeamboat.com/cruises_tours/specialcruisesBigband.php

 

http://www.*****.com/theme_cruises.cfm?e_id=7

 

http://www.harmontravel.com/music06.htm

 

MsGCurry and I were looking at an Alaskan cruise with Garrison Keiller and his Prairie Home Companion Cast, as I listen every Saturday, but, the promoters want too much, and have booked the whole ship.

 

Mummsie, the Perth couple were late twenties early thirties and very smooth dancers.

 

Come see Texas October through April, before we rival Brisbane's heat and humidity. A front just came through so they say we are about normal for Feb. weather 7C/44.6F low 16C/60.8F high with a little breeze off the bay. Most of this new year, we've been enjoying weather in the 70s.

In summer you need to see the high mountains, you'll be at the Cascades, and the Sierra Nevadas and Rockies aren't too distant. As far as I can tell, you've got Ayr's Rock and New Zealand, and that's about it for mountains.

[HappyDancer]

Hi DPKirish!

 

I think RCCL does have some basic onboard dance lessons, but I haven't taken them. Disney definitely has them and I did those lessons on the days we were at sea. It was fun, but would have been better if I'd brought my own partner.

 

I hate that I haven't been able to dance in the last few weeks. It makes me really want to get back out there soon. We're going to a dinner dance for Valentine's this weekend and I'm expecting to dance until my feet can't take it anymore!

[DPKIRISH]

Thank you for your responses! We were going to take lessons before we left but when we checked into it at our local athletic club, the class was $35 per person for one class that was 1 hour. That seemed a bit pricey to me. Free classes on the cruise sound much better.

I have studied ballet, tap, jazz, pointe, and lyrical for over 20 years - but have never taken a ballroom class. It is a bit more up my alley now that I am a mommy and getting a bit older. I can't wait to try it out!

10 more days until my cruise. I'll let you know how it goes. My husband is BIG guy and rather heavy his feet. I hope I don't get stepped on too much. HAHAHA

Thank again,

Annette

[tropicalsunset]

A quick hello from Zenith!!! Great duo in the Rendez vous...Rhythms of the Night...they are going to Century in a month.... we've had the run of the place and had a nice chat with them but alas my back is acting up again...

so geuss I will be sidelined.... They have a big band dance tonight in the Rainbow Room... last week they scheduled this but a private party was going on and it was canceled...

 

Annette: take a lesson or two to try it out... like cruising... you will be hooked... we pay about twice what you were quoted for our private classes.. but we enjoy it and its worth it to us!!! ENJOY!!! (some people spend more than that in an hour at the casino!!!-- but that is my excuse for shopping too!!! :D :D )

[GCurry]

Great to hear from you Tropical, but bad news about the back, you don't need that on your cruise. Aside from that, are you having a good time?

 

Annette as quick as you are cruising, what the ship offers might be your best deal. But when you get back, check your Community Colleges; if you can talk your husband into going. Ours all offer fairly inexpensive lessons where you won't become a competitor, but you will learn how to dance.

 

Of course you get what you pay for, and we get Ole Lance, who abused me with the Samba last night.

[mummsie]

GCurry, thanks I may get to see your mountains. I have an email friend that I have been writing too for years - he leaves in North Carolina and oftens sends me pictures of the trees when they are losing leaves - very pretty. We do have lots of mountains in Australia and several very popular snow destinations although I have never been there in the winter. Mt Kosiosko is snow covered for most of the year. Its about 2 hours drive from Sydney. However our mountains don't have the wonderful trees that lose their leaves - ours are nearly all evergreens.

Dancing was fun last night - I taught down the beginner end for a change - easier on my foot. Did quickstep. Had this old codger who just came to have fun - wasn't interested in learning correct angles and stuff so I danced with him a bit. He thought I was just the best dancer in the world. I had no idea what he was doing - I just hung on and went for the ride.:p Have our second lesson tonight - probably still stick to New Vogue this week I think until we get back into it fully. We have cut down to one lesson a week this year so I think we will be dropping latin from our competition stuff. Gayle

[Lisa141]

My husband and I have been taking ballroom dancing at Arthur Murray for a couple weeks now and can't wait to try it out on our next cruise! It is expensive but definitely worth it.

[smoothdancer]

Annette,

You can absolutley find lessons cheaper than that!... Would you consider a group class? they are a lot of fun, and go for about $10.00 a sessioin, cheaper if you buy a block. I have been dancing a long time and I can tell you from my observations that students with a ballet background pick up ballroom dancing extremely fast.

 

Hey Tropical... I wish I was with you!.. Has not snowed this week, but the temp has turned bitter cold again. You are going to be in for a shock upon your return. Hope you guys packed your jackets!

[GCurry]

Right as usual Smooth, our 6 wks of hour long group classes run about $72 for the two of us. With Ole Lance, the couples get more individual attention then they ever expected or wanted I might add.

 

Lisa141, Arthur Murray personally fired Ole Lance, as he refused to do the steps the way Arthur wanted them, knowing that they were wrong. This is the advantage of outliving your enemies, you get to tell it your way.

He talked too, of the competition where he won the Californina State Championship, telling of doing one waltz for 55 minutes. With his two knee replacements from so many years of dancing, he has to use a cane and have his good students demo the steps.

 

Mummsie, I had forgotten about the Snowy Mts. and others. As you know, if you want Mountains where the leaves color you need to go East to New England as Smooth and Tropical will tell you. Although the Smokys and Blueridge Mts. of the South are sure beatiful. As a child of the Southwest, I can't help but say 14,000 feet up in the Rockies with the elk around is not bad either.

 

We are getting rain and cold, perhaps a dip in the 30s this weekend, so I may bring in some plants. We need the rain, a freeze would hurt.