Ballroom Dance Lessons

[abbydancer2003]

 

 

I will throw this question out to all of you.... we have always had a female instructor....usually the new teacher to the studio and this has always been female... now that we have progressed in our dancing...we want to be more selective.. and I wonder if it makes a difference to consider a male instructor.. to work with a male instructor on My end of the dance couple!

 

 

We started with a femaie instructor, went to a male and then to two lessons a week - one with the male (who we are still with 7 and 3 studios later) and another with a female (who we are also with, although she just left for 6 months to train some teachers in Australia to teach American style). We've found it very helpful to have both perspectives.

 

In addition, right now, I have a lesson alone with our male teacher and my husband has his own female teacher. We switch occasionally - it's good to have a lesson with a teacher of your gender, as they can show you a different perspective.

 

Hope this was useful.

 

abby

who passed 4 of the 8 bronze 4 dances last week - 4 more to go - then we can say we're silver level. Woo-hoo.

[GCurry]

Danced every night, the Diamond had good floors but lousy bands for Ballroom. The ship's band would play a 45 minute set for Ballroom Lovers, but always when we were at 2nd seating. We did get to work on freestyle a lot, and the bands did try to play some standards when we appeared. We met some very nice Oriental dancers out of LA; they had very different styling.

We had cruised twice on the Grand, and found the Diamond to be a much better design, largest closet space we've ever gotten on a cruise.

 

Alaska was wonderful, Mountains, Glaciers and Wildlife every day.

But today, we're back to work in the tropical sauna that is SE TX.

[tropicalsunset]

Bob and ABby... great tips... I do think it would be better to alternate instructors .. we will have to make a decision soon so we can get on a committed appointment schedule at our studio and don't end up with a 9pm time slot!!

 

GCurry.....more information is needed!!!! :D

 

oh and Abby ... Congrats on your accomplishment ... I think we will be bronze forever!! :rolleyes:

[smoothdancer]

Welcome home Gene!! That seems to be the funny thing about Princess, the dance opportunities are hit or miss. Our last Princess cruise the dancing was very good, long sets every evening while the one before we ran into the same thing... 45 minutes before the second seating. Dancing aside though, I like to sail on Princess.

 

About the male/female instructors, we have both. You never know!! We have 2 female instuctors and one male. The first female instructor does tend to spend a bit more time on the male instruction while the second female instructor seems to spend more time with me on arm styling and just my overall presentation. It is not that they are male/female that I like but that they each have thier own focus and so we get a different persepective for each.

[GCurry]

Welcome home Gene!! That seems to be the funny thing about Princess, the dance opportunities are hit or miss. Our last Princess cruise the dancing was very good, long sets every evening while the one before we ran into the same thing... 45 minutes before the second seating. Dancing aside though, I like to sail on Princess.

Princess is a good ride, this was our third with them. Although, it seems the menus offer fewer selections each time we cruise. Could they be trying to move us into the specialty dining rooms? I still added a temporary five pounds, which I'm sure was just to compensate for the cold Alaska air!! The Diamond really is a beautiful ship, I would love a longer cruise on her.

 

We did a seven day down from Whittier (Anchorage) to Vancouver. This ranked right up there with Hawaii for scenic beauty, although more expensive to visit.

I've seen the high Rockies and Tetons of the West, but this was endless snow covered Mountains coming right out of the sea. Another dance couple went with us, which made it all the more enjoyable. We do rental cars and explore on our own using the info we glean from Cruise Critics. This gives us a lot of flexibility and independence you don't get on the ship excursions. We spent two days in the Anchorage area and Kenai with a drive down to Seward, one of the great roads in America. (Moose, Dall Sheep, Glaciers)

After boarding you get College Fjord and Glacier Bay where glaciers come down to the water and calve off into the sea as you watch. (Sea Otters, Seals, Humpbacks & Mt. Goats) Skagway, we drove up to Emerald Lake in the Yukon with a high mountain pass, frozen lakes and countless waterfalls. (Grizzly, Sled Dogs) Juneau was another drive, to Eagle Beach and Mendenhall Glacier. (12 Bald Eagles) Ketchikan, Creek St. and shopping, a casual day to relax. We usually had three other ships in most ports. In Ketchikan, they tendered us in, and moved to the dock after the Golden left.

At the end, we spent a rainy day in Vancouver driving about that beautiful city of gardens.

Will that do it for you Tropical?

 

The next cruise is 8 days on the Spirit to the Mex Riviera out of San Diego in Jan..

 

Our group class is tonight, although, we are leaning toward a private instructor as we aren't getting much in the way of steps at NASA.

[smoothdancer]

I dont know about Tropical, but it was a wonderful read for me... Sounds great.

 

Still as great as it sounds I dont think I will ever do this cruise.... Here in New England we get 3 months of summer weather, the rest cold. I seem to alway be chasing thoes 3 months so if I dont vacation in warm temps, well it just is not a vacation!!

 

BTW tropical I am working for a client now... was suppose to be a 2 week job, I am now entering month 3!! I am working in Avon and today I was driving around looking for a material store(there are none) and I drove past Steps in Time.... Thought of you!!! Sure is beautiful in your neck of the woods!!

[princess_cruz]

i am a qualified latin and ballroom dancer, and was just wondering if the ballroom classes only cater for beginners? am sailin on QE2 this july and noticed that they have particularly good dance classes, althought i wasnt sure if they were just for beginners, or if indeed, like me, they catered for people with a bit more experience?

[GCurry]

i am a qualified latin and ballroom dancer, and was just wondering if the ballroom classes only cater for beginners? am sailin on QE2 this July and noticed that they have particularly good dance classes, although i wasn't sure if they were just for beginners, or if indeed, like me, they catered for people with a bit more experience?

An interesting question, on our cruises, the classes were totally targeted to beginners. However, on a "Crossing" or other extended cruises, your instructor might be able to work with you on advanced steps.

 

I understand Smooth about the cold, our endless tropical heat gets to me at times. We have had 12 days now of over 90 degree heat with humidity running about 80%.

Alaska can get quite warm with temperatures in the 90s mid to late summer. At no time did it get really cold on our cruise, College Fjord and Glacier Bay were somewhat frigid when we were up in the ice fields next to the glaciers, but nothing like a "raw day" in New England.

[princess_cruz]

thanks gcurry for letting me know.i had rather hoped there might be some level of experience from the teachers themselves, but it seems theyre just as expereinced enough to teach beginners. actually, wouldnt they have to have better qualifications than that to get the job? or are they just ordinarry staff members that double up as dance teachers? in which case,i'd be more than happy to do the job myself! haha.

[GCurry]

thanks gcurry for letting me know.i had rather hoped there might be some level of experience from the teachers themselves, but it seems theyre just as expereinced enough to teach beginners. actually, wouldnt they have to have better qualifications than that to get the job? or are they just ordinarry staff members that double up as dance teachers? in which case,i'd be more than happy to do the job myself! haha.

Our last cruise on the Diamond the dance teacher was going to use us to demo, but there was another conflict of time.

We have, however, had dance instructors on cruises that were professional dancers, part of the entertainment group, and very very good. I would think the QEII would have a real pro for not only dancing, but everything thing else as well.

[mummsie]

thanks gcurry for letting me know.i had rather hoped there might be some level of experience from the teachers themselves, but it seems theyre just as expereinced enough to teach beginners. actually, wouldnt they have to have better qualifications than that to get the job? or are they just ordinarry staff members that double up as dance teachers? in which case,i'd be more than happy to do the job myself! haha.

Hi Princess_cruz, we have found different levels of expertise in the teachers - our first cruise they had a husband and wife in their late 50's who owned a studio in California somewhere. They taught some basic american smooth type stuff - we found it interesting and always joined in the classes because even though we are also qualified competition dancers, it was nice to do some fun stuff without worrying about the frame and footwork. We also lent a hand when somebody was having a problem. Also we had never done smooth as they don't teach it here in Australia. Our other cruises, most of the time the teachers are just the kids in the chorus doing very basic cha and jive and a bit of waltz. The classes are intended to make the people who have never danced comfortable enough to get up and have a go. Mummsie

[smoothdancer]

Princess,

We just came off of the QM2 and they did have a professional couple who were giving the classes every day and at one of the balls did a small performance.

 

I dont usually participate in the classes because it is just so crowded but I would guess on Cunard with the Queens room it may not be crowded... You will love dancing in the Queens Room.

 

But really most people who are joining in on a dance class have little to no dance background. It just would not be possible to give an advanced class that you may be use to. The goal is to teach steps that the guests can use quickly on the cruise. I still however enjoy watching the class.

[tropicalsunset]

smoothdancer I dont know about Tropical, but it was a wonderful read for me... Sounds great.

 

Still as great as it sounds I dont think I will ever do this cruise.... Here in New England we get 3 months of summer weather, the rest cold. I seem to alway be chasing thoes 3 months so if I dont vacation in warm temps, well it just is not a vacation!!

 

BTW tropical I am working for a client now... was suppose to be a 2 week job, I am now entering month 3!! I am working in Avon and today I was driving around looking for a material store(there are none) and I drove past Steps in Time.... Thought of you!!! Sure is beautiful in your neck of the woods!!

 

I totally agree with Smooth... living here in NE... I love to hear feedback of folks who have done the Alaska sailings... but not high on my priority list... !!

 

Thanks for sharing GCurry... sounds like you had a great trip... not seaplane adventure??

 

Smooth-- there used to be a fabric store-- Joann's in the plaza in Avon... but I don't know if it's there anymore.. further down (Eastward) on 44 there is a decorator store... not sure of the name... the best place for a variety of fabrics is on Rte 10 in Plainville... "HomeGoods" I think its called... it's been years since I've done serious sewing... and I have lots i could work on in my bin downstairs!!

 

Steps in Time does a dance camp the last weekend in July.. its quite pricey... but they have instructors from outside the studio come in... and barbecues and dancing events.. I hope to get Dave to take at least one class on Sunday..

 

Have a great weekend.... next weekend is my Philadelphia trip with the gals and Dave will be off in the Catskills golfing at some remote location... (at least that;s what he says they do... and they do bring their clubs!! :D :D )

 

Happy Dad's Day to all... Dave will be off on some course prepping for next weekend.. !!

 

Princess-cruz: go check it out... we usually do and then move off and do our own thing!! :)

[princess_cruz]

i will check out the dance classes! but i'm a bit gutted that theyre only for beginners:(

but nonetheless i will show those old bones how its done! teehee. hopefully i'll not break their hip replacemtents or anything....

or actually, doesnt the ship have male hosts for single females??

actaully, come to think of it, i think theyll all be waaaaayyy too old for me.

dammit. any younger cruisers out there wanting to tango with a pro?

no? anyone? no?

oh, ok then.

lol.

[smoothdancer]

I am certain you will find many who would just love to dance with you! All except one dance host on our cruise was at the Sr age, but good dancers and adjusting thier lead to the level of each womens skill .

 

The pros did a tango and waltz and although not pros ourself my husband and I thought we could of done a better performance than the one they did. It was very blah.... Go get 'em!

 

Thanks for the material store tip Tropical.

[GCurry]

It's interesting, competition isn't part of our dance world. We had a great dance last night, couples from rank beginners to the very good, but no one competes at any level.

We did visit the Austin Dance Club some time ago which resembled a studio dance, and I'm sure those people are into competition, but not down here.

You would have a great time at our dances, covered dish at 8, as I am the cook in our family it's always a challenge. It's as much social as dance, time spent with friends and dancing as well. A large part of us take weekly lessons, but as dance is a lifetime hobby, there's never a rush.

 

A rainy weekend here on the Texas Coast, but the lawn and the tropicals love it. MS GCurry wore an Aztec Gold Plumeria in her hair last night, something we'll have all summer long.

 

Tropical, MSG can barely tolerate big planes, small ones are a carnival ride . But we saw far more of Alaska on far less money then the ship excursion people! I've seen your New England and Norway, but Alaska is a different world. Pictures to follow, pencil it in as a must go.

[mummsie]

hi all, what have I let myself in for. I volunteered to make a ballgown for one of Shannon's friends. She brought the material over last night - one way stretch satin with the most glorious pattern. I still have to finish off mine - its about third done. When she came over she helped me work out how I am going to finish it off - its nice to have some different ideas even if she is only 20 :D The only good thing about making a dress for her is she is pretty straight up and down - no boobs and no hips - just as well because the dress is completely backless.!!!:D Wish me luck.!!!! I have to try and get them both finished before the middle of August when our next big competition is. Times like this when I wish I had more time to do my projects. After I finish off these two I am making a modern gown for Shannon using up some left over material from another of her gowns - least hers isn't urgent.:) Mummsie

[Guest maler]

First post; love this site.

 

I have cruised 6 times, the wife 12.

 

My wife and I are regular dancers but find that often the opportunities to dance on board are limited. We do salsa, cha-cha and swing mostly.

We recently cruised on NCL POA and they didn't even have a real dance floor. It was just the floor in front of the stage and wasn't even made of wood. On top of that, the band was not very good and even dancing to familiar songs was a chore because of their lack of talent and it was the only place on board to dance at all. Most ships seemed to have multiple nightclubs or venues to choose from.

There were only 3 couples on the whole ship that danced with any regularity and each of us thought very little of the music and dance floor.

It was the first time on NCL and will probably not sail with them again.

Usually after the first night, fellow passengers call us 'the dancers' for the rest of the cruise.

My wife loves that!

[mummsie]

Welcome Maler, we found the same on the Norwegian Sun - the dance floor was very small but the bands were ok. There were a lot of dancers on our cruise - so many that you could barely do a shuffle. It wouldn't stop us cruising with them again though :D We have had a lot of people come up to us on previous cruises chatting about our dancing which is a nice ice breaker :D and yes were are always known as the dancers as well.!!!

Our studio is closed this weekend as there is the National Championships on down in Canberra - our country's capital city. It snowed there the other day so I think our 2 couples and our teachers are going to be very cold. We booked our flights yesterday to dance in the "Australians" in December. We got really good prices for the flights - $89 each way from Brisbane to Melbourne - about 3,000 miles :D

At least having the weekend off from dancing I can get a good do on my new dress. I have it sort of sewn up. I have the body suit, dress and skirts all sewn up but I have to put them all together which is the fiddly bit. I am also going to try and take the stones off an old dress - I was reading on the ballroom site about using acetone so I am going to buy 4 litres of the stuff and soak my old dress - the acetone is supposed to make it rain diamontees so if I can recover the 40 gross on the dress I will be very happy.!!! :) Busy weekend coming up for me. Mummsie

[smoothdancer]

The one NCL cruise we took had a pretty good band and we actually danced quite a bit. The floor was small but we made do. This was on the Crown. The cruise itself was one of thoes port intensive cruises so we were pretty tired come the end of the day anyway.(A Bermuda cruise)

 

We are off to the shore tommorrow for a 5 day resort vacation so no dancing for us next week. After our 3 priviate lessons a week I usually enjoy the break... Lucky us we seem to be on a learning streak, everything making sense so I am sorry to miss a week this time.

[GCurry]

They actually did a pretty good job on our Hawaiian 10 day on the old Wind (since retired from the fleet I understand). Good bands and fair floors. I won't go NCL again if there is a choice, but it has nothing to do with dancing.

 

 

Usually after the first night, fellow passengers call us 'the dancers' for the rest of the cruise.

My wife loves that!

Welcome aboard Maler, glad you like the thread, and hope you are getting to dance a lot at home as well. We've got three weeks until our next dance, but have lessons every week.

 

In that regard, we've booked a "Hanger Dance" weekend in Fredericksburg TX in Aug. with two other couples. I know, I bitched and moaned about the last concrete floor hanger dance and what joys it brings to feet, ankles and knees, but got out voted.

 

We too have gotten "the dancers" label on our cruises, sometimes as many as four couples of our dance friends have cruised together. It does make you feel good that all the time and expense you've put into dance pays off, especially on a cruise.

Maler, I would caution you however, do as I do, before you book a cruise, make sure Smooth or Mummsie aren't on it, as you could lose that title in a hurry!

[melodyis ashore]

Howdy Dancers:

 

Came across this thread last week, but it took me forever to read it........... We're Melody and Jerry from the shores of the Chesapeake just outside Baltimore. We started dancin' lessons to compliment our cruising about 3 years ago, and also became totally addicted!!

 

We take private and group lessons several times a week, but are more like Gene. Social Dancers. We prefer the Dance Club at Goddard, where everybody dances (with everyone) to the competetive studio dances. But, I panic when more experienced dancers lead me into a step I don't know....,So........ we know a lot of steps (most Silver, some Gold), but our form and style probably stink!! I wouldn't want to sail with Smooth or Mummsie either!!

 

The info. posted here about the size of dance floors on various ships is great! We just did the east Trans. on X Century and were really disappointed with the size of the dance floors, especially since she was just totally re-done. Dancing was only possible on 1 of the 3 floors and it wasn't in the room with the best ballroom dance band. Who, in their right mind would build a 8 X 8' dance floor (shaped like home plate), and then put 2 poles in it??? I don't get it!! We're also booked on the Dec. westbound Trans., but I'm not sure we're going to do it yet.

 

We sailed QM2 last December on a W. Carribean, and loved the ballroom, but had a much different experience then Smooth. The largest ballroom at sea, attracted more ballroom "dancers" then I ever would have believed!!! We found that if you had late seating dinner, you were too late to even get a seat in the Queens Room, any night. And forget dancing after 10pm. You absolutely couldn't move at all. Must have been 300+ people on the floor every night, plus lots of tree-huggers and jumpers-(maybe it was the itinerary). After a couple attempts and lots of bruised feet and ankles, we gave up! Most of the better dancers only danced before dinner, to taped music. Since we had found the service not up to par, and didn't like the food...we had pretty much written off the Queen. Thanks Smooth for your take. You have me thinking we should try one of those 4 day Holiday cruises from NYC. We might have better luck next time.

 

Why don't we start a "list of ships" with good dance floors for ballroom dancing???? I know I wish I could remember all the good ones we've sailed.

 

Melody

[GCurry]

Howdy Dancers:

Came across this thread last week, but it took me forever to read it........... We're Melody and Jerry from the shores of the Chesapeake just outside Baltimore. We started dancin' lessons to compliment our cruising about 3 years ago, and also became totally addicted!!

We take private and group lessons several times a week, but are more like Gene. Social Dancers. We prefer the Dance Club at Goddard, where everybody dances (with everyone) to the competetive studio dances. But, I panic when more experienced dancers lead me into a step I don't know....,So........ we know a lot of steps (most Silver, some Gold), but our form and style probably stink!! I wouldn't want to sail with Smooth or Mummsie either!!

Welcome to the family, hope you stay around to chat.

I actually wouldn't mind cruising with either one of them, we could probably pick up a lot of new steps. I would especially like to see Mummsies New Vogue, and other differences she's talked about. Smooth would certainly have something to say about our form and style so I think we'd come out ahead on the deal.

 

The info. posted here about the size of dance floors on various ships is great! We just did the east Trans. on X Century and were really disappointed with the size of the dance floors, especially since she was just totally re-done. Dancing was only possible on 1 of the 3 floors and it wasn't in the room with the best ballroom dance band. Who, in their right mind would build a 8 X 8' dance floor (shaped like home plate), and then put 2 poles in it??? I don't get it!! We're also booked on the Dec. westbound Trans., but I'm not sure we're going to do it yet.

How sad, that might almost be a deal breaker in our book. Celebrity is supposed to have some of the best cuisine in the industry, but it would be a shame to give up dancing to enjoy it.

 

We sailed QM2 last December on a W. Carribean, and loved the ballroom, but had a much different experience then Smooth. The largest ballroom at sea, attracted more ballroom "dancers" then I ever would have believed!!! We found that if you had late seating dinner, you were too late to even get a seat in the Queens Room, any night. And forget dancing after 10pm. You absolutely couldn't move at all. Must have been 300+ people on the floor every night, plus lots of tree-huggers and jumpers-(maybe it was the itinerary). After a couple attempts and lots of bruised feet and ankles, we gave up! Most of the better dancers only danced before dinner, to taped music. Since we had found the service not up to par, and didn't like the food...we had pretty much written off the Queen. Thanks Smooth for your take. You have me thinking we should try one of those 4 day Holiday cruises from NYC. We might have better luck next time.

I've thought that the Queens would be the ships on which I'd like to do a "Crossing", but, based on what you said it seems a lot of other dancers have the same idea. I had never considered that there'd be so many couples there was no room to dance, what a shock, and only taped music before dinner?

 

Why don't we start a "list of ships" with good dance floors for ballroom dancing???? I know I wish I could remember all the good ones we've sailed. Melody

Gee Melody, that would be a pretty short list, and most with size weren't playing Ballroom music so that you could enjoy them. The Diamond had a good floor, but not the Grand and they were sister ships. The NCL Wind retracted the stage to expose a good sized floor, but it's no longer in the fleet. HAL had some small floors that weren't bad, but only because no one was dancing so you would have it to yourself. Wow when you think about it, I think it's just that dancing on a cruise is a special thing to do, but certainly not because of the floor or in most cases, the music.

Any thoughts?

[mummsie]

Hi GCurry, I wouldn't mind having a twirl with you either - I am sure I would also learn a thing or two. :-) I need lessons in following - I am not a good follower - having been a teacher for long I tend to take over and do my own thing - Gary often hangs on and goes for the ride. I am a very strong dancer (Make that hard to push around) :D:D Still working on putting some new vogue up on utube for you to look at. Mummsie

[smoothdancer]

You guys are funny!! How much fun it would be to cruise with Gene and his gang!

 

I also read somewhere else how croweded the floor was on the Queen Mary 2 on another cruise. Must be hit or miss, we had absolutley no problem dancing in full stride on her floor. Like Gene and NCL, having nothing to do with the dancing, we wont be sailing on the Queen again anytime soon.

 

I have been working on a dance floor project for years now... Accumulating picture of all different cruise ship dance floors and comments for dancers who have danced on them, to post on our website. I do need to get back to work on getting this completed.

 

We are just back from a beach resort vacation with my son, wife and 2 grandkids.... Was very fun and a nice change of pace from cruising.

 

Oh and Melody..the 2008 National Amatuar ballroom dance competition is going to be in Baltimore in April next year. You should come and watch.. Some of the best amatuar ballroom danceers from all over the US attend the National competition.