Ballroom Dance Lessons

[Kaye from Chicagoland]

I wonder what type of an outfit to wear to my first lesson? What do you others usually wear?

 

Thanks,

Kaye

[dreamscometrue2]

I would go with what is comfortable for you. At my class the folks show up in jeans, others prefer skirts, or some just show up right after work in whatever they were wearing. It really doesn't matter unless your instructor request you dress a certain way. I love the way a skirt feels when I'm dancing so thats what I wear most of the time. But don't worry about the wardrobe too much because enjoying the dancing is the true purpose of the interprise.:D Have Fun!

[Kaye from Chicagoland]

Thanks Dreamscometrue!

 

I guess I'll just wear a skirt or slacks depending on Chicago's weather on Mon. and leave the heels at home. I should get a better idea after the first class. (I've been too busy getting ready for my golf lessons - bought new golf shoes - another goal of mine - I've been hacking away for years - I think it's time to learn the right way to swing a golf club as well as swing dancing).

 

Kaye

[Ms. gcurry]

What you wear is not as much a factor as your shoes. Wear shoes that are comfortable but that do not have a rubber sole. I see so many people have problems learnng the steps because their shoes don't slide easily enough. I bought some good practice shoes from dancewear.com. Something with a strap works real well.

[Kaye from Chicagoland]

Good Idea Ms. gcurry!

 

I'll leave my running shoes at home, too. I really don't have any dance shoes - something to look for if DH lasts through the first lesson. Thanks for the website.

 

I e-mailed my 28 y/o daughter with the question as to what to wear - her response was ( copy & paste):

 

wear a really tight thong leotard and tights w/ ballet slippers :) haha

 

Got a kick out of that one!

Kaye

[dreamscometrue2]

Good advice Bout the shoes I forgot about them. I feel dance shoes are the best, but if you have some shoes with leather soles they are the next best thing IMHO. Dance away! Have you been to class yet?

[GCurry]

Leather soles for men as well. Men's dance shoes have felt soles which are rather interesting, but great for dancing. I carry mine in a bag as they are no good for parking lots. It's sorta like walking into a pool hall and pulling out your custom cue. Susan and I really enjoy dancing, and there are always new steps to learn.

[Kaye from Chicagoland]

Hi all!

 

We had our first lesson and had soooo much fun! The instructor was great! My husband actually said he can't wait 'til our next lesson. I'm so glad we did this.

 

The DH wore the shoes he bought for our last cruise which had leather soles. The instructor asked if he bought them just for this class - ha ha - I think my husband felt a little embarrassed because he already had the perfect shoes for dancing.

 

I ended up wearing those little healed sandals with capris. I felt fine - especially when I saw some of the others struggling with their rubber soled shoes.

 

It's really cool what we learned in one class and we have 9 more to go.

 

I liked watching the other couples coming in anxiously for the second/more advanced class. I've set my goal! Planning to look good by Jan. - the instructor is right - the most important thing is to keep a smile and good posture and everyone will think we know what we're doing.

 

Thanks everyone and keep that support coming!

Kaye

[Kaye from Chicagoland]

What? I must like hearing myself talk.

 

Anyway - Dance Lesson #2 was tonight - Now I know we need to practice. Did some 'twinkles' tonight, as the instructor called them.

 

Where are all the other people who want to take a few lessons before their next cruise? This takes work and concentration, but it's fun and I know we'll feel better dancing at the next wedding or cruise.

 

Kaye

[GCurry]

Way to go Kay and husband, keep it up, this is a hobby that can last a lifetime.

We know couples that have been dancing for decades. They are teaching you twinkles in Foxtrot and Waltz? There are a bunch of twinkles, but they are neat steps, and get more advanced as you learn.

What will really help you is to go to one of your local dances and learn to move around the floor and adjust to other couples and other music before you go on your cruise. Cruise ship dance floors are pretty small, so you need to be able to maneuver around other dancers.

I'm sure the Chicago area has numerous places you can go.

[Coolcruise02]

We are working on "twinkles" also. This for the waltz. We live in a very isolated area and I have checked the towns around us (30 min away) and can't find any classes. I went to the libraries (30 min away) and got video tapes. It is not as good as live instruction but we are learning!

 

The lessons we had on the ship only deal with the basic steps and now it's time to move on. :)

[GCurry]

Basically, what you can do in Foxtrot, you can do in Waltz, promenades, twinkles etc. Also if there's no Ballroom dancing in your area, try a C&W or Rock & Roll place, they play waltzes, and you can Foxtrot to a 2Step or soft rock, and if they play Blue Bayou, you got a rumba.

[terri23]

You can get great instructional videos here: www.starlightdance.com. They are fairly fast-paced but excellent - fantastic if you already are familiar with the basics. They are really good. I prefer them to the Teresa Mason tapes - better instruction and production (we took lessons from Teresa and her ex for a while, BTW!).

 

We took lessons for a while, then I put a laminate floor in the game room and voila - dance "studio". We learn steps with the video tapes then pop in a CD to practice. DH is still a little reluctant, but I'm working on him!! Our favorite dance is cha cha.

[GCurry]

Our Two-Left-Feet club dance is this Saturday, theme is black and white formal, so I'll trot out the dinner jacket. Mostly foxtrots, waltz, rumba, but usually 2 or 3 tangos, sambas, and at least one bolero. We'll travel up to Austin on the 30th where our Mainland Dance club has a joint dance with the Austin Dance club.

There is no shortage of dance opportunities in the Houston area.

[PunkiC]

We have been married for 34 years and have always loved dancing, but until ten years ago had no formal training. Following a class reunion, at least ten years ago, where we danced until we dropped, we decided to get serious and take lessons.

 

It was the best thing we have ever done for ourselves. We have turned into fanatics. We travel a lot--about 150,000 miles a year--and have been known to crash any type of party that happens to be held in our hotel, as long as it includes dancing. We are always joyfully encouraged--I guess they think we class up the party. :D

 

Our favorites are foxtrot, swing, salsa, and blues, what the heck, we'll do any dance. It is so much fun.

 

We will be taking out first cruise in July and can't wait to have an opportunity to dance every night.

[Kaye from Chicagoland]

Thanks everyone for your enthusiasm and encouragement.

 

GCurry - The clubs you belong to sound fun!

 

PunkiC - You are going to love cruising if you love to dance. That's too funny about 'crashing parties'.

 

Terri - I went to our library (it's a big one). I was surprised - they only had one video and it was out when I was there. Thanks for the website - those videos aren't cheap - I wouldn't know one all around good one to buy. It looks like I would need one of each.

 

Coolcruise02 - Good for you for sticking with it - even though it's not very convenient!

 

Lesson #3 - Tomorrow.

Kaye

[PunkiC]

Hope your class goes well today, Kaye.

 

We also belong to a couple of dance groups, both of which have 5 or 6 formal dinner dances every year. Here is a picture of me and Hubby at one of the dances.

 

We took lessons with a group called Living Traditions, which also puts on dances throughout the year. Lots of opportunities to dance here in Seattle.

 

Here is a link to Henry's Hotlist, which lists dance resources around the world. We often check it to find dance venues when we travel.

[Kaye from Chicagoland]

PunkiC -

 

What a lovely picture - Thanks for sharing that! and the info.

 

Update on Lesson #3-

 

We reviewed some of the waltz steps - twinkles -a couple of turns - and he taught us to use our knees to do some 'merengue' (sp?) steps. He put us in 'pretzels' which took some time to figure out, especially since it's a group lesson. It seemed a little awkward, but I can tell with practice how beautiful it would be, if someone experienced were doing it (PunkiC - and anyone else I would love to watch you dance!)

 

We got it at the class and as soon as we got home we forgot how we got into those somewhat awkward positions. I hope he goes over it again. We remember the first step to get into position, but get all confused with me trying to do a double twirl to get out of it and back to promenade position. I feel sure we weren't the only confused ones.

 

....and how are the rest of you doing????

 

I also took my first golf lesson today - been hacking for years - found out that I don't know how to 'SWING' the club. I really think I'm going to like SWING dancing.

 

THINK CRUISE and DANCING - I can skip the mini-golf!

Hope others interested in dancing will join our thread!

Kaye

[GCurry]

Kaye,

Was that the agreement with DH, he'd dance if you would golf? Dancing would be easier to learn!

You are really coming along, it usually takes couples several months to even get the basic steps where they ought to be, much less twinkles and pretzels.

We had our weekly class last night, spent the whole time on East Coast Swing.

Our instructor is a former national dance champion, the worst ole curmugeon you could ever meet. He's older than dirt, and meaner than a snake. He taught for so long he wore out his knees and has to walk with a cane, but, he can spot a misstep at 50 yards. Good thing he teaches at a Community College, he runs off as many students as he keeps. But, he knows it all.

My little wife keeps a list of our steps in each dance, and adds to it as we go along. That way we don't forget them, and can work on a progression, or adapt certain steps to certain songs.

[Kaye from Chicagoland]

GCurry -

 

Your instructor sounds like quite a character. I can't quite figure out the continuity to our instructor's lessons. This is just through our local park district - I guess you get what you pay for.

 

Lesson #4 - Tonight we did some cha cha steps. I felt pretty good since I've done the cha cha quite a bit. I think I learned the basics back in Junior High School at our school sponsored ballroom lessons. I got to be used as his partner showing the steps to the others in class - an ego boost I needed after the last class.

 

Two of the original couples did not show tonight - maybe they are dropouts? Last week was a tough class with those pretzels.

 

Whatever the case may be, we are enjoying the class and feel like we've learned a lot for just 4 weeks. Six more lessons to go for this session and then there is a ballroom dancing level 2 that we will probably take too. After that we may look for something a little more professional.

 

Actually, it was my own decision to try to improve my golf game. I recently retired from teaching and would like to join a ladies league someday when I feel I am ready. I've been to the driving range twice since my last class - Lesson #2 tomorrow. Hope I improved my swing at least a little.

 

Smiles,

Kaye

[GCurry]

My wife and I enjoy Cha Cha as well. The way it works here is you keep taking basic learning new steps and perfecting old ones until Lance tells you when you are ready for the next class. That class is comprised of people who have been dancing and taking lessons for years, some since the 70s. He usually asks what we want to work on, Tango, Waltz etc., which we will do for an hour.

We usually come early and work on basics or act as demonstrators for the basic class as needed, and then learn something new in the advanced class. The old curmugion calls all the women Honey and all the men Sir. He'll start yelling Sir! Sir!, and three or four sirs are looking around. We've been taking about 5 years, and half the time he can't remember my name, but, he never forgets a step.

Yes, there is a high dropout rate when people don't realize how much work, and how difficult it really is. Regrettably, a lot of the men came because their wife really wanted to do it, but they didn't, so they look for any excuse to quit.

The payoff is there, however, as it's a great hobby and very good exercise.

Anyone that doesn't think so should try working on swing or samba for an hour.

[Kaye from Chicagoland]

Dear Sir & Honey!

 

Too funny! I think I would get along with this guy! My kind of instructor!

 

My golf instructor told me today he would rather play golf on broken glass, barefoot, in snow, rain and freezing cold before he would ever do the cha-cha! I guess there's something to be said that dancing is a sport. My daughter was a cheerleader, swimmer, diver, and gymnast in H.S. Some thought those weren't REALLY sports. I think they were wrong. Dancing takes timing, muscle, coordination, etc., etc. Definately not easy!

 

I would love to watch you guys - 5 years is awesome! I'm very impressed and would like to follow in your footsteps (he - he!).

 

I used to live across the street from a Fred Astair Studio owner for about 3 years. Even though I didn't know how to dance - he had such a good lead that he always made me look good. How do I make my husband get the lead?

 

He has a good since of rhythm but is not that good with his feet and I always feel the need to lead. I feel if I don't lead, we'll be lost.

 

Kaye

[GCurry]

I've gotten better at it, but a firm lead is a problem of mine as well, or a lead that tells Susan what we are going to do. She is much better at thinking these things through and counting than I am.

Five years is nothing in our clubs, there are people taking lessons since 78. Susan and I often think about how we can become as good a dancers as they are, our solution; out live them!

I'm sending this to her, as she can give you some good advice.

[Ms. gcurry]

I think leading is something that takes time for a man to develop because a lot of it has to do with confidence. In the beginning, a man is concentrating on his footwork and not so much on what his hands are doing. I try to show Gene how I need him to hold me and how to push or pull for certain steps. When we are out dancing to "non-ballroom" music, Gene's lead is much stronger because he is not concentrating on his steps.

 

It is also hard for me to not anticipate his next move and force myself to rely on him to lead me. When we are at a dance where we do a Maggie Stroll, where you dance with other partners, I have to really work at relaxing and following the gentleman's lead. I think that that experience, too, helps me tell Gene how I need him to lead.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Susan

[texancruzer]

Found this thread yesterday - how timely. Read every entry too. My husband and I had our first ballroom class last night. Whew. I danced for 16 years including tap, ballet (pointe) modern and acrobatic (gymnastics) Taught ballroom even a little. LONG TIME AGO. But hardest when partner brand new. My husband agreed as our cruise in Nov. on Serenade is for our 25th anniversary. He had a good time and is determined to learn these. I am glad as I feel there is hope for him with lots and lots of practice. teehee. Will keep you posted on our progress.;)