Ballroom Dance Lessons

[GCurry]

Welcome Texancruzar, glad you joined us. If you are ever in the Houston area we can let you know of numerous dance opportunities. This past weekend, our Mainland Dance Club took a dance trip to Austin to join the Austin Ballroom Dance Club. That was interesting, our Mainland and Two-Left-Feet Clubs, (both in the Galveston Bay Area) are pretty traditional, older members, lots of Foxtrots, Waltz, Rumba, East Coast Swing, Cha Chas, and one or two Tangos. We are about as much social as about dancing, members bring food for a casual buffet, wine and beer are available. The Austin Club did a lot of Boleros, Tangos, Hustle, and West Coast Swing, very little socalizing; a lot of them seemed to be young Dance Studio Professionals, or competition dancers. About 40 of our members made the trip, which effectively doubled the size of their dance. It was good to see something different, although I'm not going to rush out for Bolero lessons.

[Kaye from Chicagoland]

Nice to hear from you Texancruzar! Glad you joined us!

 

GCurry - he he - I think I could pass on the Bolero lessons too!

 

We did some kind of German dance to start off with last night - He said we might see it at some of the festivals in Chicago or at a wedding sometime (can't say that I ever have). I don't remember the name of the dance - it was pretty easy until we got to the turns - maybe you know what it was - walk - 2 - 3 - hop, walk 2 - 3 - hop, step - hop, step -hop, step - hop, step - hop - doing the turns on the 4 step - hops. I was sweating before we started the meat of the lesson - worse than my step areobics class. This only took up about 15 min. of our lesson - said he wanted to get our blood flowing and he suceeded!

 

Anyway we continued to practice the cha - cha last night and ended the class transitioning the cha - cha steps to the introduction of some simple swing steps and simply showing how the swing and the jitterbug were similar at the end of class. I love the swing - looking forward to next week! We had fun!

 

Kaye

[Ms. gcurry]

We did some kind of German dance to start off with last night - He said we might see it at some of the festivals in Chicago or at a wedding sometime (can't say that I ever have). I don't remember the name of the dance - it was pretty easy until we got to the turns - maybe you know what it was - walk - 2 - 3 - hop, walk 2 - 3 - hop, step - hop, step -hop, step - hop, step - hop - doing the turns on the 4 step - hops. I was sweating before we started the meat of the lesson - worse than my step areobics class. This only took up about 15 min. of our lesson - said he wanted to get our blood flowing and he suceeded!

 

Sounds like the Polka!

[Kaye from Chicagoland]

No, it wasn't the Polka - I know the polka. I think this was some kind of a folk dance or something. It was done side by side hands and arms crossed in front of us which would change to the back with the turns - all in a circle following each other. I know this description is terrible, it is kind of hard to explain.

 

Cold, but sunny for my golf lesson today,

Had to dress in layers.

Kaye

[texancruzer]

Definately not the polka.... it is hop-step-step-step, hop-step-step-step etc in a line or turning. I know what you are talking about though - your description was actually very good. Just don't know the name of it either but have seen it done a few times. Kind of a weird dance to learn at ballroom !?! We are concentrating on latin dances for now.... since we are planning on a nice dinner and dancing in Puerto Rico the night before our cruise (going a day before). Worked on the salsa and merengue last week. Bought some practice cd's and had my son and his girlfriend doing the merengue with us last night !!! My husband was jealous because my son picked it up so fast. I told him it was my genes !!! I used to teach dancing when I was younger (mostly ballet, tap, jazz etc but also a little ballroom) Will let you know how our class on Friday goes - my brother-in-law and his wife are going to join us for classes. Should be a hoot!

[MGilly]

Wow! I JUST discovered this thread! My husband and I have tried dancing together, and with the aid of shin guards and steel-toed shoes, we no longer injure each other ... too much. His parents and my parents danced so well together, and our daughter danced with the Ballroom Performance Group at UGA. She still goes to swing and salsa dances on a weekly basis. (What a joy it is to watch her! She's incredible!) <sigh> We did take beginning ballroom classes once (about 20 years ago). Maybe if I tried it again, with all our protective gear on, we'd learn something without hurting each other! (The bruises take so long to disappear!)

 

{We don't hurt each other on purpose! We're just two klutzes who do everything well together EXCEPT dance! Part of the problem is probably that when we mess up a step, we're laughing so hard, we trip over each other!}

[GCurry]

Ladies, Ladies, its the Schotish (Scandinavian Folk Dance) MSCurry has done it; but, we usually do it in conjunction with the "Cotton Eyed Joe", where Ladies get to holler B--l S--t a lot. It's a Texas thing, usually at C&W dances. I sorta put it in with the German Chicken Dance where your ability depends on how much you've had to drink.

Welcome MarylG, I had a wife once that forced me to learn C&W dancing wearing boaters, I never forgave her for it. I've known some people to take dance lessons in sneakers if you have to.

We are about to have our Cinco De Mayo dance, at our Mainland club, this Saturday, we'll have a Latin Combo, which everyone will love, and a Mexican dinner.

[Kaye from Chicagoland]

That's It! The Schotish - I thought it was kind of a wierd thing to learn in a ballroom dancing lesson, too! It was easy though and I think our instructor just threw it in for fun.

 

MerrylG - don't give up - with a little more maturity now, I bet you and the DH would have a lot of fun beating each other up! Actually, I bet my husband would never have agreed to these lessons 20 years ago - but now - he thinks it's fun. We don't get embarassed if we screw up like we might have back then.

 

GCurry - speaking of sneakers - I have noticed that the real young couples in our class wear them. It looks like it would be tough to me. I have found myself wearing small heeled sandals as I need a little height. My husband is 6'1" and I'm only 5'4". It seems to make the turns a little easier if I have some height.

 

I never noticed dance lessons (except for line dancing) on the cruises I've been on - I guess I never looked.

 

Texancruzer - we will be staying precruise in San Juan too, but not til Jan. Do you know where you're going dancing the night before your cruise? If not, if you find a good place, let us know. Last Jan. we went to the Parrot Club for dinner (highly recommended) but we were there early so we didn't see if there was entertainment with dancing at night.

 

TTYL,

Kaye

[texancruzer]

These are the clubs recommended to us: Newyorkrican (312 Calle San Fransisco) has a different salsa band every night (the locals go here) and the Rhumba Night Club (152 Calle San Sebastian) supposed to be the most popular for salsa dancing. We are staying at the El Convento in Old San Juan and have heard only the best about hotel. It was built in 1500's as a Carmelite convent but has been redone recently. Only 48 rooms and 5 star. So traded beaches for location in old town near dining and dancing on Fri. night and sightseeing on Sat. before boarding the ship which is close by. Were told (by my wonderful travel agent who has been on every cruise there is or almost) that everything is in walking distance from hotel and transfers to ship included. Will let you know when we get back. Just found out we are going to have to miss our lesson this Friday - husband has 1 day business trip to Dallas and gets back too late for class. Bummer !!!! But bought some CD's and are practicing at home. He seems very determined to do this so I am a happy camper...

[Kaye from Chicagoland]

Texancruzer -

 

WOW! Thanks for that info! I printed it out to add to our file. Last trip we stayed at Wyndham Condado - beach wasn't worth it. We weren't unhappy with it, but we also decided we want to stay in OSJ this year. I keep checking prices for the Sheraton Old San Juan on Hotwire. No luck so far - yesterday it was $160 today it is $182. The Sheraten website is actually less expensive right now than Hotwire.

 

So sorry you have to miss your lesson! The week before last my husband got home from work at 7:05 p.m. and we need to leave at least by 7:15 p.m. in order to get to our lesson on time. I had his shoes ready, clean shirt ready, a quick change, and we were in the car on our way to our lesson. What we won't do?!?!? Love to Dance!

 

Let's have a beginning dancer cruise,

Kaye

[GCurry]

Have you seen this site? http://www.dancersatsea.com/comingcruises.html

 

I expect the people that would do this are pretty serious.

Our clubs have all levels of dancers, from beginners to competition couples. But, everyone has fun.

[texancruzer]

Just a call from hubby and seems he doesnt have to go to Dallas tomorrow after all. So will make our class ..... he needs to make as many as he can before Nov. !! teehee. He knows I love him whether he can dance or not. Just thought it would be fun and just one more thing we can do together. I know what you mean about the prices online etc.... I just decided that this trip is for our 25th anniversary so I called "said wonderful travel agent" and had her set it all up. Hotel is a little pricey but not near the one we stayed at in Cancun $ 7500.00 a night in the Presidential Suite at Caesar Park. Of course my brother-in-law was treating for that one. Stayed 3 nights too! He also treated us to Bellagio in Vegas last year and the Inn on Turtle Creek in Dallas. So we are kind of getting used to the expensive life. Of course this is only for 1 night - I think it was only $260.00. and understand nice hotels in San Juan are not cheap. Will definately review for you when we get back (dec 3).:)

[Kaye from Chicagoland]

Texancruzer - CONGRATS! Glad you will be able to make your lesson!

 

WOW! Must be nice to have a rich brother-in-law! We've been to Cancun and Vegas many times, but never had the luxury of a $7200 per night room! Can't even imagine it.

 

Sunny and Smiling in Chicago!

Kaye

[GCurry]

What do you get for $7500 a night? Plenty of room to dance I expect.

The travel channel has programs about places like that on occasion.

[Ms. gcurry]

GCurry - speaking of sneakers - I have noticed that the real young couples in our class wear them. It looks like it would be tough to me. I have found myself wearing small heeled sandals as I need a little height. My husband is 6'1" and I'm only 5'4". It seems to make the turns a little easier if I have some height.

 

I agree with you, Kaye. I can't dance in flat shoes or sneakers. Gene is over 6' and I'm 5'1" so a little height is helpful. Plus, rubber soled shoes just don't let you glide across the floor very easily. I may have mentioned this before, but I got my dance shoes at dancewear.com. They are running a pretty good sale until May 15, too. ;)

[Kaye from Chicagoland]

Update:

 

Tonight - only four couples showed up. We thought it might have been because we had severe weather warnings for our area - don't know.

 

Since there were so few of us maybe that's why he decided to teach the tango! Easy steps - but difficult to get that tango look in such short period of time. I think he tries to put too much in one lesson. I kind of felt it a waste of time. I got the basic steps down and then he sarted on the difficult stuff - too much too soon! Remember - I said you get what you pay for.

 

Another couple came to observe this class to see if they wanted to sign up next session. I was talking to them before class began and the man told me he like some DVD's that he purchased from 'Barnes and Noble' called 'Learn to Dance in Minutes' - anyone hear of these?

 

In the morning I have to go feel awkward again for my golf lessons!

Smiles to all,

Kaye

[GCurry]

I agree Kay, sounds like too much too fast. We love Tango, but don't get to work on it as often as we would like. DVDs are good, but IMHO there is no substitute for an instructor who can correct what you are doing wrong. We might work on just one or two new steps in an hours lesson. Susan writes them down and makes notes, where we can remember them later. She keeps a list of different steps in each dance so when we practice, we work through all of them in sequence. At a dance, we'll use different steps for different songs.

Will you take the same series of lessons again?

In golf, if it feels awkward, you must be doing it right.

[texancruzer]

GCurry: For $7500/night = whatever you want !!!! Actually was penthouse Presidential Suite: gorgeous entry w/fountain, 2 bedrms w/all the stuff (jacuzzis etc.) a huge living rm-game area-media area, a full sz D/R & sm kitchen area, and a wrap @ wide balcony w/ drop dead views of Cancun. That is how he travels. I prefer to spend my $ on other stuff altho I do like a nice room in a nice hotel. But since I wasnt paying it was pretty neat!

 

Well we made our class Friday (husband did not go out of town). HAD A BLAST! Got there & different instructor said we would be learning swing & 2 step. As we are NOT country/western were a little disappointed. Wanted to practice & continue w/ our salsa & merangue. But worked on the swing and dh picked it up pretty fast. I had done it many years ago but to more 50's rocknroll than to country. Sat out the 2 step - watched rest of class. Teacher had promised at end to throw in a little salsa but actually the owner of the studio came over & proceeded to give us basically a private lesson.! He is a former competetive dancer & very very good. Showed dh lots of tips for moving himself but also me. Really made a difference. DH now really enjoying this so I am very very happy camper !

Just a note to anyone whose like me & not used to wearing heels that much anymore. I bought some AWESOME gel inserts for my sandals/heels that I would highly recommend. They are a little expensive (@$9.00) but you can use them in more than one pair as they are like post-its & unstick & reuse over & over.I think I might go buy another pair they are so good. My feet did not bother me at all with these !

[GCurry]

We do some East Coast swing at every dance, and have friends that really enjoy it as well. It does give you a workout. With some people we know, it's about all they do. It's great that you are getting a lot of individual instruction, that can make a lot of difference. MSGCurry and I will be demonstrating for a basic class tonight, as I indicated earlier, our instructor can barely walk.

A real key is learning how to maneuver around the floor, most ship dance floors are small and there is usually another couple or two, so the better you can do your steps without running over people, the better off you are. There are even maneuvering steps such as Grapevines, Cachets, Twinkles etc. & practice, practice, practice. MSGCurry picked up a neat trick, she velcros fender lights underneath her shoes where they flash different colors as she dances.

 

I have stayed in Cancun, but not at that level, so to speak, the Travel Channel should be showing that suite.

[Kaye from Chicagoland]

Too funny! The couple that came to watch our dance lesson last night are in my golf class too! It's not like this is a small town or anything. We live in the suburbs of Chicago (Orland Park) a town of about 60,000 people.

 

I couldn't believe it when they got on our little bus that takes us to the practice area. They had missed last week's golf because it really was cold so I didn't recognize them last night - but - I'm tough, gutted the cold, and went anyway. A very nice couple - anyway - they told me a couple of local places around here that they go to practice dancing and told me who to look for that is playing. They also told me that they are particularly interested in learning to Tango - could that be the reason our instructor deviated last night???? They said they like TONY - our instructor - upon observation. The male has taken lessons from a Fred Astaire studio ($$$$$) some years ago, but the lady/wife? has never had lessons.

 

Larry and I like him (TONY) too, but we wonder about his lifestyle. He drives up in this little old beat up stationwagon which looks like it has his life belongings in it. I really don't think he lives in his car, but it kind of looks like it. Larry said we should stay late some night and follow him home (ha! ha!). It is probably just filled with dance attire and such with Tide Laundry soap in the back window? STRANGE!

 

I think Texancruzar should have her brother in law rent that suite in Cancun for all of us on this thread - I'm sure we would have plenty of room to dance there. What a way to live! Must be nice - well at least we don't live in our cars!

 

I really don't think it would hurt us to retake this class again - still deciding. Tony is good for sure - but we're not getting enough time on all of the basic steps.

 

GCurry & Ms GCurry - show 'em how to do it tonight! Have fun!

 

TTYS,

Kaye

[GCurry]

Here in the Galveston Bay Area, I'm afraid we have seen the last of cold until Nov.. A front will come through Sat., which means the high should only be 84.

MSGCurry and I take lessons year round, they are 6 week sessions of one hour classes, so we usually go from one session into the next. We are getting a break until June 7th this time. There is no end to the number of steps you can learn in the various dances. Class is where we get most of our practice as well, as we are usually too busy at home.

Professional dance instructors seem to be a motley crew, and some of the strangest charactors you will ever meet. Ours, old Lance, was known as Lance of Hollywood at one time. He allegedly taught Lawrence Welk how to polka, tried to teach John Wayne, was fired by Arthur Murray for disagreeing with him, and was a National Dance Champion. Hope your Tony has a day job.

[RanDe]

DH and I have been toying with the idea of taking dance lessons for a couple of years now. We talked about it before our first cruise in 04, but never did and now we have our second cruise scheduled for 2/06. Even though I'm always thinking about it, I didn't know for sure where to start. Someone here mentioned the Park district and I did a search for our Park district and found that they have just what we are looking for. So, I have all of you to thank for getting this thread going and getting me motivated again to finally take the first step and get us registered for dance lessons.:) They have a beginning ballroom class that starts the first week of June and teaches the basic steps in waltz, foxtrot & swing. It is an 8 week class and lasts for 50 minutes per class. I'm hoping that this will be enough for now and we'll continue on the other dance lessons after completing this one.

 

De

[Kaye from Chicagoland]

Welcome to our thread RanDe (De)!

 

You will love your classes! My husband and I are the ones taking lessons through the Park District. The session is 10 weeks for an hour a week and we just finished lesson #6. Although, this is not intensive instruction - we have had fun and feel we have learned quite a bit already. As you can tell from my above post we are considering taking this class over again to perfect some basic steps before moving up to level #2. Our second session would begin June 20 (this one ends June 13). I hope we're a little better by cruise time in Jan. We've got a few weddings to go to this summer - I wonder if our friends will be able to tell the difference in our dancing.

 

GCurry - Would love to meet your instructor - what a history he has!

 

Heavy rain/thunderstorms here today - a good day to get a few things done inside!

Kaye

[RanDe]

Hi Kaye (and fellow Illinoision) and thanks for the welcome!

 

There are about 3 or 4 eight week courses of different basic dance steps and we hope to try and get them all in before our cruise in February. I think we'll do just one session at a time. I'll probably know a lot more about it when we either go there to sign up or on our first evening of lessons. Each session is around $62 for a couple.....I didn't think that sounded bad at all in price.

 

Ohhh, you'll have to let us know how you and your DH do at the weddings this summer.

 

Your rain is suppose to hit us later today, but so far we are dry.

 

De:)

[GCurry]

Welcome RanDe, yes, thats a good price for that amount of instruction, I think we pay a little more through a local Community College for 6 weeks.

Getting the basic steps is the real key to Ballroom, so if it takes more than the 1st sessions, sign up again. They probably have a latin set as well, for rumba, cha cha, tango etc?

The real key, however, is the commitment from both of you to learn together.

I've seen too many men who were at the classes, but you could tell they were just humoring their DW, they really didn't want to learn.

BTW, in spite of the way it usually arrives, Texas can always use rain. Of course, there was Allison a while back that dumped 27 inches on Houston in 3 days, that, we don't need.