Ballroom Dance Lessons

[RanDe]

Hi GCurry, thanks for the tips. Yes, they also offer Latin, which are the dances you mentioned. I'm hoping that since they offer all of the dances in separate sessions, that we can concentrate on learning more of a little at a time. My DH (Randy) loves to dance, but we just don't dance well together. I think this will be perfect in that it teaches us how to lead and to follow. They also have a session called "wedding dance" which teaches the baics in ballroom, latin, swing and contemporary and is suppose to get you ready for a wedding or any big event with a band. But it sounds like too much at one time to me. Do a lot of the moves you learn in ballroom dancing go with different bands and songs? I'm not even sure what kind of bands are on the cruise ships. Thanks in advance for answering other questions I may have too. ;)

 

De

[RanDe]

I forgot to tell you that I hope you get some rain, but not dumped on. :) It's going everywhere around us and we still haven't got what they've been predicting for several days. I think Kaye is getting it all. :D

 

De

[GCurry]

42 degrees in Chicago this morning 77 degrees and sunny on Galveston Island.

High of 87 today, with 90% humidity we are moving toward the tropical sauna season.

Anyway RanDe in answer to your question, you adapt your steps to the music itself, the band or taped version does play into it, but it's what steps work best with the rhythm of the song. The arrangement determines what you do, I've heard "Begin the Begine" done as a Rumba, or as a Foxtrot. Ship bands are pretty good about playing what you like if you let them know, after all, they are part of what you pay for. You will encounter everything from Disk Jockeys with CDs or tapes to full orchestras in dinner jackets at dances. The ships will have as many as 3 bands on board usually 2, 3 or 4 piece combos have been our experience.

[thehill]

Man! I really hate you. I can't find anything like that down here in Atlanta. There are private clubs and schools but nothing cheap. I grew up in DC (Near Silver Spring, MD) Maybe I'll schedule a trip home and a dance class!

 

There are free and affordable lessons in atlanta. Roswell parks offer lessons and most dance studios offer free lessons before dances. The Ballroom dance club also offer affordable lessons and free lessons.

[Kaye from Chicagoland]

Hi all! - and a special welcome to Thehill too! (Great advice for atlmagic!)

 

So - they have a contest on 'Good Morning America' looking for the best dancers in America. GCurry - I think you and Ms GCurry should send in your video so we can all see you two dance on TV. I would love to watch you two. Let us know which day it will be aired, too.

 

Larry and I are thinking of going to one of the good ballrooms in our area just to watch (one ballroom that we know of will give free lessons for an hour before they open it up to free dancing for just a small entrance fee) - I think we could learn a lot that way too.

 

RanDe - where are you at in Central Illinois? Both of our kids graduated from U. of I. in Champaign. (My sister and I both graduated from So. Illinois U. in Carbondale - she ended up meeting her husband there and now resides in Mt. Vernon). When my parents retired, they bought a 40 acre ranch close to that area - which they sold some years back when it became to hard to manage - They made so many square dancing friends down there that they stayed in the area and now have a condo in Salem, IL - Yes, they were quite good ballroom dancers, too. Now it's my turn to learn. We actually live in the Southwest suburbs of Chicago - Orland Park - to be exact.

 

It sounds like you have a very good Park District. Our classes are $72 for 10 lessons - about the same. But - they only offer Ballroom level 1, Ballroom level 2, Wedding Dance, Line dancing. It's not separated like yours. I think I like it the way it is offered to you better.

 

GCurry - your forecast for our area is right on. Cold and damp.

Smiles,

Kaye

[GCurry]

If you catch the Currys on video, it would have to be related to extreme weather, or some other catastropic event. Ole Lance is still using us as his "before lessons" couple. Actually, at the club and other dances we go to, we are ok, certainly not in the top class of dancers nor do we choose to be.

Going out dancing as often as possible is a real key, practicing at class or at home does not prepare you for many real dance situations. You need to get out and move around the floor.

Those ballrooms sound nice Kaye we have some in our area, where for about $10 a person cover charge, you dance to a live band for the evening on a pretty big floor. Or were you talking about actual competition?

Actually, it should be MSGCurry posting here, she is much better than I.

Also there are a lot of dances we don't do, in order to work on those we like, Foxtrot, Rumba, Swing, Tango, Waltz and a lttle rock and roll.

Our next Cruise Dance BTW, will be on the Galaxy next Jan. to Panama.

[Kaye from Chicagoland]

GCurry -

 

Lucky You! The Panama Canal - just a dream at this point for us.

 

I'll be thinking of you in the good ole Caribbean in Jan.

 

No - not competiton - just that small entry fee that you spoke of. But, I've heard there are some terrific dancers who frequent these places. I would just love to watch and maybe venture out for a waltz or something simple. I'm pretty good at the swing - I think! - been doing it for years on some untrained level.

 

You know that I'm joking (or maybe not?) - send in the video in a hurricane or something - Would be too cool! Don't be so humble - I know you guys are great.

 

Someday we will meet up - How 'bout 15 day Hawaii 2007? Maybe that's just a dream too!

 

Heavy thunderstorms predicted for tonight and tomorrow - how to get to the the driving range before my next lesson????

 

Kaye

 

p.s. I'm thinking of retaking those lessons too - so don't expect to see me on video on the Golf Channel anytime soon!

[RanDe]

GCurry, thanks for answering my questions and explaining how the steps work with different songs. We love country music and hope to take the basic line dancing sessions too....eventually. Sorry to hear that we won't be seeing your video of you and MSGCurry dancing on TV. ;)

 

Kaye, the free one hour lessons at the ballroom sounds like so much fun. I'm so glad that you and Larry are enjoying your lessons so much. I think it'd be hard to try and learn so many different ones at once though, and I'm sure taking them again would be very helpful.

 

We live in East Peoria and I work in Peoria. SIU uh? Isn't that the party college of Illinois??? :p I was born in Taylorville and lived there for awhile, so I know were Mt. Vernon and Salem are. Both very nice towns. My dad still lives in Taylorville and he and my stepmom do a lot of dancing around the area. I'm not sure where all they go, but they are more into the two-stepping music. I just wish I had his coordination and gracefullness. Do your mom and dad still square dance?

 

Welcome to the newcomers and hello to the ones that posted earlier on on this thread.

 

De:)

[Kaye from Chicagoland]

De -

 

Yes, my mom and dad still square dance with their friends (you should see my mom's outfits). It's getting harder and harder for my mom due to health reasons (diabetic and congestive heart failure). They're great at the two step - I can follow my dad only because he has a great lead even though he is blind now due to macular degeneration - a proud WW2 Vet and too much golf without sunglasses (so he says). They're happy we're taking lessons. If only Larry could learn how to lead !?!?!?

 

I have a cousin who lives in Peoria - very nice town - they love it there! Not sure where Taylorsville is - but it has to be a friendly place if you guys live there. You bet it was a party college - so glad I grew out of that! We like to have fun, but we're not hippies anymore.

 

More thunderstorms predicted for tomororrow - guess I'll clean the house!

Your online friend,

Kaye

 

GCurry - weather update for Texas? Thanks for your responses - I feel a connection that I don't always feel on the CC boards - it is appreciated! Let's keep it going!

[GCurry]

Weather on Galveston Island today Low 73, High 81, humidty 79%. 47 low in Chicago? Galveston is marine tropical usually 10 degrees cooler or warmer than Houston 50 miles away. The water around the island makes the difference. During the summer there might be only a 3 degree difference between the low and high. We are to get your rain Sat. evening and Sunday, I'll put more fertilizer down tomorrow morning. Another hobby we have is tropical gardening, although the roses are currently very pretty.

Susan (MSGCurry) is putting together our Two-Left-Feet dance club year book, a directory of all the couples, a page for each with picture and personal information. We'll get with two other dance couples tomorrow to get it done, which will turn into a party. One of the couples has built on a party/dance room to their house.

Galveston has a huge dance history, with a number of ballrooms in the 30s and 40s. It was the Texas' party town. Bandleader Phil Harris married Alice Fay here, Sinatra sang, even had Elvis once. The Balinese Room, out over the water, is probably the most famous.

Consider Cruising out of Galveston, we have RCL, Princess, Carnival and Celebrity all cruising the Caribbean.

[texancruzer]

Been out of town - sister-in-law passed away on Mothers Day. 3 years battled w/cancer. Only 49 (16 days older than me). 3 kids (19,16 and 10). Was pretty rough. Got back in last night and just feel exhausted. Don't know if we will make our lesson tonight. We'll see.

Don't think brother-in-law will be up for suite in Cancun - going thru divorce #3.

You know what they say ....money can't buy happiness (just stuff).

Sounds like all of your classes are better organized than ours.... we pay $10.00 per person per class but there are no sessions (like 6 week periods or so) Each class (beginner) they just poll and cover what majority requests. But not a whole lot of places to choose from for classes so will take what they give us and then practice practice practice at home. Luckily I can remember different combinations of turns etc from long time ago so we will make up our own combinations and use those. Glad to see more people are finding our thread. Welcome...

[critterchick]

Hi, may I join in? DH and I took ballroom classes about 8 years ago in VA, then moved to California and never found a class. We found one in January and were enjoying the classes immensely until last night. It goes in 6 week chunks, and last night over 20 ladies showed up for the 10 guys that were there. We have to rotate, which meant that I sat out half the dances or had to do the Billy Idol thing (dancin' with myself), which totally sucked.:mad: So I think we're going to look for a partnered class. I don't mind dancing w/other men, but there weren't enough of them, and only 3 (including DH) could tell their right foot from the left. I'm kinda bummed, but if that's the worst thing that happens to me, it will have been a good week.

 

We just got off the Diamond Princess repo and Sun Princess Vancouver R/T and had a ball practicing our dance steps. We had some company on the Diamond, but we danced two sets to the Sun Princess orchestra all by ourselves. It was really too bad, but at least we didn't bump into anybody!

 

Texascruiser, my condolences.

[Kaye from Chicagoland]

Texancruzer - we send our deepest sympathy - 49 is waaaay too young to fight that battle. We missed you but our prayers are with you. Hope that you and your family will find peace during this difficult time.

 

Critterchick - Of course, join in with us - the more the merrier! This is turning out to be fun! I don't like the odds at your classes - I would probably be a wallflower.

 

GCurry - Dry for the time being - expecting strong T-Storms later this afternoon and this evening - I envy (sometimes) your warm weather. I have a cousin who lives in San Antonio - where is that? My uncle was a retired jet pilot (B-52's) through 3 wars (WW2 - Korea, & Vietnam), after retirement he took a job with American Airlines in Dallas training pilots. They lived in Lubbock until my uncle died. I've kind of lost contact with most of my Texan cousins except the one in San Antonio. The wonders of computers are terrific to keep in touch. A lot of my relatives are just not keeping up with today's technology as an easy way to keep in touch.

 

It makes me very proud of my dad - in spite of blindness - e-mails me regularly (he went to computer school for the blind in Tuscon as a VA benefit).

 

De - My parents due to age have had to give up most of their dancing. They still dance a little. On our last cruise they stole the show at the Captain's Cocktail Party - I thought, anyway - they make me so proud!

 

O.K. - Back to the house cleaning

Big Smiles to all!

Kaye

[RanDe]

Texancruzer, I am so sorry to hear of the loss of your sister-in-law. That is way too young to die and my heart goes out to the children. Your family has my deepest sympathy and will be in my prayers.

 

Kaye, your parents sound like a very special couple and I admire them for still giving it their best at doing some dancing. I can see why they'd make you proud of them. Gosh, I'd love to see your mom's outfits. I bet she has quite a collection. That's so sweet about what you said about Taylorville. :o It's special to me because it's where I'm from and my dad still lives there. It's just a little south/east of Springfield and further North of Mt. Vernon and Salem than I first thought. Who are your cousins that live in Peoria, I might know the name?

 

GCurry, your weather sounds really nice and we've been bouncing around from the 80's to the 50's since early April. Your tropical garden sounds really pretty! We will be cruising out of Galveston next February, but we won't be there long enough to do any site seeing.:(

 

Critterchick, welcome and please join in the fun! I hope that you'll find something that suits you better for partners and it's a bummer that the other one didn't work out. Your repo sounds wonderful and I'm glad to hear that you got out there and danced. I think I would feel too intimidated if we were the only ones out there. You go girl!;)

 

De (still at office and need to get back to work)

[GCurry]

Texancruzer our sympathy for your loss, & welcome back. She sure left a young family as well, how sad.

Keep taking the basic, and as you get better make them teach you new steps. The footwork is most important, when you can do it without thinking, in rhythm, the rest is easy.

 

Welcome critterchick, seems like I've run into you before. Our classes require couples, no singles, but, I can understand your frustration with that last session. We do dance with other partners at the club dances, but, here again, membership is usually for couples. Age plays a factor as well, you can imagine with a ballroom dance club, that the teenagers are 40 years old. So many ladies don't mind the ole geezer dancing with others, in fact, they encourage it!

 

RanDe, our weather is nice right now, but is slowly creeping up to tropical sauna, where it will stay for a long time. Which cruise out of Galveston? If you need information about our city, let us know. Fly into Hobby if possible, it is much much closer than Bush.

 

Kaye, San Antonio is the start of Southwest Texas, it just exceeded Detroit in size. It is the number one tourist destination in Texas (we are number two) it has the Alamo, Riverwalk, Sea World, Fiesta Texas, great golf. But only visit when it is cool, it was recently voted the sweatiest City in the US.

[RanDe]

GCurry, Enjoy your nice weather while it lasts. A tropical sauna does not sound comfortable to me, but we also get a lot of humidity in the Midwest. We are cruising on RCL and will be taking the Rhapsody on a western cruise beginning February 5th. We, unfortunately, are not flying.....ugh! It's around a 17 hour drive, so we'll be leaving early on Saturday morning to do most of the driving and then will stay somewhere close to Galveston on Saturday night, to finish up our trip there on Sunday. We are going with another couple and he is too "cheap" to fly and she is too scared to fly. ;)

 

De

[critterchick]

De, my attitude is that I'm never going to see my fellow passengers again, so if I stumble a few time on the dance floor it doesn't matter. I can usually blame it on turbulence, but this time I'm afraid it was the martinis.:D Last night I just kept disrupting the flow of class - the instructor kept trying to send me to the other side of the room from DH, and I finally just said, "I want to dance with HIM (pointing), OK?????" He left me alone after that.

 

GCurry, we both posted on another inquiry about ballroom dancing. Thanks for providing the link to this post!

[tropicalsunset]

Ijust found this thread... How awesome to meet all of you!!

 

My DH and I have been dancing for almost 2 years... we started at an adult ed class which was so overwhelming for me as they taught 5 dances in one class... :confused: :confused: -- so then we found a local private studio and have been taking private classes mostly... Our favorite dance is the East Coast Swing...but we love the latin dances also..

had to laugh when you spoke of the Twinkle as we still struggle with that and its many variations!! :rolleyes:

Last cruise the DJ on Galaxy played alot of music for the younger crowd but when DAve and I danced to a disco tune.. whenever he saw us come into the louge ... he would play several disco tunes.... !!!

 

We could often find a quieter lounge to dance in that wasn't as populated or find another corner of the main lounge to dance by ourselves unhindered.... My dance instructor said...."you can dance anywhere"!!! :D

 

next cruise will be the first time my two sons will see us dance.... maybe I can get them to take a dance class onboard!!

 

Lorraine

[GCurry]

Welcome Tropicalsunset, we do some East Coast swing, but not too many, I sweat too much. We have friends, however, that that and the Lindy step or hop are what they love. If we had to pick a favorite, I would say rumba.

BTW, how was dancing on the Galaxy (our next cruise) any information other than the disco?

 

I was just kidding with you critterchick, I remember that other thread, someone wanting to know which cruises had good dancing.

BTW, I was born in Santa Ana and served in the Corps, so I know you live in a nice neighborhood.

 

It's a beautiful morning in Southeast Texas, cool with a little dew. I'm looking out at the blooming Kings Mantle, Bleeding Heart, Blue Plumbego, Gold Star Esparanza etc etc asking to be fed.

[texancruzer]

Just want to thank everyone for your condolences & prayers. We were so worn out from past two days that we skipped our class last night. Unfortunatley we also found out that last night Corpus Christi actually had an event we would have otherwise liked to have attended. Seems someone put together the "1st annual Salsa & Merengue festival" Was held in our new venue - The American Bank Center. Beautiful new arena that Corpus sorely needed. Had open dancing for all & even a contest w/ prizes. Would have liked to gone to watch !!! Only $6.00 admission & had food, drinks, etc. Maybe next year.

GCURRY: My best friend from Jr. Hi on bought a house on canal in Galveston last year (she is a nurse in Houston). Has been buggin me to come up & help her decorate (my hobby) so am trying to plan a trip up in July. Used to visit there way back when I lived in Houston (1st marriage). Then visited pre-cruise in Nov. 2003 but was quick trip. Changed alot !! But I like the feel of Galveston.

KAYE: dh plays golf w/his dad every sat. - I keep saying I am going to take lessons as would be one more thing dh & I could do together. Need to do that! Also: go visit cousin in San Antonio - you will love it. DH & I go up that way EVERY chance we get. Hill country of Texas starts around there and it is truly GODS COUNTRY! Welcome new people.....this is a great thread !!!!

[tropicalsunset]

GCurry: we were on the Galaxy in October '04 with friends doing a b2b... our friends were not dancers... the Stratosphere Lounge at night was a young DJ and catered to the younger set... we could often do an EC Swing, Hustle and maybe a Cha CHa (Santana's "Smooth") - The best place was the Rendezvous Lounge earlier in the evenings where they had a singer and husband guitar player and could dance waltz, rhumba or a foxtrot... we did not go there as we were with our friends downstairs in the Martini Bar... but I went up a couple times to watch... There may have been a dance host or two...they did have some dance classes onboard...but we did not attend.. I'm sure there will be changes when you are onboard. and if we really wanted to do more ballroom... I'm sure the dj would have accomodated in the earlier hours of the night before the younger set came into the lounge..

 

Texancruzer: sorry to hear of your loss.... My MIL was sick with cancer last fall and did not make it... it was hard to continue our dance classes during all this and our instructor was very understanding... we found it was good to go as once we got there and started dancing...it just felt

right and we didn't push ourselves too much...

I had a friend a couple years ago living in Houston who has since moved to FL... I visited her about 3 years ago and took her for a few days down to Galveston as she recovered from Breast Cancer Surgery... It was midweek in the fall and not real crowded.... we really enjoyed our time there!

On our Galaxy cruise we met a wonderful couple from Galveston and we hope to get together sometime... maybe we can meet up and go dancing if the time ever comes..

It looks like there is much more opportunity down there for the latin dances than up here...!!

 

We just started "Salsa" -- I sure hope I can get "up to speed"!! :D :D

[terri23]

LOL tropicalsunset, my DH is a reluctant dance partner but whenever "Smooth" is played, I know a cha-cha is a done deal!! It's the only sure dance bet with him :)

[Kaye from Chicagoland]

WOW! Welcome to all! Off my computer for a day and so many new friends to chitchat with!

 

I had a fight with my vacuum cleaner yesterday - we've had these fights before - this time the vacuum won and I have a big cut under my nose. It looks terrible! Hopefully it will look better before my next lesson - I need a little concealer help too!

 

De - My cousins in Peoria are Ron and Judy Zipfel - they have been with the Peoria school system for many years - so maybe you have heard of them?!?!?

 

Maybe we'll plan a cruise in the future out of Galveston - you guys got me wanting to visit San Antonio - never been - it sounds like a beautiful city.

 

More rain for Chicago later today - this is getting old!

Great big smiles to all! (soon I'll be sending HUGS!)

Kaye

[critterchick]

Kaye, your vacuum cleaner punched you in the nose???? Must be one of those high-tech models.:D One of the bigger wastes of money in our remodel was to get the whole house vacuum cleaner. Somebody (and it ain't moi) has to clean out the master canister every month. Blech.

[GCurry]

Thanks for the Galaxy information Tropicalsunset, yeah the lounge will see a lot of us. We do late seating so we usually dance a lot before dinner.

San Antonio is a must Kaye, it is one of the four unique cities in America. You knew, of course, that the other three are Boston, New Orleans, and San Francisco.

After working outside all morning with the yard and garden, we visited some friends and MSGCurry got the 2 Lft Ft dance club yearbooks put together.

We enjoyed a grilled evening and watched the Cole Porter Story, I think called It's Delovely. Beautiful music, but rather sad.

Interesting, for Smooth, we do a modern rock dance, box steps and cuddles with a kiss, and twirls, we'll have to try the cha cha with it.

A beautiful eary morning here in SE TX, me and the dog couldn't sleep, so we are up taking care of our friends.

Texancruzer, I've spent a fair amount of time in Corpus, Shining City by the Bay, and always enjoyed it. If you and your DH come to Galveston, we can supply local and dance information, and also, I hear the clubs stirring in the attic, golf.