teaching dance Archives - Page 2 of 4 - Steps on Toes Dance Lessons

Dancing Ambassadors

about LaurieAnn , Connecting Socially , inspirational dancing , Learning dance , Lindy Hop , Outdoor Dancing , social dancing , teaching dance

I didn’t get Fridays dance blog written because I spent all weekend at a very inspiring conference for Airbnb hosts, of which I am one. For those of you unfamiliar with the phenomenon, Airbnb is a company that matches travelers with people who rent out places to stay. Dance Lessons for Internationals Tourists Hobnobbing […]

What is Your Learning Style in Dance Class?

about LaurieAnn , Learning dance , teaching dance

If you know how you learn, you’ll know what kind of dance teacher can teach you. Some teachers do know about learning styles, but most teach the way they learn, so the easiest way to pick a teacher is to observe until you find one who teaches the way you learn. If you know your […]

Why Do Dance Teachers Take Dance Lessons?

about LaurieAnn , Brazilian Samba , dancing for joy , inspirational dancing , Learning dance , performance dance , rhythm , teaching dance

My last two posts were about two amazing dance teachers who are influencing me now. More than one person has asked me, since I’ve been teaching for more than three decades, am I still taking lessons. There are so many aspects to that question that I thought I’d address some of them here. Dance […]

Do Justice to the Culture Whose Dance You Are Borrowing Part II

inspirational dancing , Learning dance , music for dance , performance dance , rhythm , teaching dance

Last week I wrote about my Samba teacher Jacqui Barnes. Today I’ll introduce you to my latin rhythms teacher, Yismari Ramos. Like Jacqui, Yismari is passionate about the music of her culture (Cuban) and the the way the dance feels. Her classes consist of complicated choreography that incompasses the various rhythms of Cuban dance. […]

Do Justice to the Culture Whose Dance You Are Borrowing

about LaurieAnn , Brazilian Samba , dancing for joy , dancing in the streets , inspirational dancing , Learning dance , Miscellaneous , music for dance , performance dance , rhythm , teaching dance

Dance teachers in my present I wrote a post a while ago about dance teachers in my past who influenced me. I’d like to write now about teachers who are influencing me now. Yes, dance teachers do still study. It never ends! Brazilian Samba I am lucky enough to be able to study Brazilian […]

Dance Like Your Partner is Injured

about LaurieAnn , Connecting Socially , leading and following , Learning dance , social dancing , teaching dance

An easy way to improve your lead The other day a young man asked me to dance. I could tell immediately that he was either a beginner or had never learned to lead because he was a yanker. I have an old shoulder injury that I need to protect, so I told him to […]

Music for Dance: When Fast is Slow and Slow is Fast

about LaurieAnn , Connecting Socially , Learning dance , music for dance , rhythm , teaching dance

I teach a lot of first dance lessons for weddings. Usually my students have a song picked out or they have several they are considering. Often they’ll say something like this to me: “I don’t know if this will work. It’s kind of fast.” “The music changes part way through. It’s slow at the […]

What Throws Dance Students Off Their Game?

about LaurieAnn , Learning dance , performance dance , teaching dance , wedding dance

In a perfect world, dance lessons would be ten minutes long. You’d go home and practice and then come back to learn the next step after you’ve mastered what came first. In the real world, you work on the first thing until you’re doing it right most of the time and understand it well enough […]

When Is It OK to Say No to a Request for a Dance?

about LaurieAnn , Connecting Socially , leading and following , Learning dance , social dancing , teaching dance

At a recent outdoor dance event I was approached by a couple wanting to know if this event was open to anyone. I chatted with them briefly and after learning that they didn’t know anything about dance, told them that there would be a lesson in about half an hour. Then they asked if I would […]

Why Boys Should Dance

Connecting Socially , Learning dance , performance dance , social dancing , sport dancing , teaching dance

I remember teaching a group of teenaged Lindy dancers who were sent to me from another dance teacher. They were advanced dancers who had outgrown their first teacher. When I asked for a follower with whom to demonstrate a new move, one of the boys volunteered. They had all learned to dance both parts and […]

Dancing with Strangers: a Way to Intimacy

about LaurieAnn , Connecting Socially , inspirational dancing , leading and following , social dancing , teaching dance

Intimacy without dance I was at a conference a few weeks ago run by Bill Baron in which I participated in a very interesting process. We split into groups of 5. We each commented on whatever our intuitive hits were about each other. We learned a lot by what we heard each other say as […]

Rhythm: Our Birthright

about LaurieAnn , children dancing , dance videos , Lindy Hop , music for dance , rhythm , teaching dance

I’ve shown this video in a previous blog, but It so perfectly illustrates my point that just have to show it again: [embedplusvideo height=”388″ width=”640″ editlink=”http://bit.ly/Ibg9gM” standard=”http://www.youtube.com/v/to7uIG8KYhg?fs=1″ vars=”ytid=to7uIG8KYhg&width=640&height=388&start=&stop=&rs=w&hd=0&autoplay=0&react=1&chapters=&notes=” id=”ep5172″ /] Rhythm and Dance are our Birthright I believe that human beings are born with an innate sense of rhythm. I believe that as we […]

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Category Archives for "teaching dance"