dancing in the golden years , social dancing
The Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City recently completed a 21 year study of seniors, to measure the effects of various activities on brain activity. It was funded by the National Institute on Aging, and published in the New England Journal of Medicine. They studied a lot of different physical activities […]
Continue readingabout LaurieAnn , Connecting Socially , leading and following , same sex dancing , teaching dance
A New Year’s Eve dance included a brief dance lesson for people who didn’t know how to do a basic waltz step. The instructor kept making a big deal about how the men should be leading even though he gave no instruction in how to lead, or follow for that matter. “Who’s the boss on […]
Continue readingabout LaurieAnn , Connecting Socially , cutting in , dance videos , inspirational dancing , leading and following , Lindy Hop , performance dance , same sex dancing , social dancing , teaching dance , west coast swing
The wonderful video at the end of this post from 1995 inspired me to write about these dancers because they were both a huge influence in my early dancing years. Sylvia Sykes was my teacher for the first six years I studied Lindy Hop and she, along with her partner Jonathan Bixby, also introduced […]
Continue readingConnecting Socially , dancing in the golden years , dancing with physical challenges , inspirational dancing , social dancing , teaching dance
Now that you’ve read about Jean Veloz and other inspirational dancers who are still dancing in the final years of their lives, I’d like to take a look at how most dancers deal with the aging process. I addressed this earlier in Nov 12 post about the great tap dancer Fayard Nicolas When Aging […]
Continue readingcutting in , Dance History , dance videos , dancing in the golden years , inspirational dancing , Lindy Hop , social dancing
Back to my theme of older dancers who inspire us with their perpetual youth (I know they’re not the norm, but they sure are fun to read about!) I have to talk about one of my personal favorites, Jean Veloz. Jean was a popular example of the smooth lindy style popularized by dancers like Dean […]
Continue readingcompetitive dance , Dance History , dance videos , dancing in the golden years , dancing with physical challenges , gymnastics , inspirational dancing , performance dance , pole dance
Pole dancing is a popular phenomenon on the exercise dance scene. You can take classes at any fitness level in studios like the one in the photo in the bay area where I live. Formerly a style of dance relegated to sleazy strip joints, it has become a popular fitness dance fad. Aimed […]
Continue readingdance videos , dancing animals , rhythm
Dancing in infancy, these babies demonstrate human rhythm as nature intended. [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=¬es=” id=”ep5108″ /] I’ve blogged in the past about animals, like cockatoos, that have a real sense of rhythm, and inherent in that concept is the supposition that it is also […]
Continue readingConnecting Socially , dance videos , dancing in the streets , sport dancing
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
Continue readingabout LaurieAnn , Connecting Socially , social dancing , teaching dance
I specialize in working with people for whom learning to dance is a huge challenge. We all have things we do easily and things that are particularly difficult. Especially when we are challenged by that which we see others do with ease, it’s tempting to focus on what we have yet to master and fail […]
Continue readingdance videos , inspirational dancing , leading and following , performance dance , social dancing
Well, if it’s a good dancer we’re talking about, almost everyone. For many people the obvious answer is well, duh, what does weight have to do with dance skill? But for a lot of people there is a huge prejudice against even a few extra pounds on a dancer. Even today where fat people are hardly […]
Continue readingDance History , dance videos , social dancing
British dancers not doubt get a kick out of the fact that what is slang for a four letter activity to them is the name of a dance to us. Three dances to be specific: Collegiate Shag, St Louis Shag, and Carolina Shag. The first two are more closely related to each other but […]
Continue readingConnecting Socially , cutting in , leading and following
Stealing is the art of slipping gracefully into someone else’s dance and stealing their partner. Ideally, you do this so artfully that the stollen partner hardly knows how it happened and the former partner can’t figure out why they are suddenly alone. It’s a version of cutting in, but more playful and requires considerable […]
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