teaching dance Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Steps on Toes Dance Lessons

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. […]

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 […]

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 […]

Go Viral Learning to Dance in a Year!

dance videos , dancing in the streets , inspirational dancing , Learning dance , performance dance

There is a great video going around about a young woman who learned to dance (really well) in just a year. There is also a website encouraging people to accomplish any dream by focusing on it for 100 days. If you go there, you’ll see lots of people taking a video of their progress on […]

Nothing New Under the Dance Sun!

Dance History , dance videos , inspirational dancing , Lindy Hop , performance dance , teaching dance

Stealing Dance Moves Creative dance has always been about stealing. Dancers get ideas from each other and make it their own. After you steal the idea, you change it to suit your own style and it no longer belongs to the dancer who inspired you. The First Lindy Hop Air Step Frankie Manning used […]

My Dance Story: Part III

about LaurieAnn , Dance History , dancing with physical challenges

Continued from previous post: We closed the collective because it was too hard to be politically correct and survive financially at the same time. I started offering workshops to other martial artists on how to teach physically disabled people. I didn’t really think at the time that I could make it as a dance teacher, […]

My Dance Story: Part II

about LaurieAnn , Dance History , teaching dance

Continued from previous post: People started asking us if we were doing some new state of the art disco partner dance and if we were teachers. That was the seed of an idea to start teaching dance. This was the time of a wonderful bay area phenomenon called the free university. Anyone could teach any […]

My Dance Story: Part One

about LaurieAnn , Dance History , dancing with physical challenges , leading and following

People frequently ask me how I got started in this business. Actually, there is a lot that lead up to it. I folk danced in grade school and square danced in high school, but I really didn’t start to dance socially until I was in college. Singularly unpopular in high school, I never went to […]

Dancing blind

about LaurieAnn , dance videos , dancing with physical challenges , inspirational dancing , leading and following , performance dance , social dancing , teaching dance , west coast swing

When my dance students are learning the skill of following, I often suggest they close their eyes. Closing your eyes takes away a lot of the urge to back lead, and it brings forward the senses you use to feel the lead. Even when social dancing, I often close my eyes because it’s relaxing and […]

Switching the Lead and Follow in Partner Dancing

about LaurieAnn , Connecting Socially , Dance History , dance videos , leading and following , Lindy Hop , same sex dancing , social dancing , teaching dance

Switching the Lead and Follow in Partner Dance When both partners know how to lead as well as follow, dancers can switch roles during a dance. This is truly the ideal solution for people who are worried about sexism in the roles of lead and follow, but not everyone wants to learn both parts. Yes, […]

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