2014 - Page 2 of 6 - Steps on Toes Dance Lessons

Why Do Dancers Like Flash Mobs So Much?

Connecting Socially , dance videos , dancing for joy , dancing in the streets , flash mob , lindy bomb , Lindy Hop , Outdoor Dancing , performance dance , social dancing

In this charming video a group of swing dancers gather around a street orchestra to perform a charleston routine. It’s a simple routine that repeats, they do it well, and they are enjoying themselves immensely. It’s a great choice for a flash mob because for swing dancers it wouldn’t take long to learn. They know […]

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 […]

Acknowledging Your Dance Partner

about LaurieAnn , Connecting Socially , dancing for joy , inspirational dancing , performance dance , social dancing

On my way to a dance last week in bumper to bumper traffic, I stopped to let a car change lanes in front of me. It was stuck in a left turn lane and evidently had been having considerable trouble getting anyone to let it in. As the car moved into my lane, a flurry […]

Dancing vs Clapping: It’s Better to Look Like an Idiot Than to Sound Like One

music for dance , rhythm

Thank Rocky Jones for this delightful cartoon. And I also thank my friend and fellow dancer Shala Marie for bringing it to my attention. This is the best explanation of clapping on the 2 and 4 I’ve ever seen. The info about the snare drum was news to me. Dancers for the most part […]

Give People a Reason to Dance

Connecting Socially , dancing for joy

This favorite media personality of mine uses the term “give the world a reason to dance” as a metaphor for expressing joy and having fun. Not only does he equate dance with joy, in and of itself a reason for me to like him, but he also shows us how to change the world so […]

Notes on my Non-Dancing Parents

about LaurieAnn

My father died this week at 91 so naturally my thoughts are with my parents. My mother died several years ago, and he’s the last of that generation in my family. Neither of my parents were dancers, so I didn’t get it from them, but my father’s brother and my mother’s sister were. And my […]

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 […]

The Complexities of Finger Snapping to Music

about LaurieAnn , Dance History , dance videos , music for dance , rhythm , social dancing

I’ve written previous posts on White Man’s Clapping Syndrome, but even if you can clap to the beat, do you know on which beat to clap? Jazz dancers clap on the upbeat I’ve heard it said that black people clap on the upbeat and white people clap on the downbeat. Or that jazz dancers of […]

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 […]

Fusion in Performance Dance

Classical Dance , Dance History , dance videos , fusion , Hip Hop , inspirational dancing , Lindy Hop , performance dance

I’ve written before about partner dancers combining styles, but performance dancers do it too. Some years ago I spent 8 Julys in Sweden studying the European partner jazz dance Boogie Woogie My favorite teacher, Christer Isberg, was the best all around dancer I’d ever seen. It seemed he could do anything. His background included classical […]

Banning Same Sex Partners in Competitive Ballroom Dance

about LaurieAnn , competitive dance , Dance History , leading and following , same sex dancing

I’m not a fan of competitive dance, particularly Ballroom, but I have no objection to it’s existence. Many people love it and more power to them. When I write about it, it’s because something in that world has captured my attention. Same sex dancers still strike fear into some I’m having a hard time […]

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Yearly Archives: 2014