Connecting Socially , Dance History , dance videos , leading and following , music for dance , teaching dance
Blues dancing has been around for decades in one form or another. It’s one of my favorite dances because it is so open to interpretation that it can look drastically different from one dancer to another. As long as the character of the dance remains intimate and, well, bluesy, you can trade on pretty much […]
Continue readingchildren dancing , dance videos , dancing in the streets
My dance studio is in Oakland and I live in Oakland. Our city gets a lot of bad press but we Oaklanders love our city. Yes, we have crime, on the streets and in our government, but we also have great food, great dancing, outstanding architecture, the Art Murmur, cultural diversity, and amazing kids. The […]
Continue readingabout LaurieAnn , dance videos , dancing animals
I met my dancing cow in a session with the fabulous hypnotherapist Christine Bartlett. I had just entered an airplane, stowed my luggage, and sat down. Sitting next to me was a six foot tall black and white Guernsey cow reading a newspaper. One of my father’s favorite movies being “Harvey” with Jimmy […]
Continue readingdance videos , dancing animals
Warning: another animal dance video. If you don’t like to see people dancing with animals, skip this one. This video did go viral, so you may have seen it already. Some animals really do have a sense of rhythm and actually choose to dance when motivated by music, just like humans. See https://www.stepsontoes.com/2013/04/319/. Sometimes the […]
Continue readingchildren dancing , dance videos , inspirational dancing
I know, I know, I promised no more Evian dance blogs, but they’re just so beautifully done! When a company features dance as the ultimate expression of joy, they deserve to by honored in a dance blog. This one isn’t as much fun as the dancing babies, but it’s still beautifully animated and a ton […]
Continue readingDance History , dance videos , dancing in the golden years , dancing in the streets , inspirational dancing
How fun to see my StepsOnToes dancing vision statement in action again. When you start looking for things, they sometimes start happening. I have a rare blood type so I’m constantly being called upon to give it up every other month or so, which I’m happy to do. Today the sound system was tuned […]
Continue readingI’ve mentioned before that one of the most challenging things about being a leader on the dance floor is remembering your repertoire. Unless you have a photographic memory, you probably don’t remember everything you’ve learned as you add more and more new steps. Advanced dancers tend to retire some of their moves to make room […]
Continue readingConnecting Socially , leading and following , same sex dancing
Leading and following are very different skills and most people are either natural leaders or natural followers. Not unlike the rest of life, you have about a 50/50 chance of falling into the category society has assigned to your gender. If you’re heterosexual, you won’t have much opportunity to dance if you choose the non-traditional […]
Continue readingConnecting Socially , leading and following , teaching dance
Back leading is a term for the habit of some follows to lead themselves through dance moves the leader has nothing to do with. If the leader has any skill, this is the kind of behavior that causes him to mark that follower off his list for future dances, or hire a dance teacher for […]
Continue readingabout LaurieAnn , Connecting Socially , dance videos , dancing in the streets
If you’ve been to my home page, you know that I have a dance vision of the future that has people dancing spontaneously in public places. Every once in awhile I see people embodying this idea in their own unique and creative way. Few people have more fun with the concept than the wonderful […]
Continue readingUnless you’re a dance DJ, you might say this is a no brainer. Of course everyone prefers live music to dance to. It’s not always the case, however. I’ve been to dances where the live music was either awful or just inappropriate for the dance. The floor was empty during the sets and packed for […]
Continue readingAfter writing a blog about not using air steps before you are proficient in dance, I was reminded of an exception to that rule when I came across a video of a first dance by a couple who had the good fortune to learn their first dance from my ever delightful and talented colleague Meeshi […]
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