The Best Investment for Your Dancing

So you have taken up dancing as your new interest. Having found the right dance studio - hopefully Dance Bethesda, purchased your package of private lessons or group classes and you are ready to trip the light fantastic.

But, Wait!!

Before you step out on the floor, have you invested in the most important piece of equipment to enjoy your dance experience and guarantee success?  Why the "Dance Shoe" of course.

Yes, your dance shoes are your most important investment you will make in your new hobby. Why? Well firstly, it will make you a better dancer and you will be able to feel the floor and not stick to it. Secondly, it protects you from injury as you will be using your toes, arches, heels and a lot more of your body than before. Lastly, a good dance shoe ensures the hours you spend on the dance floor are a pleasure and not a pain.

It's a great conversation topic to have with your teacher and other dancers, as we all have our own personal preferences when it comes to footwear.

There are many different styles of dance shoes for different types of dancers and dance styles. From the Latin Sandal to Ballroom Pumps to Smooth Shoes, each design serves a specific purpose.

For instance, you cannot do beautiful leg extensions in ballroom in a Latin Sandal, as you could lose a toe nail from extending backwards. Heel height is another example, while a higher heel makes you taller and legs longer to make a more attractive line. It also realigns your bodies balance point which takes time thru practice to adjust it and find center.

photo courtesy of Jordan Matter





Don't feel left out Gentlemen, there is also a range of shoes with many different textures and styles for you to make a fashion statement. From patent leather, suede, half leather and suede, there are many different styles to bring attention to your feet.

The dance shoe has come along way with many designers and manufacturers, the innovation of the dance sneaker was wonderful for those of us who suffer from bad feet or spend many hours on the dancer floor.

So which shoe is your you? Please join our conversation and tell us your experiences in finding the perfect fit.

Till next time

Michael Rye

LaBlast - Dance Like a Star

San Diego. July, 2012. IDEA World Fitness Convention.  I was a classical ballet instructor eager to expand my horizons in both the dance and fitness worlds.  This convention would provide many useful and enjoyable sessions, but my “raison d’être” for traveling thousands of miles was to take a half day workshop with none other than Dancing with the Stars pro/ballroom rock star, Louis Van Amstel.
His session was entitled “LaBlast – Dance like a Star!” and promised to make me “the star of my own ballroom”.  As a budding Ballroom Teacher’s College student at Dance Bethesda,
this was too good to resist.

The morning of the session I decided to arrive early so that I would get a good spot on the floor. As I walked into the room, I noticed a number of class participants seated on the floor chatting amongst themselves, and to my utter amazement, all on his lonesome stood Louis at the front, setting up his equipment and reviewing his notes.  Not only was he not being mobbed by adoring fans - not a soul was even talking to him!

I froze; excited by the possibility of meeting Louis in person but not wanting to bother him with my tongue tied ramblings.   After all, I was a complete ballroom newbie. What could I possibly say to him that he hadn’t heard a million times already?  So….I chickened out and sat down in a corner of the room and watched as someone else walked over to talk to him and get a picture taken.  Immediately I began kicking myself.  If I could face the examiners at American Ballet Theatre, or dance on stage with Bono in front of 20,000 people, surely I could at least introduce myself to Louis Van Amstel! 

I screwed up my courage and strode to the front of the room. I hovered patiently, palms sweating, until the other fan left and it was my turn.  Then Louis turned his gaze to me.  I was immediately struck by how unassuming and affable he is. He beams from ear to ear and seems genuinely pleased to be talking to you.

I can’t remember exactly what I said, but I introduced myself as a ballet instructor who was preparing for bronze level ballroom exams and I told him how much I was looking forward to his session.  To my amazement he seemed quite enthusiastic about my interest in ballroom and recommended I take the upcoming LaBlast teacher training in New York - the first teacher training on the east coast.

Following our conversation, I walked on rubbery legs (grinning from ear to ear) back to my spot in the room and the workshop began.   We learned the basics of LaBlast, and Louis led a number of interesting group discussions about dancing and teaching.  One of the highlights of this session for me was the discussion of dynamics and how to change our movement from light to heavy, our timing from sustained to sudden, our use of space from flexible to direct and our flow from free to bound.  The dynamics are divided into feminine and masculine qualities of movement. We practiced the LaBlast steps using these dynamics and trying to create a balance between the energies.

Louis is quite the showman with a raunchy sense of humor.  He expertly showed us how to highlight our feminine sensual zones. There are five, and he had us touch and/or emphasize each and every one of them in order to create more femininity in our movements. This resulted in a great deal of laughter and some blushing!

At the end of the workshop, Louis led us in a LaBlast master class. By this time, I was hooked.   Needless to say, I would graduate with the first class of east coast instructors one month later and I’ve been sharing my enthusiasm for this program ever since.  I am thrilled to be teaching LaBlast at Dance Bethesda starting in September. It’s a great way for experienced ballroom dancers to get a great cardiovascular workout in a style they already know and enjoy, and for newcomers to feel at ease dancing some basic ballroom steps in an easy to follow fitness format that works up a sweat! A “blast” is guaranteed for all!   See you in September!

Yours truly,

Jessica

 

A Saturday Afternoon Dance Class

As a 9 year old at the Les Rutherford Dance Academy in Yagoona, Sydney, Australia I was attending a Social Dance Class on a Saturday afternoon, when Les entered the ballroom. Now Les was a dramatical character of the Australian Dance World who always wore white shorts, white long walk socks and a Hawaiian shirt with lots of gold necklaces. He also was never without a glass of white wine in one hand and a cigarette in the other…the good old days.

So in comes Les and exclaims “Darlings, today you are going to learn about social dance etiquette!”  His lesson on that Saturday afternoon is still with me 43 years later.

“Gentlemen on one side of the room, Ladies please sit sweetly on the other side. Now Gentlemen, please walk across the room with a smile on your face, eye contact with the pretty thing you are about to ask to dance.”

“Introduce yourself first, my name is…… May I have this dance? As you extend your hand in a gentlemanly manner. Link arms with your partner and guide her onto the dance floor and take dance position.”

I can’t honestly remember how many times we practiced this ritual of asking a lady to dance, but its importance was not lost on me and to this day I think fondly of the dance teacher who taught me gentlemanly skills and elegance.

Another golden rule Les taught us that afternoon is to escort your partner back to her seat and not to abandon her in the middle of the floor, to run off to the refreshment table. One should walk her to her seat, wait for her to be seated and thank her for the dance and request another dance later in the program. A gentleman always asks for another dance, for you never know who you are dancing with, and your ugly duckling could develop into a beautiful swan.

 The Powder Room was another short and wonderful tale Les would like to remind us gentlemen of. That is ladies always go to the powder room in groups and love to dissect the attributes of the gentlemen they have just danced with. So your ability to get lots of dances could depend upon the grade the ladies give you while powdering their noses. Your manners, dancing ability, conversation, dress code and desirability as a future partner were all discussed.

The most important lesson that I did learn from Les, is to keep it simple when you first dance with a lady. As you don’t know what she may or may not know as far as steps. So during the first dance keep it simple and comfortable, that way you can talk to each other and find out what you have in common. The lady will appreciate you keeping it simple for the first dance and you can try flashier material next time around. There is nothing worse than a man, not being a gentleman, throwing a hundred steps at the lady trying to impress his knowledge with a poor lead and the lady being embarrassed by not being able to read it.

I was with Les Rutherford as a student from the age of 9 to 12 years and we met again 20 years later, when I was a Professional competitor. He installed into me, my love of adagio and theatre arts, the essence of styling and dancing the woman. It was great to be able to thank him for the skills he taught me, his reply was it was his privilege to pass on his love of dance and asked that I do the same.  I believe I have kept his request and passion alive to this day.

Thanks for reading and letting me share my fond memories.

Michael Rye

You Be The Judge!

We love to have a good 'ole time at Dance Bethesda and thought we would have some fun by creating the Dancing with The Stars (DWTS) ‘You Be the Judge’ Contest.  This contest gives students and non-students the opportunity to win weekly prizes for selecting the couple who tops the Leaderboard and the couple who gets the boot for the week.  The excitement is building up as this was the first elimination for the season of DWTS.  Contestants Zendaya Coleman and Kellie Pickler have proven that they are making a run for winning the Mirror

Ball Trophy this season on DWTS.  Zendaya performed an awesome Jive this week and Kellie Pickler really showed off her perfect lines in a modern Jazz routine.  Zendaya won Top of The Leaderboard by a slim margin this week.  Congratulations to our Judges Jessica Branch and Kendra Simon for making the right leaderboard selections .  Hoorah!  Unfortunately,  Dorothy Hamill had to withdraw from the competition due to physical injuries.  Both Victor Ortiz and Lisa Vanderpump received the lowest scores but were saved due to the withdrawal of Dorothy Hamill.  Many of our studio judges voted for D.L. Hughley to get the boot this week but his fans kept him in the game for another week.

So it’s on to week 3 and another chance for you to win prizes by voting for your choice to be on top of the leaderboard and the contestant to be eliminated from the competition this week.  You can email your votes to info@dancebethesda.com or vote via our Contest Page using our Facebook FAN Page. 

Good luck! 

Your DWTS correspondent,

Gizelle