A NEW VENTURE!!!

As many of you know, I am always keeping busy.. Well here I go again. Elizabeth and I have been asked to so a seminar on hair and makeup for competitions. Our first seminar will be at Vicki’s Ballroom in Seminole, FL.  We will be addressing the entire package before you get on the floor, In addition, we will be discussing what the judges are looking for, hair, nails, makeup, styling. Also to be covered is how do you remove the products from your hair and face! Preparing for beauty is a lot of fun.

This seminar will be available to studios all over the country.

This will be awesome!!

It was so great to go out dancing tonight. I have not done that in quite a while. Thursday night has been the night for ballroom dancers to play at the Ritz Carlton in Sarasota. Everyone is so friendly and out to have a good time. After a day of coaching and teaching my favorite couple, it was nice to just relax, have a drink and do a couple of dances. My couple are trying to fix me up with a boyfriend. They asked me what I would be looking for. I wondered if I really wanted someone that is a dancer. Do they really have to know how to dance? Or could they just have a sense of rhythm? I had a couple of really great west coast swings with Bob. It was really nice. Then I thought, maybe I do need someone that know how to dance. Mmmm. Tall, good looking, smells good, non-smoker and knows how to dance. That would work. I have always believed that someone that has no interest in dancing has something wrong with them. so, why would I want to be with that person. I guess the decision is made they have to dance. Or at least like dancing. One can always lern how.  Why is it that most women love dancing and so many men don’t? Maybe the do, but are afraid to fail at the learning of it. Shame. We need a few good men that know how to dance.

It is that time of year when dancers from all over the world converge on Orlando, Florida. The level of dance is excellent and the energy is high. The United States Dancesport Championships is a week-long event that involves dancers, judges, vendors, spectators and others from all over the world.

The glamour and glitz is not to be rivalled. In one room you find dancer’s practicing in costume, in sweats; with or without their partners; with or without their coaches. The room is abuzz with adrenaline. The DJ plays a variety of music according to the published style of dance being practiced. There is a rehearsal/music schedule that follows the sequence of events during the competition so that dancers can get prepared ahead of time. In another room there is wall to wall rhinestones. Dance dresses, dance shoes, hair gizmos, rhinestone accessories, men’s dance wear, evening wear, makeup, sports drinks, all types of stuff to enhance the dance experience. The main ballroom is huge. Bright lights, colored lights, backdrops and the dance floor. You enter the room even when it is empty and you can feel the excitement of the dancers. The large dance floor is the focal element. At the head of the floor is the dais where the Master of Ceremonies will take his place and conduct the event. Around the floor are tables, chairs, risers and the cordoned off VIP section. There is a judges’s seating area, where we watch and wait for our turn to take the floor and make decisions.

September. A solid week of drama, fun, excitement and entertainment. I will be blogging as often as I can to keep you informed. Who knows maybe you might be on that floor next year. Yes, you can. It is a great place to be.

I have been watching a lot of dancing lately. Judgine and cdoing critiques of peoples dancing is quite a lot of fun. I thoroughly enjoy watching their growth and enjoyment of their dancing. I find it hard to believe that a room full of such diverse people can share such amazing camaderie. It is truly a joy to be part of such a world as ballroom dancing. Of course, I would rather be dancing myself. I do get to do that when I go out to a club, a tango party or a west coast swing party. I always look forward to the dinner/dance at competitions and definitely the after party. The physical benefits go without say, but, there is also the emotional uplift. Partner dancing. Salsa, swing, waltz, foxtrot, hustle, tango, rumba, cha cha. Whatever the dance - there is always extreme fun and enjoyment while exercising. Truly a great way to be.

Ballroom dancing is notably one of the easiest ways to entice a woman into the arms of a man. Ask a woman to dance and a smile appears as she willingly allows herself to be whisked off to the dance floor. There tends to be a slight problem. Most men do not know how to dance. By dance I do mean the popular rhythms played at most clubs in town such as swing, cha cha, salsa, merengue, hustle, rumba.
In the clubs there are many women dancing with each other as the men stand around drinking and watching. There tend to be a couple of guys who know how to dance and so are more popular with the women regardless of their other shortcomings. The ability to dance outshines all their other flaws. The gentlemen watching on the sidelines are often goodlooking, physically fit, well-dressed, smell good and gainfully employed. Problem is they have no idea how to dance. This is a major flaw that makes them less attractive to the women.
The sad thing is that correcting this problem is very simple. All that is required are a few (okay a lot) of dance lessons. Men it would be wonderful if men would recognize the need for this necessary skill. There is nothing to be afraid of; it is not too difficult and it is a lot of fun with tremendous physical and emotional benefits.
While learning to dance one also learns social etiquette, improved personal hygiene (bad breath and body odor does not go well with dancing), to name a couple of benefits. Ballroom dancing is one of the most romantic things that a couple can do. Come on fellas “learn to dance” it is a lot of fun and can be quite the macho thing to do.

I developed my slogan to be “Two left feet? I have your right” because I have met so many people that fee that they are too bad at dancing to take lessons. This is so amazing to me that people have forgotten the purpose of school. The reason for learning. Even if we already know something, anything we will always need to learn and study more. The fact that we cannot dance is exactly the reason to take lessons. That is why there are dance lessons and instructors.

So, my point is that it is never too late to learn. I was at a west coast swing class tonight helping out my friend Bobby Caudill. I met someone after the class that always wanted to learn but seemed reluctant to take the class. I didn’t quite understand our conversation as I strongly believe that everyone should be taking dance lessons. The best professionals in the world take lessons to improve their craft. They might be competitors striving to be faster, stronger, more clever than their counterparts. They might be instructors looking for better ways to impart their knowledge. No matter what your level of dance from nonexistent to brilliant there will always be more to learn. Find that class, that studio. Learn to dance, and as this gentleman said to me he dances to have fun and to seduce the ladies. Of course, the better his dancing and his other essential skills the better his chances. Ladies do like men that are gentlemen and good dancers.

What is this obsession with obscenely loud music. At some ballroom dance competitions, concerts, nightclubs, dance venues, bars, even dance studios the volume is oftimes incredibly loud. I went to a wonderful jazz club last night. The music was terrific but I though the volume was a tad too loud. I would definitely return there. Maybe on a more crowded night it might not be too bad. The Cork on St. Armands Circle - looked and smelled so good.

My friend and I decided to check out the new latin club on Fruitville Road. We paid our admission and entered the club. The din of the band was so outrageously loud that it bounced us right back out the door. Wow! The last time I heard something that loud was at a Dave Matthews concert at the Ampitheatre in Tampa. At Hillary Duff’s concert at the St. Pete Times Forum, her sound engineers wore earplugs and parents were holding their hands over their children’s ears. My daughter said she could not hear the singer and perfered her CD’s. How do you adjust sound when you are wearing ear plugs? But I digress. Back at the club on Fruitville, we got a refund and left. Needless to say I will not be returning. I like my hearing. Really I do.

Another friend of mine is a DJ. He told me that he does not like the loud volume either. I informed him that I usually carry earplugs with me whenenver I go out. He thought that was a great idea and decided to get himself professional earplugs. I asked him why he didn’t just turn the music down. Is that a profound question? What’s wrong to a little less volume? Sometimes it is so loud that the sound actually distorts. I know many people love it loud, but just as many hate it. Majority of people just tolerate it and say nothing. Some say nothing a leave, some say nothing and stay, some (a very few) will say something and leave. That’s me folks.

I love great music and I love to go dancing. Unfortunately, there is so little respect for the artistry of the music or for the health of our eardrums. Many years ago bands used to use sound engineers to balance the sound of the band. Nowadays they just make it LOUD. Am I alone with this? Does anyone agree with me? Are we destined to be a deaf society?

With so many places to go dancing in Sarasota maybe the volume will be a deciding factor in where to go. It will certainly be a criteria on my list.

Hi Everyone. My tango party page has been updated with the new information. I did change my party time to start with the free lesson at 7pm instead of the earlier 6pm. This will give the experienced tango dancers who are dancing earlier in Nokomis a chance to keep dancing at my party after theirs. Like I said, fun and excitement for everyone. The beginners have their lesson, a brief spell to party and practice before the advanced dancers arrive. Then we all get together for a wonderful balance of all levels and styles of dance. Awesome. At my last party everyone was extremely helpful with creating a truly harmonious and comfortable atmosphere for the new to dance dancers. There was no “one dance snobbery”.  All the advanced dancers there were advanced dancers in multiple dances and encouraged and helped the newbies a lot.  A really special thank you to them.