Salsa!

After a good 12 months away from salsa, I decided to have a second crack of the salsa whip! I had a good 12 months at it previously but found it got monotonous and fell out of love with it, whilst I was learning step, I wasn't retaining them too well, which the normal salsa practice of partner swapping doesn't help. I also found at 27 I was one of the youngest at the lessons and a lack of young partners also affected my attitude towards it.

However, on Friday night, complete with a new salsa partner, we took off to Copacabana in Manchester. Having never danced salsa together before, and both having a considerable time away from dancing salsa, we took a basic lesson which was actually very good as the teacher really focussed on foot and weight technique, which I've never experienced at the start before. He also only went through the very basic salsa steps, which I'd never covered particularly thoroughly before either.

Much to my surprise I really enjoyed it! It does help having a partner who is close in age though and ability, oh who can remember steps very quickly too! That always lets me down with dancing, remembering steps quickly. I tend to get the com,plex ones but get baffled by simple ones.

I'm now hoping that we will be able to salsa together regularly as we got a comment from the teacher about our good movement ... yes it caused the odd giggle!! I am going to look for a salsa class where you don't have to switch partners as I find it much better to learn with the same one until you have a lot of experience (and so does she). Many people prefer swapping partners at salsa, because if one of the couple gets it they may be able to help the other, however after having the same partner for ballroom and latin for over 3 years, I am rather used to not changing and like it that way!

I think this time round I may be able to reach my potential at salsa, which never happened before, admittedly because I lacked a lot of confidence at it, but learning simple steps from the beginning and with a much more suitable partner good salsa things could happen!

Strictly Come Dancing Lineup

It's a couple of days since the lineup for the new series of Strictly Come Dancing was released, and once again it seems full of face I know but few names I recognise! Maybe I don't keep up with the world of celebrity enough?? Again there's the mix of sports stars, soap stars and assorted others, and once again they have an awful lot to live up to.

The standard of dancing has risen throughout all the series' as the public demand more and the professionals become more competitive. However with 3 new lady pros and one or 2 format changes we will see what happens with the standard. Each year it improves and the dancers get better, dancing more complex routines but you wonder if it has to peak sometime, or if it has.

Very few celebrities start off by looking at all like dancers then the surprise comes when they start getting very good at dancing, a few weeks in. I am looking forward to seeing their 1st tentative steps, and am currently wondering who he ones to watch will be. I have to say that without seeing any dancing I would guess at Joe Calzaghe and Jade Johnson to be 2 strong ones, due to their competitive nature and excellent partners. Having seen Brian and Kristina dance live, it will be exciting to see what she can come up with for Joe. While Jade is dancing with Ian Waite, and does anyone remember how far he went last time he had an athlete. Even that may not have been far enough! Ian and Denise Lewis were something else on most dances. Only 3 weeks until the 1st show. We will see how they all go. Can't wait!

Ballroom Dancing at the Muni

What:	Ballroom Dancing
When:	Saturday, August 22, 2009 8:00 PM to Sunday, August 23, 2009 12:00 AM
Where:	Colne Municipal Hall Albert Road Colne, Lancashire BB8 0BP   UK

We will be dancing at the monthly ballroom dancing night on Saturday. These nights include ballroom dancing, latin dancing and sequence dancing. There’s always a friendly and relaxed atmosphere at these popular dance events. You tend to find you get dancers of all ages from children right up to grand parents attending, all at different level but all who love dance.

Being so friendly, no-one is afraid to get up on the dance floor either and join in. With some of the sequence and social dances you are encourage to join in, as there are a number that 1st timers could quite easily pick up. There is also free parking on a decent sized car park round the back of the Colne Muni which is really handy with a lack of on-street parking. You don’t always want to have to walk too far after a few hours of dancing!

This is one of a few regular ballroom dance nights that happen in Lancashire and I will post details of others when I get them. There is a dance night in Lower Darwen every fortnight on a Saturday that we need to try yet. But it’ll probably be a few weeks off until we make it to that dance.

Rumba Video from Evening of Dance

I have uploaded a rumba demo video from the Evening of Dance with James & Ola Jordan. This is a beautiful routine, danced to Fields of Gold. Click the link to watch this Rumba. It is a great demonstration of the “Dance of Love”, and possibly my favourite of all the 9 latin and ballroom dances that I dance. My favourite dance does vary though and it usually depends on what is going well!! But at the moment I am really loving and feeling the rumba!

More Strictly Come Dancing News!

Wow, the producers are really going to town and ringing in the changes to Strictly Come Dancing this year. Not only have a judge and pro gone, to be replaced, they are now dropping the Sunday night show and extending Saturday night. The BBC News Article is online now. Only time will tell how successful these changes are. The BBC are citing the unpopularity of the Sunday show, but for some of us it was light relief for a boring day, and allowed some extra pro demos and dances you might not otherwise have seen. It’s a bit sad really, but we’ll see how extended Saturday night’s show gets!

Evening of Dance

We attended the Evening of Dance at Blackpool Tower on Friday night. These are great nights with a combination of ballroom dancing, latin dancing, sequence dancing, some fun dances and demonstrations from youth formation teams and professional ballroom and latin dancers. Friday night was the turn of James and Ola Jordan from Strictly Come Dancing. As I put in my previous Evening of Dance post, James and Ola are latin dance specialists, and they didn’t disappoint! They performed a Samba, Rumba, Paso Doble and Cha Cha. I have posted a video of their Samba routine. I will post more videos shortly, as seeing is believing. They take latin dances and apply their own unique style to them, which I have to say, I do like, as did the rest of the audience. There was plenty of opportunity for us to practice our ballroom dances and latin dances, with our Rumba probably turning out best on what is a very demanding floor. We have agreed that we need to spend more regular time there to get used to the floor, which is very hard and tightly sprung compared to what we are used to. However many people believe it is the best floor in the World. I have no doubt that is is one of the most magnificent ballrooms.

Back to the Ballroom

After having a week off from dancing, Thursday was our 1st night back and it felt good to be on the dancefloor! A lot of work on Foxtrot was done by all! It’s rather a nice routine though, if, as with all good Foxtrots, rather tricky. I was also pleased to have remembered the top line style for a move in Quickstep, called barrels. Now I need to get the footwork back and the move should be ready for perfecting! I will try and post a video at some point as trying to describe the step is very tricky.

All the improvements I had made to my rumba style were still there too. I think more of the same is needed to squeeze a bit more out of my hips, then I need to somehow train my arms to become fluid! Easier said than done. I have tried several times, each no less self conscious than the last. I was intending to post this yesterday but had to leave for Blackpool.

Wedding Dance

Although this isn’t anything like ballroom dancing or latin dancing, it is all about fun! Dancing should always be fun and if you can do something special for your first dance at your wedding then everyone will smile!

Please watch this & pass it on, the happy couple having fun in their first dance. Please also categorise it under wedding dance.

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Strictly Come Dancing Shocker

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It has been reported today that the BBC have sacked Karen Hardy from Strictly Come Dancing. This would seemingly be a blow to the show and to Karen, after she came out of retirement to dance again on the show. The series she won with Mark Ramprakash in 2006 showed her true ability, despite being the most senior member of the professionals. She has shown us in show dances too what a great dancer she is, more than matching many of the younger dancers.

After replacing Arlene Phillips, albeit with the very talented Alesha Dixon, the BBC have made yet another odd move in replacing the old with the new but are we really going to get the choreography insight and comments like “I just want raw sex” from Alesha. She can dance, yes, but is replacing someone with many years experience really the right move when dancing is something that is benefitted so much by experience. Only time will tell I suppose, but the replacement dancer will certainly have some very big, adept shoes to fill!" 

Evening of Dance

What:	Evening of Dance
When:	Friday, August 7, 2009 7:00 PM to Saturday, August 8, 2009 12:00 AM
Where:	Blackpool Tower Ballroom Promenade Blackpool, Lancashire FY1 4BJ   United Kingdom

We will be attending the Evening of Dance on Friday 7th August.

It will be exciting to see James & Ola Jordan for the first time at the Tower. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the names, they dance on Strictly Come Dancing, and specialise in latin dancing, with extremely sensual rumbas. These nights tend to be great as there is a mixture of dances from the professionals, along with dances from some of the best junior formation teams in the country, and the rest of us get to take to what is arguably the best dancefloor in the World too. There is certainly a magic atmosphere and buzz on the floor and always some great dancers in attendance. It is usually a pretty well packed night with little space on the dancefloor, despite its huge size, but it just teaches what is commonly known as floorcraft, i.e. learning to avoid other couples!

Photos from the Evening of Dance will follow.

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You will be treated to regular updates including discussions about classes and steps, which will hopefully be useful and/or inspirational!

Ballroom and Latin Dancing Intro

The Ballroom and Latin Dancing blog is the view of dancing from an amateur!

I have been doing ballroom and latin dancing for 4 years now, taking exams through UKA. My partner and I like to help beginners along the way too, as it is a very daunting experience dancing for the first time, especially if there are more advanced dancers in your class! I have found however that dancing classes generally have friendly people in them that understand that starting to learn dancing is a tricky step to take. Ballroom and latin dancing are particularly so as they are structured forms of dancing, I.e. each one has certain set moves that you will learn, and the timing is strict.

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