Ballroom Dancing Gear

Dance costume can be just as important as the dance itself. The purpose of a costume in dance isn't just to dress up and look fancy but it is intended to accentuate the dancer's body to illuminate the intricate movements. Dance costume isn't just clothing to a dancer. It's also viewed as art and if selected appropriately, it can communicate the unspoken intentions of the dance and the dancers alike.

The modern world has become far more aware of the costumes for ballroom dancing with each new season of that popular dance reality television show. From what I can find though, there are no hard and fast rules for proper costume for each dance. Costumes should harmonize well with the music and the dance being performed and as long as they don't interfere with or restrict the movements of the dance, it's really up to the dancers themselves to define their costumes.



Soft and flowing waltz ball gown

Of course, the more romantic dances like the waltz and the foxtrot are typically displayed with the man in tails or a modern tuxedo while the lady is wearing a long flowing gown. This style of dress originates from back in the 18th century when ballroom dancing was only done by wealthy high society types who wore layers upon layers of formal garments while dancing. Thankfully it has evolved over time and become far more comfortable but is still intended to communicate affluence.


Dark and seductive tango dress

The Latin dances like the cha-cha, tango, mambo, rumba, samba, etc. are typically enhanced with skimpy sequined ensembles that show every spare inch of the physique possible. This is typically because the movements required are not easily accomplished under the excess fabric of a full length gown. Typically, the Latin dances are more sensual in nature too so of course the costume should reflect the mood and character of the dance. Short, flashy, and sexy should do the trick for the ladies.

This latin costume is on sale, can you believe it?

Shoes should be leather soled for ease of foot steps on the dance floor. Rubber soles should be avoided as they tend to stick to the dance floor and may not only interrupt the flow of the dance but they can also cause injury if you should trip or roll your ankle.

A typical ballroom practice shoe

A typical ballroom competition shoe

My personal favorite, typical swing dance shoes

Ballroom Dancing - The Waltz

Well here we are, in the second week of the month dedicated to ballroom dancing. I'm loving it!

Unfortunately, the week started a little slow. I wasn't feeling well on Tuesday or Wednesday so not only did I have to miss my first day back to French class, but I also had to reschedule our dance lesson at Arthur Murray. Sad.

I was feeling better yesterday though so Hubby and I joined the sea of steel coffins inching down the road toward our soon to be new neighborhood to attend our second of four group dance classes at Washington Dance Club. Traffic was horrendous but we eventually made it even if ridiculously late.

Our tardiness didn't seem to be much of a bother though because they spent the first few minutes reviewing what we had learned in class last week. We got there just in time to practice a bit of it before we started our new lesson of the week.

The Waltz

I love the waltz. It's just so romantic. If you want a dance to make you feel like a princess, the waltz is sure to deliver. Even after nearly drowning in the stress and tension of the day and still in my work clothes, I felt whisked away in the arms of my true love. Sort of like Beauty and the Beast, only Hubby is nothing like the Beast. Much less hair.

The waltz is a simple box step set to an 3 even counts. 1, 2, 3, slow, slow, slow.

Step forward on the left foot, step right with the right foot, pull left foot to meet the right, step back with the right foot, step left with the left foot, pull right foot to met the left. Rinse and repeat. See? Simple. All pictures represent the leader's foot steps. The follower gets to just follow them so when the leader steps forward with his left foot, the follower steps back with their right foot, etc

We also learned to do 1/4 turns to the left (leader's left, follower's right). This picture of the quarter turn is for the leader's steps.  

We also learned to travel the waltz so we learned to move it forward and back again. Step forward with the left, right with the right, pull the left foot into the right to step together. Then instead of back with the right foot like we did in the basic box step, we step forward again using the right foot, left with the left foot, and pull the right foot into the left to step together. This moves the dance forward (leader's forward, follower's backward). In order to move it back, you just do the same thing but the leader takes their first step back instead.

Ok then. Got it? No? Personally, I never really understood how people learned to dance by following the graphed foot steps so....how's about a video or two to demonstrate.

The best videos I could find to demonstrate what I learned do not allow me to embed so...you can simply click on each link to be redirected to view them.

How to Waltz - Basic Pattern
How to Waltz - Posture and Framing
How to Waltz - Swing and Sway
How to Waltz - Rise and Fall

Next week, I get to look forward to our next private lesson with Arthur Murray, a group lesson with Arthur Murray, and another group lesson at Washington Dance Club. Fun stuff.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Ballroom Dancing - Just the basics

One class down, and Hubby and I learned 5 dances. Amazed? So was I when the dance instructor informed us of this little factoid. Here's how it went.

Last night was our first ballroom dance lesson at Arthur Murray. They had us fill out a little paperwork to tell them why we want to learn to dance and what benefits we're interested in deriving from it. They also give you a list of dances they teach and ask you which ones you're interested in learning. We signed our life away and off we went with the instructor.

She asked us about our experience with ballroom dancing. Since we had taken a few classes with the Boeing Dance Club years ago, we had some basic experience, none of which either of us could remember. That dance club was awesome too, until we got kicked out. Neither of us work for Boeing so they decided to close it to anyone not employed at Boeing. That was a sad day.

Waltz
Once she got us on one of the 3 dance floors they have in the building, she started with the Waltz basic. In my opinion, the waltz is the most beautiful dance. I get the below image in my head when I think of the waltz. Deborah Kerr in The King and I. It wasn't the waltz they danced while she wore this dress though, I think it was the polka they danced. The polka is not pretty at all but I'm sure it would be fun and tiring.

Anyhoo, the waltz basic is just a simple box step. Here's a video to show you how the basic goes for a man. The woman does the same step but while the man steps forward, the woman steps back and vise versa so both people are moving together.

No matter how clumsy you may be, I think it's impossible to feel anything less than beautiful when you are doing this movement. How do I know? Well, last night I had to rush to class right after a session with my personal trainer. I was still sweating all through the dance lesson. Can't get much less beautiful feeling than that and I still felt pretty even doing just the basic in my husband's arms.

Rumba
The next basic she taught us was for the rumba. The rumba is known as the slow and sensual latin dance. The rumba basic goes like this:

I like Robbie and his red shoes. Our teacher didn't teach us all the body movement that he emphasizes in the video though. She just taught us the basic foot movements while dancing together. I feel robbed now after seeing how fabulous he is in the video. She did tell us something interesting that he didn't though. The rumba basic is very similar to the foxtrot basic. One difference between the two is that the rumba and most latin dances are intended to stay in one place on the dance floor while the foxtrot moves beautifully across the floor.

Foxtrot
The foxtrot was the next basic we learned. It's similar to the rumba in the quick-quick-slow, quick-quick-slow part of it. But as I mentioned above, the foxtrot can easily move across the floor. It is also faster and a tad more bouncy than the slow sensual rumba. Watch.

Hmmmm....now I'm thinking our teacher might have taught us something incorrectly because that basic was nothing like the rumba. Good thing I have another class at a different dance school tonight where I can ask questions of someone new.

I think I'll wrap this post up here and save the swing and the hustle for tomorrow.

Happy Dancing....

January 2012 - Ballroom Dancing

You may have guessed it from the lovely picture above or you may have already read my intentions in a previous post. Either way, I have decided to kick the new year off right with the beautiful drama of ballroom dancing. That will be my focus for the entire month. Ok, lets be real here. I can't focus on just one thing. I don't work like that. So, I will direct part of my attention to ballroom dancing while still balancing all the other things on my priority list.

Hubby and I have taken a couple classes before but it was years ago. We have often talked about doing it again but without any real resolve to make it happen. For Christmas, he decided to make it happen. Lucky me! One of my gifts from him was a gift certificate to Arthur Murray Dance Studios. He got us an introductory offer that includes 2 private lessons, 1 group lesson, and entrance to a dance where we can practice our moves.

I thought about it and realized that 3 short lessons weren't going to be enough to get a real taste of such an in depth and intricate activity as ballroom dancing. People spend years perfecting one dance and there are dozens that fall into the vast category. No, 3 little lessons were definitely not going to be enough, fabulous as it was of hubby to take the first step.

I did a bit of research and found another option that I think will work wonderfully. At Arthur Murray, we will get evaluated and be given specific advice for how the two of us can dance together in general while learning some of the basic steps and such. Then we will go to another dance school I found in Seattle called Washington Dance Club where we will learn to Waltz, Foxtrot, Swing, and Cha Cha.

We will not have enough time to perfect anything I'm sure but at least we'll get a taste of a few of the different dances so we can decide if it's something we want to continue to do together.

Below is my calendar of activities for January. You can also view all my activity calendars by clicking on the Activity Calendars tab above. I highly doubt I will be successful in doing every one of those activities every day but it's something.

January 28th is a winter dance FEST where we can put all of our hard work and lessons to the test on the dance floor. Looking forward to that!

Sunday guitar lessons are back
Tuesday French classes are back too
Yeehaw!

Happy New Year