Category: WCS General

I belong to a 3000+ discussing page on facebook and a question was posed: WCS is the land of the cool kid bullies…How much longer will this “High School Mentality” continue? The cool kids can do and say what ever/whenever they want until a “cooler kid” calls them out on it and everyone jumps on the band wagon. When will it be that what is right is right and what is wrong be wrong?

My friend Kelli Kilgore had the best answer that I had seen:

 

“There comes a time when we all need to just get over ourselves. Yeah I said it. From the top down and the bottom up. We need to take a step back and reset the situation. You have to take some ownership and realize that dancers aren’t just dancers but real people. Talent doesn’t automatically make you grow people skills overnight. Some people are terrible at interacting with others. Some people are just plain jerks. Some people are extremely shy and dance is how they’ve learned to interact with others. I had to ask myself if there is a lead whose ego is too big to fit through door and treats me like trash, why am I crying in a corner when they turn me down? Cause they are supposedly so “awesome”? Screw that! There are plenty of awesome people in the room and they don’t need the most points or notoriety for me to enjoy dancing with them. I learned to seek out great dancers and if they are rude and mean, walk away head held high and move on to the next one. Also rejecting a dance and being a jerk aren’t the same thing. That some no’s aren’t as mean as we make them. I am constantly putting myself in check and resetting my expectations and giving people second and third chances to change my opinion of them. But I also have this pie in the sky mentality that there is good in everyone and I make it my mission to seek that good out. I’m not saying you have to go that far LOL that’s my own way of navigating through life in general.”

What a refreshing outlook!

Friday  

$10

Lesson 7:30-8:15 

Dance 8:15-?

DNE School of Dance

78 Princeton St. Chelmsford, Ma

Sunday Night 

$10

6-6:45 2-Step lesson With Donna Shea

6:45-7:30pm WCS With Donna Shea

7:30-? California Mixer 

Longfellow’s Club JoEllen

524 Minuteman Dr off of Boston Post RD

(Rt 20) Wayland, MA

Leadership is the manipulation of energy. 

Following is the embodiment of energy.

Connection is the tie that binds the two together.

Mr. Jonathan

www.MrJonathanIsMyDJ.com

603 475 1391  

Dance on! 

Last week I counseled everyone on the importance of owning your own dancing…Taking the blame onto your own shoulders…With no more excuses. This week its time for me to take a big spoonful of my own medicine!

Last week, as you know, I taught, DJed, and performed for NHABDA (New Hampshire Amateur Ballroom Dance Association) and my friend Jeff filmed it so I could use the video for some shameless self promotion this week. While editing the video I noticed something about my dancing that shocked me…I can’t seem to take my eyes off of the feet of my partner during the West Coast Swing portion of the video! 

What the hell is wrong with me? While she (Sheila) is flirting with the audience and attempting to look me in the eye, I am staring at her toe nails and making eyes at her dance sandals. 

Now, most of the time I love to watch my self dance, each time I watch this video I am more and more horrified at how lousy my posture is. If it wasn’t for last week’s email I would not have even put it on YouTube. As I say during class, we are all in this together…Learning, pushing, and pulling each other toward the never ending goal of being better dancers. So, could someone please smack me on the back of the head every time you see me lock my gaze onto another dancer’s feet…PLEASE?!

What is happening this weekend:
 

Friday  

$10

Lesson 7:30-8:15 

Dance 8:15-?

DNE School of Dance

78 Princeton St. Chelmsford, Ma

Sunday Night 

$10

6-6:45 2-Step lesson With Mr. Jonathan

6:45-7:30pm WCS With Mr. Jonathan

7:30-? California Mixer 

Longfellow’s Club JoEllen

524 Minuteman Dr off of Boston Post RD

(Rt 20) Wayland, MA

Leadership is the manipulation of energy. 

Following is the embodiment of energy.

Connection is the tie that binds the two together.

Mr. Jonathan

www.MrJonathanIsMyDJ.com

603 475 1391  

The scariest thing we do as dancers is owning our own dancing. This week brought a reoccurring theme to all of my classes and lessons. Ownership of your dancing is like personal responsibility in the real world. Think about all of the successful people in your life and I bet they all have the same thing in common…They never pass the buck!  When something bad happens, and its the bosses fault, something happens to the people who work for him when he steps up and owns the problem…They Respect him more than ever. It’s the easy answer though. That is to say you would expect people to respect a man or woman who not only let the blame beam point right at them but they take it to the next level and point it at themselves. What is really cool though is not the respect that befalls such character, its the respect that he/she gives THEMSELVES!    Imagine the immense pressure that someone puts them self under as they duck and dodge responsibility. Years of looking for scape goats to shoulder the blame eventually build up and weigh us down. When the responsibility is accepted the mental shackles that restrained our minds are unlocked and with them so is our potential.  This week is all about owning your own dancing. Stop blaming your surroundings, your partner, or the music for why you are not improving or living up to your full potential. The only person stopping you from your next step in this or any dance is you. Take ownership of your stuff and watch those shackles unlock all by themselves! What is happening this weekend:   Friday   $10 Lesson 7:30-8:15  Dance 8:15-? DNE School of Dance 78 Princeton St. Chelmsford, Ma NHABDA Dance at Pinkerton Academy  Shepard Auditorium, Pinkerton Academy, Derry, NH $12 for Members and $17 for Non Members  AND a 6:45 West Coast Swing lesson by Mr. Jonathan  General dancing to Mr. Jonathan, DJ from 7:30-11:00 p.m. AND an 8:45 Showcase by Mr. Jonathan and Sheila Lancelotta  Sunday Night  $10 6-6:45 2-Step lesson With Donna Shea 6:45-7:30pm WCS With Donna Shea 7:30-? California Mixer  Longfellow’s Club JoEllen 524 Minuteman Dr off of Boston Post RD (Rt 20) Wayland, MA Leadership is the manipulation of energy.  Following is the embodiment of energy. Connection is the tie that binds the two together. Mr. Jonathan www.MrJonathanIsMyDJ.com 603 475 1391   Dance on!

Friday Night was an awesome see of white under the black lighting. This weekend is action packed as well. We are digging deeper into last week’s pattern…Don’t worry, if you missed last week you will still be able to handle this class no problem. If you were there last week you will certainly be able to add to your level of proficiency when it comes to this week’s pattern…I for one can’t wait!

Saturday is the West Coast Swing Kick off party for the year at Longfellow’s Club JoEllen. This is their second biggest swing dance for the whole year so come early and stay late! Yours truly is both the instructor and the DJ so there will be no rush to leave (last year we rocked out till 1:30am). 

Sunday night I am also pulling double duty as instructor and DJ. I have heard from lots of students and this will also be a rather large turn out. Everybody dances with everybody so don’t worry if your partner bails on you…there are lots more to chose from!

What is happening this weekend:
 

Friday  

$10

Lesson 7:30-8:15 

Dance 8:15-?

DNE School of Dance

78 Princeton St. Chelmsford, Ma

Saturday Night WCS Kick Off Dance

$10

8-9pm WCS

9-? WCS Dance

Longfellow’s Club JoEllen

524 Minuteman Dr off of Boston Post RD

(Rt 20) Wayland, MA

Sunday Night 

$10

6-6:45 2-Step lesson

6:45-7:30pm WCS

7:30-? California Mixer

Longfellow’s Club JoEllen

524 Minuteman Dr off of Boston Post RD

(Rt 20) Wayland, MA

Leadership is the manipulation of energy. 

Following is the embodiment of energy.

Connection is the tie that binds the two together.

Mr. Jonathan

www.MrJonathanIsMyDJ.com

603 475 1391  

Dance on! 

Last week we talked briefly about how scary it can be to let the music “in”. We dance for the pattern so much that it almost doesn’t matter what song is playing. Sure a hot jam will get more people to walk the ten feet to the floor with their partner , but once the “dancing” starts the eyes drop to our partner’s feet and the focus shifts to the last thing that matters to the top 10 couples in WCS…The Pattern!

Thats right…The very people who make their living traveling the world teaching patterns almost never have one in mind on count “1”. The fact is most of what you see on Youtube is a surprise to the people that are dancing. Of course they have their “default” patterns for when the music or the partner isn’t ready for something big to happen, but not one of them is thinking about how they are going to work in that “cool guy” or “hot chic” move they taught in the workshop. What they ARE doing is having a conversation with each other through leveraging and compressing energy in time with the music so that they can relay what they think the song is saying both to each other and to their audience. Here is a video that opened my eyes to the possibilities of lead and follow dancing.