Category: WCS General

The title of this post is borrowed from the title of a book that I am reading that is opening my eyes when it comes to managing the people who work for me. I was reading this week and a line stood out to me as extremely useful as a tool for teaching dance.

“People (leaders and followers) primarily respond, not to what we do but, to how we are being”

Sometimes quotes come across so deep that we miss what is right in front of us. To me its about the difference between two realities…What “should” be happening and what “is” happening. To put this in dance context I want you to think for a moment how you approach leading or following. At first they both seem like something that you should be “doing”, but according to the quote if leading or following are something that we are “doing” we can’t get a prime response from our partner. Simply put, if you set out to lead or follow someone through a pattern you are making the pattern the thing of value rather than the person and the relationship you have with them. People who are the most effective leaders and followers do not put their focus on the patterns themselves, rather they focus on their relationship with the person on the other end of their connection.

When leaders and followers set out to lead or follow a pattern, they learned in class, they are responding to what “Should” be happening in the pattern. They can’t help but questioning  them self, their partner, and wind up disregarding the energy that they aught to be sharing. There is no room in that partnership for musicality, playfulness, or give and take. In this example the dance becomes a very sterile environment where it can be extremely scary to take chances because there is no relationship to rely on if something goes wrong.

As we learn and grow in dance our attention should be shifting from what “should” be happening, which implies a right and a wrong way of doing things, to what “is” happening in real time. My theory is that if we are responding to what “Is” happening we are dancing in the now with our partner. It is then that we put the most value on the relationship we have with him or her. There is give and take, balance, and even room for the song to play a role in that dance. There is no right or wrong and there is no concept of “fault”. You are taking everything as it comes and should you take a risk, your partner has your back because they are also tuned in to what “Is” happening in real time. 

This week we are exploring what “is” happening on Friday down stairs in the Cafe and then on Saturday upstairs in the main ballroom. My lovely and talented wife will be co-coaching the West Coast Swing class with me so you are all in for a treat!

This Friday  (Pizza Party)
$10
Lesson 7:30-8:15 
Dance 8:15-?
DNE School of Dance
78 Princeton St. Chelmsford, Ma

This Saturday
$15 Dance and Lesson
Lesson 7-8:00pm
Dance 9-11
DNE School of Dance
78 Princeton St. Chelmsford, 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! 

That is right…I am back and boy have I missed swing! It would be nice if I could say that I am well rested but I can’t, in fact I am quite tired, Jet lagged, and a little dehydrated (they are not kidding when they talk about that dry heat). I got up yesterday at 7 am worked the trade show floor, then broke down our booth, then flew the red eye over night, and I let my two employees go home to get some rest while I worked all day in the store. Its 9pm and I am writing to remind everyone that we have a lessona nd dance tomorrow night (Friday). While I was at dinner I heard (of all things) a couple of new swing songs that I can’t wait to share with you all!

This Friday  (Pizza Party)

$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

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!

Its been 6 months since I told everyone about the Grampy Challenge. Make someone smile every single day!

When anyone passes the best parts of them are elevated and the worst parts are forgotten because that is how our brains are wired to deal with the grief caused by losing a loved one. So after weeks of trying to think of just one part of my grandfather that I didn’t care for I am happy to report that my brain is dealing with my grief normally. There isn’t one thing that I regret about my time with him.

His love for good music, dancing, and making people smile helped to mold me into the man I am today and I hope that I am passing that love on to my students, friends, and family that may or may not not have been so lucky as to have met my Grampy. Although nothing can make the pain of missing him go away completely, I do find solace in the fact that I try to be more like him every chance I get.

This week I will be in Las Vegas buying cigars (one of his favorite passions) partially because its my job and partially because cigars bring smiles to people who smoke them and I can facilitate many smiles by bringing the right cigars into Two Guys Smoke Shop. Since I can’t be in two places at once there will be no class at DNE this Friday and Donna Shea will be covering my classes at Longfellow (Cha-Cha and Night Club 2-Step) this Sunday night. She and her partner Mike will bring smiles to your faces so I am covered double!

Six Weeks ago I set a goal: Lose 23lbs in 8 weeks or less so that I can fit into my tuxedo. I am heading to a trade show and have been invited to 2 black tie affairs. The choice was simple. Either get below 200lbs or have my wardrobe let out at the waist line. 

Since I chose to drop the weight there was a second choice: Diet or exercise? Both is really not an option for me because I am not looking for a quick change so I can go right back to my old life style. Working out at a traditional gym is not my thing and its very time consuming. Now,  I know what you are thinking “Mr. J you dance 3 nights a week isn’t that enough exercise?” Its really not…Since I have been dancing 3 nights a week for a decade and a half and through that time I managed to put on 43lbs (I started dancing WCS at an even 180lbs). The only real choice was to find a diet that I could turn into a lifestyle and maintain for the duration.

After much thought and research I arrived at the Paleo or “Caveman” Diet. This is the easiest one to remember and stick to because there are no rules about how to start, or what to eat at what time, and there is no calorie counting. The concept is sound and even if you eat out every day (which I do) there are options other than the obligatory diet salad. The best part is that, if you stick to the plan, you almost can’t help but lose weight because whole food doesn’t pack the calories that processed food does. 

There are 4 groups of food that you can eat: Meat, Veggies, Fuit, and Nuts and the combinations are truly endless

Other than knowing a handful of things about food like potatoes, rice, and corn are actually in the grain family and not vegetables (sweet potatoes are a root vegetable and are ok to eat) the diet is simple. The first week was little tough because you really can’t eat anything grain based like pastas, breads, rice…and I was an addict! Now that I am 6 weeks in I feel like my body’s reset button has been pushed and I am full of energy. 

If you are looking for a way to reset your body, I urge you to give the Paleolithic lifestyle a shot I am glad I did!

Now for dancing stuff…Deb and I started working on the lesson plan for August 2nd at DNE’s Weekly Ballroom dance/Night out and its pretty badass!

Below is the Two-Step Pattern for This Sunday night Plus I am the DJ that night so wait till you hear some of my new stuff!

See you all for this week’s Pizza Party/WCS dance at DNE this Friday night!

Rush, Rush, Rush…Its what we do as a society. We see a couple dancing well at a wedding or dance demo and assume that within a month or two we will be able to dance at a comparable level. If you are like me (at 19 years old) you may be imagining giving a speech about the years of dedication and practice that went into your dancing, while you are putting your shoes on to take your third class.

Learning Swing is like learning a foreign language. Unlike most foreign languages, which start off with learning how to conjugate the verb “to be, dance starts off with learning how to repeat 7 basics and mostly without a partner. It is like teaching someone how to speak spanish by asking them to repeat “Tu Madre es una Mexicana sucia” (Your Mother is a dirty Mexican). The only thing you get out of that is how to piss of both your mother and any Mexicans that happen to be within ear shot. 

If people had a longer attention span we could start off with “connection” and work our way into forming patterns. Unfortunately we don’t have longer attention spans and so we are stuck learning patterns until the bad habits set in. The only way to break the bad habits is to practice concepts instead of patterns, take private lessons at least once a month, and then more practice! 

This week we are going to break down the left and right side pass like they are foreign languages…this will be a group class with private lesson intensity and it will work for ALL levels!

This Friday  (Pizza Party)

$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

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