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This weekend I had a conversation about movement with a student. He was confused by a delayed rhythm exercise we had done and wanted to know if I had it correct. Kudos to him for having the hutzpah to question his coach post lesson, and I can see where he was coming from. Some coaches teach swing one way and some another. Some coaches are living their career on world titles in one form of swing while they teach another. Plus certain things are important to some coaches and not to others and so on and so on. But, I digress…my favorite part of our conversation was his insistence that I was teaching the “stretch” on the wrong side of the “one”. I was teaching a “delayed Rhythm” which is a step that happens after your hip hits the “one” in the music and then you step. He was referencing several lessons he had taken with 3 or 4 different coaches in which the “stretch” happened before the “one” with the hip and the step happening earlier in the music. Although I could not convince him that we where talking about two different moves and not debating the “right” and “wrong” way the one technique was being taught, it did occur to me that something must be getting through to my classes if I am intelligently debating the concept of “stretch” with a student. A concept which did not exist in this dude’s repertoire or swing concepts last year! It doesn’t matter who you are taking lessons from as long as you are learning to move your center in and out of every pattern. Without moving from your center you are simply unable to lead or follow…in fact you are unable to walk, run, skip, or jump for that matter. Central movement must dictate your every step on your journey to be the best dancer you can be! The saga continues…This week is a take off of last week’s basics class with some “stretch” drills thrown in for good measure plus if there is time I am going to teach my latest left side pass “cool guy” move! This Friday (Pizza Party and) $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 Me To The End Of Love
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This Saturday as we finally lay my Grampy to rest, I will be reuniting with several cousins that I have not seen in easily 20 years, who are coming up for the after party (which are his wishes). Some of them follow me on Youtube and have seen my dance videos…. and they want to try swing dancing while they are here. My Grandfather loved my grandmother the most and then he loved to dance, smoke cigars, and drink scotch in that order. He watched everyone of my videos before he past away 3 months ago and he always asked me to show him my moves when there was music on. The dancing bug has been past down through our parents and into the cousins which is why both of my siblings and 3 of my cousins will be in attendance this Friday. This Friday will be a basics lesson to get them started and to help solidify everyone’s basics. As class progresses I do hope to start working on some delayed rhythm with those that are ready so we can get a jump on next week’s lesson plan which is advanced basics. We are going to have a big group this Friday and I think the woman may out number the men for a change…lol…Its going to be a room filled with new dancers that will be hungry for more advanced dancers to whip them about…I hope you can make it! This Friday (Pizza Party and Video Critique) $10 Lesson 7:30-8:15 Dance 8:15-? DNE School of Dance 78 Princeton St. Chelmsford, Ma Saturday Night WCS w/ Kirsten Obermiller 7-8 PM All level West Coast Swing 8-9 PM Intermediate West Coast Swing $25/2, $15/1 (includes dance) Dance 9-12am Longfellow’s Club JoEllen 524 Minuteman Dr off of Boston Post RD (Rt 20) Wayland, MA Sunday Night (I am The DJ) $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! |
This Just In: Mr. Jonathan is the ONLY DJ tonight at Ryles
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The plan was to have the first ever DJ battle in the history of Ballroom/Latin/Swing Fusion. A monkey wrench has just been thrown into the works…The DJ (Matt) who was the other half of this friendly battle has come down with something and can not attend tonight. Does this mean I win by default? No, but it does mean we all win! My sets where going to be crossover songs that can serve two dances and where for half the night…now we can party ALL night! Matt assures me we can go head to head sometime in the near future but for tonight its a one man show so strap your self in for a great time of high energy music that will make you dance your socks off!!! Tonight $15 Lesson 9:30-10:10pm Dancing till 2am Ryles 212 Hampshire Street, Cambridge, Ma Tomorrow 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 |
Ryles
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This week Ryles welcomes West Coast Swing coach, performer, and DJ Mr. Jonathan for a night of crossover excitement! The lesson will be beginner friendly with a couple of cool tips and tricks for the more advanced. Then Mr. Jonathan and DJ Chris will share the helm as they put you through the paces with their mix of Latin, Tango, Hustle, and Swing. Mr. Jonathan will be playing sets of ALL crossover music so you can drift from one dance style into another. This will be one night you will not soon forget! This Friday (Pizza Party and Class Critique feat. Constructive Criticism) $10 Lesson 7:30-8:15 Dance 8:15-? DNE School of Dance 78 Princeton St. Chelmsford, Ma Saturday Night $15 Lesson 9:30-10:10pm Dancing till 2am Ryles 212 Hampshire Street, Cambridge, 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.
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Not “Dancing With the Stars”…Dance Like a Star!
It is said that public speaking is the most nerve racking and scary thing for most people. The reason for this is that dancing in front of an audience isn’t given as a choice. I am fresh off of my “Dancing with the Teachers” fund raising event in Georgetown. While going through the competition I noticed how much better the teachers did on the night of the show than they had done in practice. Everyone rose to the occasion and had the dance of their life! This got me to thinking.
Even though each of the competitors where dancing for the very first time in front of a live audience, even though their palms where sweaty, their knees where weak, and their mouths were dry, and even though they were scared to death they would forget the routine and disappoint their coach…They ALL where so happy they did the event! Not one of them would go back in time and trade with someone else and every single one of them wishes they could get picked to do it all again next year.
Performance (not competition) makes you a better dancer. It is a fact! Public speaking makings you a better speaker…Public nudity makes you a better nudist (sorry couldn’t resist). There is just something about putting it all on the line for one performance that solidifies where you are at in your dance. From that point forward you have a new high that you can’t drop below in your learning curve.
This Friday we are going to get as in depth as you want to get, as dancers volunteer to go under the watchful eye of the video camera and the rest of the class to have their dance coached up by my self and anyone who can offer an opinion from a constructive place. The dancer will get better through the constructive offerings, watching the video, and hearing the feed back. The folks watching will also get better because you will be watching the dance with the responsibility of offering your point of view.
We are all friends in class so their should be no worries that someone is going to say something hurtful like “You should try growing some hair cause then we wouldn’t be blinded by your baldness Mr. J” (although I do love a good bald joke) We all want to get better which is why we report to class every week. We all dance at different levels so the coaching will be for your level and not for the one above or below you. None of the videos will be viewed outside of class.
This is being used a an exercise to make us all level up and dance better. No one has to dance on camera if they don’t want to. You may chose to dance with me instead of a fellow student (this means I will also be evaluating your connection as well as your appearance). You can even chose to be someones partner so they can be critiqued while you stay out of the hot seat. The question is:
Can you step out of your comfort zone for 1 full minute, let your self be vulnerable, and hear what people think about your dancing?
This Friday (Pizza Party and Video Critique)
$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