"How Dancing Transformed My Life" #transformationaltuesday #dance http://bit.ly/HLti0a
Gold Night Out Is Coming…
13 years ago
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Monday, November 11, 2013
Did You Know? Featuring Arthur Murray Plano Dance Instructor Lindsey Jordan...
Meet Lindsey Jordan
Lindsey has been a staple of the Arthur Murray Plano staff for 6 years! Her bubbly personality and bright smile are contagious! Lindsey has a great sense of humor, but when she means business, you'll know it! Here are a few fun facts about Lindsey:
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| Lindsey with her student, Tore Bellis, and Guest Judge Lynda Smith at the 2012 Texas Showdown |
Favorite Movie(s): The Princess Bride, Nacho Libre, all 3 Back to the Future movies
Favorite Dance(s): Bolero, Viennese Waltz, American Tango
Favorite Food(s): Steak and Authentic Mexican Cuisine
Lindsey has been dancing since she was 3 1/2 years old. She actually took her first class at age 2 1/2, but threw up during class. I guess she knows first hand just how nervous a new student or first time competitor can be! Her first job was teaching/assisting dance classes at the age of 12. But, Lindsey says if she could do any other job in the world other than teaching dance, she would be a Research Physician specializing in autoimmune diseases or working at the CDC!
She lives for Coffee, loves summertime, and wants to someday travel throughout Europe! She says if she were a Disney character she would be Snow White!
Lindsey's Quotes to Live By:
But she does add that "Practice makes Permanence"!
Stay tuned to learn more about our awesome Arthur Murray instructors!
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Having Trouble Understanding Your Teacher? What’s Your Learning Style? - http://bit.ly/16WiOVn
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Managers Forum: What is the most common mistake made by new dancers?
We asked the managers of the Dallas and Plano Arthur Murray Studios to tell us
"What is the most common mistake made by new dancers?"
This is what they said:
Ian: I think the most common mistake that I've seen new dancers, both students and teachers alike, make is that they try to be "perfect" or "right" all the time. Dancing is an expression of a feeling that you get when you hear music. There's no way to be perfect with your feeling or your emotions, so why would you aspire to do the same with your dancing? Just as you emotionally mature with age, so you mature with your competence and skill the longer you dance. So, in the end, just listen, feel, and move...the rest will come!
Justin: The most common mistake made by new dancers is to be too hard on themselves. Especially as adults, we forget what it's like to learn something new. We're used to being good at everything we do, and it has usually been a long time since we learned something physical (like driving a car). So we have an unrealistic expectation of how quickly we should proceed, or how much we should remember from one lesson to the next. We need to be patient with ourselves- remember that understanding something in our heads and getting our body to cooperate does not usually happen simultaneously. The hardest part is the initial hump of believing you can learn!
Sarah: The most common mistake made by new dancers varies from man to woman. New male dancers make the mistake of thinking more steps makes them better and more enjoyable to dance with. So they know a bunch of steps but cannot lead any of them. Not fun or enjoyable for any woman. Women make the mistake of what we commonly call "back-leading". In their mind they are helping their partner, but in reality it does more damage than good to try to help the man lead. The best thing for a woman to do is trust her man and release the need to control. All women want to be beautiful and taken care of in the dance floor and men want to be a strong lead for his woman. When his lead makes a woman smile he is in "dance heaven".
Nikki: In my experience, the most common mistake made by new dancers is not allowing themselves enough time to actually learn. There are 2 types of students in this category, and they are both making the same mistake.
"What is the most common mistake made by new dancers?"
This is what they said:
Ian: I think the most common mistake that I've seen new dancers, both students and teachers alike, make is that they try to be "perfect" or "right" all the time. Dancing is an expression of a feeling that you get when you hear music. There's no way to be perfect with your feeling or your emotions, so why would you aspire to do the same with your dancing? Just as you emotionally mature with age, so you mature with your competence and skill the longer you dance. So, in the end, just listen, feel, and move...the rest will come!
Justin: The most common mistake made by new dancers is to be too hard on themselves. Especially as adults, we forget what it's like to learn something new. We're used to being good at everything we do, and it has usually been a long time since we learned something physical (like driving a car). So we have an unrealistic expectation of how quickly we should proceed, or how much we should remember from one lesson to the next. We need to be patient with ourselves- remember that understanding something in our heads and getting our body to cooperate does not usually happen simultaneously. The hardest part is the initial hump of believing you can learn!
Sarah: The most common mistake made by new dancers varies from man to woman. New male dancers make the mistake of thinking more steps makes them better and more enjoyable to dance with. So they know a bunch of steps but cannot lead any of them. Not fun or enjoyable for any woman. Women make the mistake of what we commonly call "back-leading". In their mind they are helping their partner, but in reality it does more damage than good to try to help the man lead. The best thing for a woman to do is trust her man and release the need to control. All women want to be beautiful and taken care of in the dance floor and men want to be a strong lead for his woman. When his lead makes a woman smile he is in "dance heaven".
Nikki: In my experience, the most common mistake made by new dancers is not allowing themselves enough time to actually learn. There are 2 types of students in this category, and they are both making the same mistake.
The 1st student thinks they can't learn. They come in, beat themselves up for the entire lesson, and then walk away "knowing" that they were right. The issue wasn't that they couldn't learn, it's that they didn't allow TIME to learn. How many of us fell off our bikes the first time we tried to ride it without training wheels? But just because we fell off that first time doesn't mean we weren't capable of learning eventually. Relax, breathe, and remember that this is a new motor skill to learn. For most of us, learning to drive a car was the last time we had to learn a new skill.
The 2nd student thinks they should have it NOW. This student walks into the studio never having failed at anything, and they believe the dancing should be the same. I'm not saying that students fail while learning to dance, quite the opposite in fact, if the teaching is right, learning to dance should be nothing but full of successes. However, the student that thinks they should be great right now, believes that if they don't look like the dancer in their head after 10 min of instruction, they have failed. And the failure, to them, means they shouldn't be trying to learn to dance. Again, the reality here is that they just didn't give themselves enough time to become that dancer in their head. And it really doesn't matter how many lessons you try to cram into your brain in a day, nothing can make up for "Floor Time".
Amy: I believe that the most common mistake new dancers make is to compare themselves to the other dancers in the room. Of course, this mistake is also made by dancers at every other level, too! Remember the old adage about the race horse and never looking back to see where your competition is? I used to say that I wished I could put blinders on my students so they could not see the other students in the room. Unless you have had an in depth conversation with another person, you have no idea how long they have been dancing, what kind of skills they possessed coming into the studio, how much they practice, or anything like that. So, the frustration that you create in your mind by comparing yourself to someone else who maybe has been dancing for years instead of days, or maybe was a ballerina as a child, or maybe has the time to put in a lot of practice, or whatever, is totally unnecessary! Focus on what YOU are doing and where YOU are going and be the best dancer you can possibly be! And remember, it's all about having a good time!
How to Be A Good Dance Partner Part 3: "Do You Hear What I Hear?"
So far, we have talked about making sure you don't smell bad and what you should say to your dance partner. Today, we are going to talk about listening! Dance is a partner activity. It requires an awareness on the part of both dancers in order to be an enjoyable activity. You must LISTEN to what your partner is telling you! A few tips:
1) Listen to what they say about themselves, respond, and remember! When you remember small details about someone, such as their kids or pets names, it validates that they are important to you. It also makes you a great conversationalist, which everyone loves! Try to avoid spacing out and not paying attention to the person you are dancing with. It makes you seem rude, boring, and inconsiderate, and no one wants to dance with that kind of person!
2) Listen to their body language! This is very important for 2 reasons: you can gauge their comfort level with you, and you can tell a lot about how you should adjust your lead/follow. Pay attention to whether they are dancing closely or if they are holding themselves away from you. This is a good measure of their comfort level (or interest level) in you. Please, respect the physical space boundary they set. It is never fun to feel like there is a tug of war happening on the dance floor, where she sets her comfort zone and he keeps trying to pull her closer and she keeps trying to reestablish her space. Trust me, it is not fun, and it won't help, so just accept and respect the space that your partner is setting.
Now, it is important to keep in mind that this ALSO tells you about their dance ability... Someone who sets a wide personal zone may be a less experienced dancer and may be worried about their feet stepping on yours/being stepped on or whether or not they can lead/follow you. If they seem to tense up when you try to spin them, take that as a sign and take it easy on the twirling. I once danced with a guy who literally picked my feet up off the ground and crushed me against him every time he spun us around. No matter how hard I tried, he wouldn't stop. I honestly felt like I was bruised after that song ended and I DID NOT dance with him again.
Your goal when dancing with a partner is to make sure that you BOTH are having a good time. So be a gracious and kind partner and heed what your partner is saying both verbally and physically!
3) Listen to the music! This seems like an obvious one, but don't get so caught up in counting, trying to remember steps, or zipping through traffic that you forget about the music! Relax, take your time, and have fun!
If you are interested in learning to dance, contact your local Arthur Murray Dance Studio today!
1) Listen to what they say about themselves, respond, and remember! When you remember small details about someone, such as their kids or pets names, it validates that they are important to you. It also makes you a great conversationalist, which everyone loves! Try to avoid spacing out and not paying attention to the person you are dancing with. It makes you seem rude, boring, and inconsiderate, and no one wants to dance with that kind of person!
2) Listen to their body language! This is very important for 2 reasons: you can gauge their comfort level with you, and you can tell a lot about how you should adjust your lead/follow. Pay attention to whether they are dancing closely or if they are holding themselves away from you. This is a good measure of their comfort level (or interest level) in you. Please, respect the physical space boundary they set. It is never fun to feel like there is a tug of war happening on the dance floor, where she sets her comfort zone and he keeps trying to pull her closer and she keeps trying to reestablish her space. Trust me, it is not fun, and it won't help, so just accept and respect the space that your partner is setting.
Now, it is important to keep in mind that this ALSO tells you about their dance ability... Someone who sets a wide personal zone may be a less experienced dancer and may be worried about their feet stepping on yours/being stepped on or whether or not they can lead/follow you. If they seem to tense up when you try to spin them, take that as a sign and take it easy on the twirling. I once danced with a guy who literally picked my feet up off the ground and crushed me against him every time he spun us around. No matter how hard I tried, he wouldn't stop. I honestly felt like I was bruised after that song ended and I DID NOT dance with him again.
Your goal when dancing with a partner is to make sure that you BOTH are having a good time. So be a gracious and kind partner and heed what your partner is saying both verbally and physically!
3) Listen to the music! This seems like an obvious one, but don't get so caught up in counting, trying to remember steps, or zipping through traffic that you forget about the music! Relax, take your time, and have fun!
If you are interested in learning to dance, contact your local Arthur Murray Dance Studio today!
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