On Saturday, September 8th, DJ Mark returns to spin the tunes for your dancing enjoyment. Mark, originally from England, is renowned as one of the top swing DJs in the UK. He has spun at all the major swing weekenders and festivals in the United Kingdom. His song selections are superb for dancers of all levels and he is a master of straight up swing, big band, early rock-n-roll and rhythm-n-blues. We’re very excited to have him back DJing for us! If weather is good, you might even see his vintage hotrod parked out front.

So it’s your big day and everything has to be perfect. Dress, tux, flowers, food, music, invitations… they’ve all been checked off the list… but wait! What about the wedding dance? What do you do about that? You’ve never danced in front of people in your entire life… at least not in the spotlight. Now what? Just the thought makes you nervous and you don’t know where to begin.

Dawn and I were in a similar boat about 10 years ago. We were about one month out from the big day and most details were in the finalizing stage of the planning process. Dawn was stressed to the max when she tackled the whole dance issue. She did what most people do and called the local ballroom dance studio for a few lessons. Having never danced before, the idea didn’t appeal to me, but I humored her and went along with it as not to add to her stress levels. Fortunately for us, our instructor was welcoming, encouraging, and made the lesson fun. The idea of a wedding routine was posed to us and we signed up for some more lessons to learn it. The big day came, and the routine was a hit (yes, the photo on the right is actually us). Unlike many couples, we decided to keep learning dance after the wedding. I credit this to the welcoming personality of our instructor. Since then, we became interested in vintage swing dances and, as they say, the rest is history.

So, ten years later, countless hours chalked up on the dance floor, and having since become instructors, what is our advice on wedding dances? Well, let me say that prepping people for wedding dances is not our specialty. However, over the years, we have worked with some couples who wanted to do a swing dance for their wedding. So the advice we give is based of a combination of our own wedding dance, looking back on it now with years of dance experience, having worked with some couples getting married, and having since attended many weddings. So what wisdom can we relay?

Choose your song wisely. The music can really make or break your dance. You may love the lyrics or meaning of a song, but the song may be exceedingly difficult to dance to. It might be too slow (like ours was) or too fast. Also be careful not to pick a trendy song that you may one day cringe when you hear (we were guilty of that too). You don’t want to tell your kids about your wedding song and have them giggle and get that “mom and dad are so old” look. Keep in mind that there are good reasons timeless songs are… well… timeless.

Routines = Stress. Special choreography designed just for you and tailored to the meaningfulness of your song just sounds like a perfect compliment to your big day. Not to mention, choreographed dance routines are the in thing. I’ve even seen some studios making a special wedding dance that is unique to just you. Others teach “assembly line” style wedding routines. But let’s think about it for a minute. Dance routines can be stressful for experienced dancers, let alone people just starting out. Learning a routine is one more element of stress in an already hectic period in your life. I can say that from experience. I remember standing at the alter, waiting for Dawn to walk down the isle, running a dance routine through my mind over and over again. My mind should have been occupied with other, more useful, things. We were both nervous about getting it right, and scared how bad it would look if it went wrong, and were so relieved when it was over. It went over well, but could it have been better? In hind site, yes.

There is also more to consider beyond the stress of a routine. A lot of thought process goes into memorizing and executing a routine. This is especially true for beginners. This tends to make the actual dancing in the routine look stiff, mechanical, and unnatural.

Learn to dance! Believe it or not, it is far easier to learn to dance than to learn a routine. The time you would spend learning a routine can easily be spent becoming comfortable with dancing. It doesn’t have to be complicated. First, work with your instructor to find the kind of dance that works with your song choice (fox trot, waltz, swing, rumba, etc.). Then, learn the basic of that dance and a few core moves. Focus on that dance and become comfortable with it. Practice dancing to your song and songs with similar rhythms. During the time you are learning to dance for your wedding, don’t be distracted by other dances. Studios may try to sell you on “the 10 dances”. You can always learn those later, for now, work on your wedding dance. This way, when you go out to dance for your first dance, you can comfortably dance the basic and some key turns and moves. Will you hit every break and highlight in the song? No. Will people notice? No. What people will notice is that you look comfortable and natural dancing together. That will leave a lasting impression, and, unless all your family and friends are experienced die-hard dancers, you’ll be surprised how much a few basic turns and moves smoothly executed will impress people!

Lead in, lead out… it’s so easy! There are some ways to make the few basic turns and moves you know look like a routine, but without all the stress and memorization. The easiest way is to work out what you are going to do at the start and end of the song. In other words, work with each other or your instructor on a fancy way of walking out on the dance floor as the song starts. In addition, work out a special move you’ll do as the songs ends. In between those two points, just dance. Have fun, smile, and lead what moves pop in your head. Want to take it a little further? If your song has a break or crescendo, work out a move to do when you hear that coming. But that is purely optional. The key is to look natural, have fun, and dance what you know.

Avoid the crunch! Don’t wait till the last minute to learn to dance for your wedding day! Routine or not, this holds true. If you go to an instructor or studio a week before the wedding, there won’t be much they can do. Any way you go, plan out at least a month in advance. The more time you allow the better your wedding dance will be. If you have a good instructor, learning to dance for your wedding can be enjoyable and a stress relief from the hectic nature of wedding planning.

Say cheese! Don’t forget about your wedding photographer! You’re paying good money for great photos, so let’s get the most out of them! A simple dip goes a long way. Yeah, it may be a little cliche, but it’s eye candy and, if done right, looks great in pictures. Avoid the broken back backwards lean. In a nice dip, the lady should feel supported. She should be able to do it in any kind of wedding dress and her feet don’t have to leave the ground. A simple dip can look awesome! Be sure to tell your photographer ahead of time when to expect it. When the time comes, look at the camera and smile!

A wedding dance doesn’t have to be complicated to look good. Keep in mind that a routine will be forgotten after the wedding and live only in the video you occasionally dust off on your book shelf. If you learn the basics of the dance that fits your song, you’ll be left with knowing how to dance after the wedding and you’ve laid the foundation for learning more if you so choose. Either way, you looked comfortable and confident on the dance floor for your wedding and you now have something to enjoy together in your married life.

I just wanted to do a quick follow up and say thank you to everyone who came out to Beardall last night! After being really slow night last month, it was really good to see so many people from the swing scene out supporting the community based event. It was a great dance night and the band really appreciated playing for the crowd! Hope to see everyone back next month!

People often tend to overlook dancing as a legitimate form of working out and getting fit, however, you’d be surprised how many calories can be burned by hitting the dance floor. While we don’t know of any exact studies on dances such as Lindy Hop, Shag, Balboa, or Charleston, we can compare these to “fast ballroom dances” that studies have been conducted on. Given this, swing dancing can burn between 306 and 374 calories per hour (assuming a body weight of 150lbs). Beginners may see more on the lower side as you usually start out dancing to slower songs when you learn. As you become more experienced and spend more continuous time on the dance floor the calories you burn will continue to rise. In fact, if you spend some quality time on the dance floor, a night out dancing can easily burn off the equivalent of a Big Mac with cheese (704 calories). But dancing is all a lower body workout, right? Wrong! Holding a frame, maintaining connection, posture, and adding style all exercise the upper body as well making dancing a complete workout.

The common misconception is that you have to lift weight to work your body out. After all, a workout has to be strenuous to be a workout, right? Well, actually, no. In reality, the important thing is to just get your body moving and get the muscles in motion. One of the biggest reasons for failure in workout programs is loss of interest or boredom. Dancing is all together different. It’s entertaining, social, and fun. The fact it is a form of exercise is a fringe benefit. Tons of everyday people of all ages and physical backgrounds enjoy dancing without ever even noticing the workout they are getting from it.

Mike Feher wrote us to tell us that PBS is running a special on the zoot suit riots that happened in Los Angeles in the early 1940’s. The PBS web site has a really good online presentation about the “zoot culture”. I think this is an area of history that is greatly misunderstood in the mainstream today. Mention the term nowadays and most people conjure up stereotyped images of swing dancing. In reality, there is a lot more to it than that and the suit stood for much more. Some zoot suiters danced, some didn’t. Some jitterbugs wore zoots (or more toned-down spin-off styles), and some didn’t. The web site has some interesting interviews with former zoot suiters about the love of big band music, dancing, and nightlife. It even has a short bit on the zoot suiters own spin on the jitterbug… the “pachuco hop”.

Thanks for the link Mike!

Saturday, October 13th: After an amazing debut performance, the Nicole Sasser Quartet returns to Whirl & Twirl! Nicole, a new resident to Florida, leads a band of musicians who are passionate about their love for music and true to the great artists that have come before them. The group’s repertoire includes standards made famous by Ella Fitzgerald, Diana Krall, Michael Buble, Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole, just to name a few. As always, the beginner dance lesson is at 8pm and the band takes stage at 9pm. Special event admission is $10. Click here for more info.

On the 4th Wednesday of every month, the Orlando Swing Band plays at the Beardall Center. The band is a full size, community based, swing orchestra that plays for the public every month for… wait for it… only $4 per person admission! I don’t know of any other place around where you can dance to a big band for such a low rate. How do they do it? Again, they are community based. In exchange for practice space at the city owned facility, they offer a monthly public dance. However, attendance at these dances have been pretty rocky over the years. I think it is high time to revitalize it!

I think a little background is in order. The Beardall Center is a historic 1920’s era school building located in downtown Orlando. That’s right, I said history in Orlando… and even more shocking, it has a large parquet wood dance floor. So with a live big band and a vintage venue, it seems we have all the makings for a great swing dance night, right? Well, almost. While once a school building, Beardall is now a senior community center. This tends to shy people away. But you have to realize, it is a “community center” and it has absolutely nothing to do with assisted living. Granted, the crowd there has traditionally been older, but they are always friendly and welcoming. After Dawn and I discovered the night years ago we put the word out to the swing dancers. Since then, the 4th Wednesday dances have had mixed ages varying month to month. The band traditionally catered the older crowd playing both a mix of swing and ballroom. However, we’ve been told by the band several times that they would cater to the swing dancers more if more came out. For a number of reasons, it’s been difficult to get constant attendance at Beardall from the swing crowd over the years.

In the past few months, we’ve seen a significant decline in attendance from both the swing scene and the older patrons at the 4th Wednesday dance. There could be many reasons for this… vacations, off season for snowbirds, etc. What I can say is that last month was the slowest night I’ve ever seen there. Outside of the 7 or 8 swing dancers in our crowd, and the band, there were only 3 other people in the room. One was a friend of a band member and the others there to watch. In the second set, the band played solid swing. The small group of us danced and had a great time!

I’ve always felt that this night has a lot of potential. With other local swing dances booming, let’s get this community dance night back on track! The next dance is on August 22nd (7:30 to 10pm - directions). Come out and dance and hang out! Pass the word along and tell your friends! We’ll be there with a group of dancers so there is sure to be people to dance with.

If you were in Orlando in the early 1940’s and wanted to dance to the big band sounds, the place to go was The Esplanade. This outdoor venue was located at the Army Air Force Base (which later became the Naval Training Center and is now Baldwin Park). The Thursday night “wolf dance” occasionally featured known acts such as Bob Hope and Sammy Kaye. From what we understand, the concrete dance floor (originally painted with Air Force symbols, and later repainted to reflect Navy ownership) still exists today.

Who says dancing is something you do above water? Check out the Orlando Sentinel’s special section on Weeki Wachee. Awesome! I grew up near the roadside attraction and use to spend hot summer days swimming at Bucaneer Bay. Definitely a cool bit of history worth saving!

The other day, I heard that the old Daytona Bowl and River Deck restaurant was torn down. Back in the day (I sound so old when I say that), this was a staple swing dance night for the Daytona scene. Dawn and I danced out there many times. It was a cool place. It had a parquet wood dance floor with windows that overlooked the Halifax river (neat effect), a lounge that offered food and drink, and was directly connected to the bowling alley. Sure, the dance floor was sticky, but overall it was a nice place to dance and hang out. While swing nights there ended a long time ago, it’s still sad to see the venue go.

So what’s to become of it? You guessed it! Condos!

We’re often asked about the limited dance venues in Central Florida. This is a prime example of what happens to them. I applaud the Tampa Bay area for preserving their old dance floors and places to dance. Orlando seems more fixated on new growth. Did you know that Orlando once had a Coliseum like the one in St. Pete? It burned down in the 60’s and the city chose not to rebuild it. Other dance floors have made way for new development. What’s left often competes for wedding bookings (a process that drives prices out of the reach of dancers).

Not saying River Deck was a great dance hall by any means. But there is now one less dance floor in Central Florida and one more “multi-family development site”.