It was only a few weeks ago that we posted a request for couples who met on the dance floor to send us their stories. We expected a few stories to trickle in. We were surprised to receive quite a number of them! It seems dancing really does bring people together! While we hope to announce some of these couples at this Saturdays Valentine dance and present a few of the outstanding stories with prizes, I thought it would be nice to share a few quotes and highlights with you.

The first story we received was from Megan and Adam. They first met at a UCF swing dance back in 2002 when Adam was president of the swing club. However they weren’t formally introduced until 2003 at City Jazz. Megan writes “He taught me to be a semi-decent dancer and incorporated swing as a major part of our dating life. In November of 2006 we were married, and we are expecting our first child in June of 2008. Although married life and pregnancy have pulled us away from swing dancing as frequently as we would like, its still a part of who we are and we would not be together without swing.”

But not everyone met at a local dance. Jim writes to tell us how he met Helga at a disco when stationed in Germany in 1971. “It was off limits for GIs but we never got stopped”. One popular song that night was “Just My Imagination”… the two just danced together to the same song 36 years later.

Some people even met in dance classes! Jessica writes to tell us how she met Joshua at one of our Sunday afternoon series classes and got to know him at the local dances. “The more we danced, the more I was smitten!” she writes. Amy and Ed met during a class at the Dance Club of Central Florida. “He was leading a complicated turn during class and we accidentally bumped heads”. Now that is the way to meet!

Thomas sent us a fascinating story of how he met a very special lady in the 50’s while appearing on American Bandstand. “Bob Horn had just been suddenly relieved as host of American Bandstand. A young guy named Dick Clark, working in the control booth, was put in at the last minute to take over in desperation. As a regular dancer on the program I was pleasantly surprised by Dick Clark…he was really good!” he writes. “During the winter months in Philadelphia, we would trudge over to the studio in the snow, slush and ice, many of us traveling a long way by bus to get a chance to dance on TV. There was a dressing room for the kid’s with coat racks for our heavy outer clothes but no where to put our wet soggy boots. There were puddles every where. The counter top in front of the mirror was loaded with pancake make-up to cover up our poor teenage complexion. Pretty prevalent in at that age. In those years the cameras were pre-aimed and pre-focused and stationary. The floors in the dance studio had white lines painted on the floor and we were warned not to dance too close to the cameras or to go over the white line.” There he met a young girl from Huntington Pike named Mickey. “Of course I asked her to dance and it was like magic…we fit like a glove. At that age with no car and no money a real date was out of the question so Bandstand was it for this romance. Dancing was what brought us together and is what kept us together and we were in love.” Seeing each other become quite a chore. “As Bandstand became a national program and very popular it became increasingly difficult to obtain ticket’s. Mickey and I saw less and less of each other because of it. I hitch-hiked several times out to where she lived but in those days her parents did not allow her to date or go out alone with a boy. We struggled to see each other but Bandstand and dancing was what really held us together. Without it, the relationship through the next several years grew thin.” But Thomas continues to dance. “Eventually I graduated high school, joined the Navy and found myself stationed in Virginia Beach with dance halls up and down the boardwalk. I was in heaven. Guess where I went every opportunity? Mickey was still in high school, a year younger than me, and her parents finally started letting her date boys her own age. She wrote me about it but I was hundreds of miles away. When I found out she went to the junior prom with another guy, it broke my heart.” It is sad that there was not a story book ending for Thomas and Mickey, but as he writes “I look back at that wonderful time with fond memories and a little sadness that Mickey and I didn’t quite make it but without dancing being part of my life I never would have had that tender young love and life experience. I’ll never forget her and Bandstand. Dancing has really enriched my life throughout.”

Wow! What a way to sum things up!

Thank you to everyone for the stories and we hope to see you all at the next dance. Happy Valentines Day to all!

It seems like you can find everything on DVD now days… well, almost everything. With the resurgence of dance shows such as “Dancing with the Stars” and “So You Think You Can Dance” in the last few years, why hasn’t anyone released some of the original dance shows on DVD? Thanks to the swing revival of the late 90’s and the hard work of some dedicated dancers, you can now do some searches on sites like YouTube and find lots of clips of vintage swing dances from old movies of the 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s. These have been an invaluable resource not only for technique and moves, but for the history and culture of swing dancing. So what about that big gap between the 50’s and now? In that time frame, dance shows boomed, collapesed, boomed again, and collapsed again… and where are they now? After running some searches online, not much comes up in regards to videos or DVDs.

What shows an I talking about? Well, you didn’t think dance shows were a new concept did you? Let’s start with one of the most well known, “American Bandstand“. The show ran from 1957 all the way to 1987 with its heyday being in the late 50’s and early 60’s. While not specifically a dance show, it is credited for bringing swing dancing (aka “jitterbug”) to much of the nation (especially the less urban areas). It’s also a center of debate on what roll it played in influencing the dance. Dick Clark had much control over what moves the dancers performed and what the show highlighted. Moves, styles, and even dances could be deemed not in vogue and left out in favor of others. As the show started to highlight dances such as the twist and mashed potato, it almost certainly played a role in the downfall of swing dancing in the era and contributed to the boom of solo dance crazes. All great material that I’m sure many dancers would love to see on video.

But don’t think the dance show boom of that era was isolated to just that one show. “The Buddy and Deane Show” of Baltimore (57 to 64), Allen Freed’s “Big Beat” of New York (57), and “The Milt Grant Show” (56 to 61) of Washington DC all featured dance crazes of the day and would all be very interesting to see. “Teenarama“(63 to 70), a Washington DC show that became the first dance show dedicated to African-Americans, and was recently featured on a PBS special. I’m very much waiting to see that one re-aired!

Dance shows seemed to loose popularity a bit after the early 60’s. But wait… there’s more! (as I do my best William Shatner) Let’s not forget about the late 70’s. Oh no. We can’t forget about the late 70s. Two words… “Dance Fever“! No, not the cable channel me-too remake that tried to ride the wave of the latest boom… I’m talking about the original! Hosted by disco legend Deney Terrio (the man that taught John Travolta his moves) during the peak, the show ran from 79 to 87. Sure the dancing may have been tacky in today’s terms, but this dance competition show holds a special place in my heart. Maybe it’s because I grew up watching it as a kid, but I think this was the pinnacle of dance shows. Unlike shows before it, it was about the dancing and not about promoting bands or music. It’s competition format with celebrity judges laid the format for the wildly popular shows of the last few years. The show had a raw sense about it unlike the overproduced dance shows of today. Hokey? Maybe. But it’s a piece of dance history that we shouldn’t brush under the rug. Where is it now? I’ve done searches for it, and have only found a few brief overview web pages and the oddball YouTube clip or two. Most feature guest bands or judges and not the dancers. It’s a shame. This is another prime candidate for the DVD market.

I’m sure the current dance shows land on DVD shortly after the season airs… but if someone out there is listening, let’s see some of the originals please! And if you have any videos, or links to share, please send them our way!

Okay, so I thought I would tackle a really common and a really difficult question we get asked a lot by the ladies. How do you get your husband or boyfriend to learn to dance with you? I thought it would be best for me to take on this big question instead of Dawn since, at one time, I was in your husband/boyfriend’s shoes. That’s right, there was a time when I had no interest in learning to dance. So what magic did Dawn work on me? Well, she wanted to learn to dance for our wedding and decided to bring up the idea of taking lessons right at the point where she was most stressed out with the wedding planning. Needless to say, the potential outcome of saying “no” didn’t seem too appealing so I humored her and went along with it. As we’ve said since, she drug me out to the first lesson and I drug her back.

So having been in the “I don’t want to dance” mode, what advice can I give to you to help you convince your husband or boyfriend to dance?

The disclaimer: Keep in mind that there isn’t a silver bullet approach. If your husband or boyfriend really doesn’t want to dance, he won’t. You can’t force him. The best you can do is to encourage him to try out dancing to see for himself if he really likes it or not. Given this, there are several things you can do to help the process along.

What he means: Most of the time, there is more to “I don’t want to dance” than face value. For the typical American male, he is expressing that he is extremely uncomfortable with the idea of learning to dance. Let’s face it, our society is geared towards encouraging men in sports and not in the arts. To many, the thought of dancing might not be that bad, but the initial steps to learning to dance is intimidating to say the least. This is what you have to overcome. It’s your job to be encouraging and make him feel comfortable.

The odds: The odds are actually in your favor. The biggest hurdle is just getting guys out dancing for the first time or two. Once they discover that it is fun, they usually want to come back for more. This was true in my case, and we see it time and time again in our classes and at our dances. More often than not, beginner classes have more ladies than guys. However, the more advanced the class gets, the offset tends to go the other way. You start to end up with more guys than girls. Why is this? Well, there are many reasons, but one of them is that guys tend to stick with dancing longer than women. Women tend to view dancing as a fun and casual hobby. However, for guys, once they get hooked on dancing they tend to become die-hards. Besides the fact that dancing is a confidence booster, once guys start to master a skill like dancing, they tend to stick with it.

So what can you do?

Encourage and discuss. Whatever you do, don’t push or force him into dancing. That won’t make a pleasant experience for either of you. Instead, discuss with him that you would like to learn to dance together. The together part is important. So many couples today have different careers and different hobbies. Spending time together is becoming a rarity. Dancing is a hobby that you can share together and use to spend evenings out together. In addition, it’s an activity that strengthens your relationship and forces you to work together as a team. This is an excellent point to bring up to encourage him to try it out. Also mention that he won’t look silly or out of place and that you’ll be right there in the same boat the whole time. You can also bring up things like the exercise aspects of dancing, how social it is, and how much fun dancing is. The romantic aspects of dancing don’t tend to have big appeal with guys and you might want to spend less time on these.

Find the right place. Once your significant other has decided to give dancing a try, you need to select the right place to start. This can make all the difference in the world and spell success or failure for your dancing future. Look for classes or lessons that are cost effective for you. That way he can’t say “it’s too expensive”. Watch out for studios that offer attractive intro rates but drastically increase their rates after the introduction period is over. Also, be sure to interview your potential instructor. Find out how friendly and encouraging they are. Ask how many other beginner couples they have worked with and what they do to make them feel at ease. Make sure their personality will blend well with yours and your boyfriend/husband’s. This is the biggest factor in success. The only reason I returned after my very first lesson is because my instructor made it fun.

Find the right dance. This is something people often forget about. Ladies might be interested in the grace of waltz and the romance of tango and prefer to learn ballroom dancing. However, this may not appeal to guys. Men may be more interested in street dances such as salsa or swing. Be sure to discuss this with your husband or boyfriend. You may want to focus on a form of music he likes and learn a dance works best with that. Granted, I am bias, but swing tends to offer the most universal appeal for guys. It’s sort of a “safe dance”. It’s fun and energetic and doesn’t tend to have many traits that the American male would label as “feminine”. It doesn’t require you to move your hips like in a Latin dance and can be applied to a wide variety of music styles (probably one of which your S.O. likes). While ballroom dance shows boomed on TV recently, we’ve actually seen many couples turn to swing dancing because it is a form of music and dancing that both enjoys.

Lost in a crowd (or not). Some guys react better to group classes and some better to private lessons. This is something to bring up and discuss. Group classes are more cost effective plus it tends to show guys that they are not the only person in the learning process. However, some guys may react better to a few private lessons to start out with. The one-on-one attention may be more encouraging. Ether way you go, be sure you go out and dance. You won’t become good dancers by lessons alone. You have to apply what you learn. In this case, it’s often good to go out to a more crowded dance night for the first few times. Guys tend to fear being put in the spotlight. There is no better way to overcome this than being lost in a crowd.

Maybe a trade? Relationships involve give and take. Is it really fair that he tries something you want to do, but you don’t do the same in return? Offer to return the favor. Maybe offer to take some golf lessons with him or whatever he is interested in. We’ve seen this work for several couples. Not only do they end up with one hobby they enjoy together, but they get two!

Most of the time, the hardest part is getting guys over their initial fear of learning to dance. For many, it’s the fist time they have been exposed to such a thing and can lead to being very apprehensive. The best you can do is be encouraging and reassuring. Nine times out of ten, guys discover that dancing is a lot of fun and is a great activity that you can do together.

Interesting things to note: Single guys are usually very open to learning to dance since it’s a great way to meet other single people. Guys in new relationships are usually fairly open as well as it’s fun to find new activities you can do as a couple. However, the longer guys have been in a relationship, the harder it is to convince them to try dancing. This doesn’t mean it’s impossible. We just get set in our ways and sometimes it takes some encouragement to try something new.

Does it ever work the other way around? Yes. While it tends to be the rare case, we have seen some guys that have a hard time getting their wives/girlfriends to dance.

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.

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.

Pop culture has the simple formula “swing = aerials” stuck in their mind. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen couples attempt aerials on their first night out dancing. Fortunately, it has become an uncommon site in recent years. To watch someone untrained toss or get tossed into the air is quite simply scary. Aerials and tricks are a fun part of swing dancing, however, this article hitting national news today should be a warning. Know what you are doing before both of your feet or your partner’s feet leave the ground! Learn the basics of the dance first. Then learn all the ins and outs of the trick you are trying to attempt (including all the safety aspects). Aerials and tricks are just that… tricks. They never involve brute force “lift and throw”. For any move involving both feet leaving the ground, make sure you do them with a partner you have practiced the move with beforehand. Most ladies don’t like to find themselves suddenly airborne on the social dance floor.

Back in the 1930’s and ’40’s, in many areas, it was quite taboo to steal someone else’s killer dance move(s). Usually these matters were resolved with a step outside or a walk back behind the building. As the fierce local competition to be the best dancer faded away, so did the taboo of picking up other people’s moves. Over time, sharing moves and steps has been generally accepted to be good for dancing and the dance. In computer terms, think of it as Open Source for dancing. It spreads the dance and helps it grow. The advent of video, has triggered an explosion of sharing in the dance community. Its all been viewed as good, until now…

The inventor of the Electric Slide has copyrighted the dance and is flexing his legal strong-arm against what he views as copyright violations and examples of “bad dancing” (read more). Could this be the start of a trend? A modern day equivalent of “stepping outside” for a sue happy society? The sad thing about all this is that there is very little to gain from it, but the already fragile dance community has a lot to loose.

Well, I guess it could be worse.