Dancer breakthroughs...I weep with happiness.

I teach a cardio latin fusion class 3 days a week.  I have for 6 years now.  So I have this woman in my class that's been with me at least 4 of those.  She's a good dancer.  She has great timing and picks up quickly.  She's always asking how she can get more out of our hour together.  I have been telling her over the years that she's too "high off the floor"...that she needs to dance "down into the ground" more.  The other day in class the light bulb finally went on.  She was doing what I had wanted from her for years.  I approached her after class and told her how great of a class she had had.  She responded, "You know, I realized I wanted to dance STRONG and I was dancing...".  In my head the first word that came to my mind was "light".  She fished for the word she wanted for maybe 3 seconds before she finished her sentence with "light".  She had that epiphany that we dance teachers are always searching to draw out of our students.  Just two days after my cardio student had her "Aha" moment, I was working with my burlesque workshop ladies.  We'd been working on the same routine for the previous three weeks.  It was looking fine, but not QUITE right.  About 3/4 of the way through our hour together I said to them, "Dance the entire routine staccato...like a Tango." There was a universal "Ahhhhhh!" from the ladies.  I'd found the right phrase.  The next time through the routine was totally different, and exactly what I'd been looking for. We live for those moments that the light goes on, for those seconds of realization, of comprehension.  We get off on it.  Sometimes as teachers we struggle to find the key that fits that lock.  It's not that we're bad teachers or that they're bad students, it's just that everyone has a slightly different key.  But when we're able to turn that key magic can happen.

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The passing of a legend

As most of you know,  I began my professional ballroom career in 1999. One of my very first coaches (and frankly one of my favorite) was Frank Regan. I was fore warned of his quirkiness and his love of dance physics (I've never heard the phrase "rotary dynamics" so much in my life). It didn't prepare me for the man I met. This small older Brittish man that walked onto the hardwood in an ascot, colored glasses and purple dance shoes was not at all what I expected.  Nor was I expecting to stand still in frame or in a contracheck for hours on end until every instructor had it right. What slayed me most however was the first time I stepped into his frame. This rather frail looking older fellow nearly ran me over. His power, speed, balance and length of stride were astonishing. This man nearly 50 years my senior was blowing me away.  We developed a bond from that day forward.  When I'd go to comps that he'd be judging at, he'd always ask me to dance. We could separate from each other and freestyle and come back in perfect sync with one another.  Many times he asked me to move to D.C. and dance in his performance group.  I loved him like a grandfather,  danced with him like a partner and respected and idolized him as a dance legend and icon. When I stepped away from competing we'd kept in touch via Facebook.  He'd suffered an illness at the last competition I was competing at,  and was in the hospital for months.  He was never the same after coming out of the hospital.  The last time I put my arms around him and kissed him goodbye, I turned away from him so he wouldn't see me crying.  He was so fragile.  None of the strength and power that he had remained.  The illness had robbed him of that. Today we lost a man paramount to the dance world. Save a Mambo for me, Frank.

I'm first and foremost a teacher

So many of you may not know that I've been teaching dance to earn a paycheck from the late 90's on.  It's my profession.  My career.  I'm REALLY effin' good at it. I teach amateurs.  I teach professionals.  I teach social dancers.  I teach competitors.  I get off on it.  Besides teaching my ballroom competitors, one of my favorite things to teach is burlesque workshops.  It is SO exciting to see shy women transform to confident divas over a course of just a few weeks.  I love to see the excitement in their eyes when they step on stage, and the flush on their faces when they step off.  It gives me an absolute rush.  Almost as much of a rush as it does seeing my employees perform well, and certainly more of a rush than me actually performing.  So when you see those incredibly brave and amazing workshop women dancing at our shows, get on your damn feet.

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"I love dance!!!!"

Ok....so I'm going to try to blog at least once a week.  I'll try to keep you "abreast" of what's going on with Cin City Burlesque, as well as what I personally have going on.

This morning was pretty excellent.  But let me back up.

After the last big show at Bogart's in September, I held auditions for CCB.  EVERYONE had to try out...including girls that have been with me for years.  I did this for a few reasons: 1.) I need to constantly re-evaluate. 2.) I need to keep the girls on their toes. 3.) It's the fair way to do it.  I had a panel of 4 judges including myself.  EVERYTHING was put to a vote.  If I was outvoted 3-1, then I went with the majority.  I lost one girl outright, and two more became soloists.  I also picked up one of my original dancers, and a brand new girl.  After all of that, we started working on Seasons Teasings for December 7th at the beginning of October.  We had 3 group routines, as well as two duets and a bunch of new solos.  I was beginning to freak out that we weren't going to get it together to my crazy-high standards in time, but my girls proved me wrong this morning.

The solos were genius.  The group numbers were clean. And I didn't flip a table.

Cinnamon, during a moment of pure glee at the end of the closing number (that we had NAILED), squealed "I LOVE DANCE!".  It made me ridiculously happy.  We all do this for the love of dance and performance.  But sometimes in the shuffle we lose the joy.  It was nice to be reminded of how much FUN it can be.  Then following the most excellent rehearsal, I taught a Pump & Grind class.  I sweat. I shook. I danced my ass off.  It felt gooooood.

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