Private lessons are a mystery to many dancers, not just the newbies. Veteran dancers tend to forget this valuable resource that can help guide them through the tough phases in their dance development and achieve their goals. Let’s demystify and help you understand exactly: Who can benefit from Private Lessons Why you should bother considering […]
Ever wondered what physiotherapist’s take on West Coast Swing would be? It’s not easy to find one that really understands the nature of social dancing and the specific actions involved in WCS. But we’ve got one! Meet Ruth Norgaard, our WCS student for the past 3 years, who treats us when we are broken. We […]
Are your music choices sabotaging your efforts to promote and develop West Coast Swing? The wide range of music we can dance West Coast Swing to attracts a variety of demographics across generations, cultures, and tastes. But for anyone who plays WCS music, in trying to promote and cater to certain audiences, it is important […]
I’m a bit of an overachiever. This is no surprise. I don’t see much point in “just doing enough”. But overachievers tend to overachieve in both quality and quantity, which have different advantages and…not disadvantages, but consequences. (obsessive pursuit of quality has the potential of leading to paralysis by analysis). Experts in any field have […]
Once your dancing stabilizes in one role (leader/follower), you might consider learning the opposite role. West Coast Swing is increasingly encouraging of ambi-dance-terity, channeling the teamwork aspect of the partnership rather than the relationship aspect. People venture here for a variety of reasons; 1. There’s a gender/role imbalance at their local dance scene and they […]
We all wish we could have started dancing earlier than we did. Just imagine what your teen years would have looked like if you had WCS in your pocket! Thanks to social media, the WCS demographic is getting younger, and there are more 20-somethings dancers than ever. Events and studios are wising up and starting […]
It seems kinda elite, at first glance. You see it on the schedule, but it only involves certain people, but there seems to be no rhyme or reason to who gets to do this mysterious contest. When I first started dancing I had all kinds of hypotheses about what “ProAm” was. Coming from the west […]
The longer you dance, the more embedded your habits become. You may have inadvertently adopted a style that is not only not what you intended, but is actually contrary to your personality and is holding you back. Your friends are too nice to tell you or aren’t able to explain it accurately enough to make […]
You may or may not be a dance teacher, but you might be someone who people look up to in your local dance community. Someone who rallies the troops, who encourages the newbies, who stays late to help out, who’s full of ideas and desire to build and grow their community so they have more […]
As creators of the Swing Literacy Development Method, we train teachers on a regular basis, and get asked all the time, “What do I need to do to start teaching?”. This question is quickly qualified with assuring statements like “I know I’m not advanced level yet, but there’s no one else in my town who […]
