http://www.metronews.ca/halifax/learn/article/273564–local-schools-make-it-easy-to-put-on-your-dancing-shoes

Local schools make it easy to put on your dancing shoes
LEYLA EMORY
FOR METRO CANADA
August 05, 2009 2:13 a.m.

Thanks to the onslaught of reality TV dance shows, the answer to So You Think You Can Dance? is ‘Yes.’

“A lot of people have always wanted to learn how to dance but didn’t feel it was right for them,” says Sharon Galor, owner of Toronto Dance Salsa Inc. “Then they see it on TV and think, why not?”

Specializing in beginners, Toronto Dance Salsa has grown from 300 to 1,500 students a semester within the past five years. Galor is particularly thankful to Dancing with the Stars. “You’re taking someone who’s never danced before and within a few weeks you’re seeing them progress. It’s really inspiring to watch.”

It’s a progression she tries to emulate in the nine-week course. “You start off as an absolute beginner, meaning you don’t even know the basic steps. We go through teaching basic steps into basic turns into combinations and by the end of the month, you can feel comfortable going out to a salsa club or a social event and being able to actually dance to the songs.”

Classes are made up of 40 people and can be taken in a couple or as an individual.
Ilona Kamecki, owner and teacher of Dance District, agrees that group dances are a lot of fun but offers a more individual approach. “I prefer people to have at least three or four private lessons before they go to any clubs,” says Kamecki. “First, they need to learn about themselves and who they are on the dance floor, (and) what kind of mistakes they’re making and how to correct them.”

But the bottom line is having fun. Like most dance schools in the city, both Toronto Dance Salsa and Dance District have dance parties anywhere from once a week to once a month, where their students can put their moves into play.

“People don’t realize how much dancing can give them,” says Kamecki. “The opportunity to dance with someone and be close and talk is a very important part of our lives.”

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Preparing For Your Private Lesson

By: Evan Carmichael

In order to get the most from your private lesson it is important to prepare in advance what you are need help with.

Most students take a private lesson for one of two reasons – either to catch up on a lesson that they missed or clean up and work on a particular part of their dancing.

In either case, before coming to your instructor you should analyze your dancing and think about the areas you want to improve in. Here are some of the factors you might want to consider:

• Was there a move in class that you had a particularly hard time learning?
• Would you like to improve your styling skills?
• Do you need help with leading / following the different moves?
• Would you like to learn a new, more advanced turn pattern?
• Can you pick up the beats in the music and dance on time?

You should go in to your private lesson with at least one thing that you would like to improve on. You can also have your instructor dance with you at the beginning of the lesson and ask for his / her opinion about what you need to improve on. Getting this objective advice from an expert will only serve to make you a better dancer.

The more you prepare for your lesson the more likely you will get the specific help you need to take your dancing to the next level!

Good luck!

The post Evan’s Private Lesson Tip #4 appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.

Private Lessons – Part 3: Bring a Camera

Guest writer: Evan Carmichael

When you are doing a private lesson I have said that you typically learn three times as quickly as in a regular class. In other words, in one hour of a private lesson you will know how to do what ordinarily takes you three hours to learn in group classes.

It can be hard to remember all the moves that you go over in a private lesson and if you don’t practice you will forget it. It’s also easy to forget the exact way a move is done. Because you are expected to practice at home, you don’t get as much time with the instructor to practice during the private. Chances are you are going to forget some of the exact footwork and body work and end up practicing the moves incorrectly.

A great way to prevent this is to bring a camera to your private lesson. Ask your instructor if, at the end of the private lesson, you can record the moves that you learned over the hour long session. The best way to do it is to have the instructor call out the move and then proceed to demonstrate it in slow motion as well as in real time. This will give you a good understanding of exactly how the moves should look.

Most instructors will not have a problem if you record the summary session. It will help you absorb the information better and will make you a better dancer. They might ask you to keep it to yourself and not post it on YouTube and other video-sharing websites, which is a reasonable request.

By bringing a camera and recording the moves you have a way to practice the exact motions so you do not make a mistake and you can etch it into your muscle memory. Remember that practice makes perfect but you need to practice the correct way of doing the moves so remember to bring a camera to the next private you go to!

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Guest Write: Kimberly Robison

Article: What Women Want

Put a bunch of salsa affictionadas at the same table, and you’re bound to get an energetic conversation full of opinions. The conversation last night lead to a discussion about leading and following. Our conclusion was the more the leaders learn and advance, the more the followers can’t keep up.

Let me back up.

As the salsa bug takes over the leader’s heart, he starts taking private lessons, salsa workshops and goes to all the salsa congresses, picking up amazing turn patterns and awesome checks. Of course he can’t wait to try them out on the dance floor. Like a skilled orchestra conductor he masterfully waves his hands to lead triple turns, contortionist arm movements and coca-colas that are anything but vanilla. It’s all supposed to look beautiful, just like the instructor showed. The leader looks expectantly at the girl, with a twinkle in his eye thinking she should be impressed, but in reality she looks like she’s either about to trip over her own feet or pass out from dizziness and exhaustion.

A music composer may be able to write brilliant musical melodies and harmonies on paper, but unless he actually plays an instrument, he can’t be certain that the music will be playable. There are only so many fingers on a hand and keys on a piano. Hands can only stretch so far and fingers can only move so fast. There are limits. The same thing goes with dancing. While in theory, these fantastic dance moves should work, they don’t necessarily work in a salsa club. Salsa is all about timing. This goes for the music and it goes for the dance as a whole. Though a follower may appreciate a high-intensity dance, there are times when she would like some smoothness and playfulness and variation.

Sometimes both leaders and followers forget that salsa is a partner dance. It’s not about showing off what skills YOU have, it’s about working together to make both of you shine. The only way to truly understand just what a leader or follower goes through is to swap roles. You may feel like you’re starting from scratch as you go back to the basics, but at least you will fully understand and even learn to appreciate the other half of salsa.

Even with greatness, it’s always better to eat humble pie than take a turn down arrogance lane. Once you’ve mastered leading, try to master following and you’re guaranteed to not only learn how to lead better, you’ll become a well rounded salsero and make the dance enjoyable for all!

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Private Lessons – Part 1: Getting Ready

Guest writer: Evan Carmichael

Yesterday evening I helped one of our new Toronto Dance Salsa students prepare for the new semester by doing a private lesson with her. We went over the salsa basics and part of Level 1 and I thought it would be a useful exercise to write about a great idea she had.

The first thing she did when she came in was pull out a pad of paper and a pen so she could take notes at the end of the private. Once our lesson was complete she took notes on what we had learned. She wrote down the names of the moves and the important things to remember for each one. I was impressed!

Learning salsa involves a lot of practice until you can get it into muscle memory. When you take a private lesson it’s easy to learn a lot very quickly and then forget it the next day. If you don’t practice you won’t remember. By writing down what you learned you are more likely to remember when you are practicing at home so you are better prepared for the next time you go out.

A good rule of thumb is to practice what you learned in a private lesson immediately again when you get home to cement the muscle memory. Practice again the next day and as much as you can throughout the week. Even if it’s only for a few minutes or while washing the dishes, practice makes perfect!

So the next time you take a private lesson or even a group class, bring a pad of paper and a pen to write down what you learned and what the most important things to remember are. You’ll remember the right way to do the move a lot more clearly and become a much better dancer as a result!

Good luck!

Evan Carmichael

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So yesterday I discussed the pros and cons of private lessons. Here is the same for group salsa classes:

Group classes – The main benefits to group classes is that they are a more realistic environment. You are dancing with those at approximately the same skill level so that there are no surprises when you get to the clubs. Also the pace is usually slow enough that there is a lot of time for practice and muscle memory. Repeating each new move or exercise throughly really is the key to progression. The class environment allows you to meet other students which is especially useful if you don’t have a dance partner. You can meet a potential future dance partners or even new friends to go salsa dancing with together. Group classes are also really fun. The energy of the group can really inspire you to improve and continue and it is really a fun, relaxing environment.

Now there are cons to group classes when compared to privates. You can develop bad habits with regards to leading/following. The pace is not catered to you personally so you have to go to the group pace. Lastly the schedule is not flexible as private lessons – you will usually have to attend classes at the same time weekly.

So which is better? Well it depends on your budget, schedule and personality. My best suggestion in general is to do the group classes and after every semester take a private lesson to clean up your bad habits, firm up your skills and be prepared fully for the next semester. It is a great strategy that several of my students use and it really assists them in their progression.

The post Private Lessons vs Group Lessons – Pt 2 appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.

To complement yesterdays blog entry on group salsa classes vs. club classes, I thought it would be a good idea to discuss private lessons vs group lessons. I receive many questions regarding this topic – which is better?

I believe both have an importance on a student’s development. It doesn’t actually have to be a choice of one or the other unless there are budget constraints. Here are the pros and cons:

Private Lessons – Obviously privates are a lot more expensive than group classes. Group classes range from $12-$16 an hour in most studios in Toronto. Private lessons range from $50-$100 an hour. Quite a leap. The benefit is the one on one attention you receive. When you dance with the instructor they can give you tips, advice and exercises that you would not get in class that are suited to your strengths and areas of improvement. It is a great environment for those who are hesitant about learning with or in front of others. The learning pace is also much faster. I estimate you will learn 3 times as much as in a group class. Also you don’t develop those terrible bad habits that you can in a group class that are so difficult to get rid of – privates tend to nip bad habits before they become a set part of your dancing.

However, it is an unrealistic environment. You are dancing with a professional who will lead/follow properly and you will have difficulty once you dance with someone of your own level, especially if you are a beginner. The space is also unrealistic. You get a studio all to yourself – it is spacious and quite and you will have no problems bumping into someone or listening. That is not the case once you get to a salsa club.

Tomorrow I will discuss the pros and cons of group classes and give you my opinion on how to work both into your learning schedule!

The post Private Lessons vs Group Lessons – Pt 1 appeared first on Toronto Dance Salsa.

Every time I teach a club class I worry about the quality of the lesson. It is hard for the students to hear and see, there are sometimes up to 80 people in the class and there is little in the way of assistance. In addition, everyone is at a different level. While we ask that only a certain level attend the class, we find that absolute beginners will take the class side by side to an advanced dancer. This makes it very difficult to teach properly. Because of this wide variance in skill level and the time constraints of trying to teach an interesting turn pattern in a short time, the quality suffers.

A group class allows for a weekly progression and there is time to focus on important exercises such as leading and following, musicality and timing, body movement and more. There is time for repeat practice and the very important aspect of creating muscle memory. While the focus is less on a “cool turnpattern” and more of how to dance, it is more beneficial for a serious student.

This doesn’t mean that I don’t believe in club classes. I think they are an excellent way to come out a practice, meet new dance partners, experience different instructors and learn new moves. As long as you pair this up with the group classes or private lessons so that when you are quickly taught a turnpattern you already know how to lead it properly and musically.

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