Daniel and I thank–belatedly but no less enthusiastically–Eddie Ares and Chasity Smith from Academy Ballroom Atlanta for coming to Macon this past Sunday to teach a workshop for us at the Howard Community Club. Last year at Stars Over Macon, Eddie offered to come and give us a workshop. The scheduling turned out to be the biggest challenge, but once we fixed on a date, it all ran like clockwork. Even the rain that fell steadily throughout Sunday afternoon and evening didn’t keep people away. Between 25 and 30 people attended and learned from Eddie about creating impact and visual interest in their dancing by making fairly simple changes: rotating when doing box steps in rumba, for instance, or alternating box steps with cross-body leads. As Eddie pointed out, even social dancers want to look great on the floor and attract people’s attention. The easiest way to do that is by staying in motion and showing spectators every angle of the body. He taught everyone a simple but impressive-looking routine with some elements of styling for extra polish and visual appeal. It was a great learning experience and a wonderful exposure to high-level instruction for those of us who would usually have to travel at least an hour up the highway to get it!
Best of all, Eddie suggested that he might be able to organize more workshops here in Macon with other instructors from Academy. These are still in the early planning stages, but we’ll keep you posted as more information becomes available.