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Mercer Ballroom social dancing

Mercer Ballroom Club Winter Formal

Daniel and I had the dubious but real pleasure of being the oldest people at Mercer University Ballroom Club’s Winter Formal last night. To clarify: being an Old is a dubious pleasure but the dance was genuine fun! The club has really grown in just a few months and the students are already demonstrating everything that’s positive about ballroom dancing as a social activity. We saw them switching partners so everyone got to dance, showing each other steps, joining in all the line dances, and generally being excellent to each other. Plus, everybody looked really nice! I wore a simple black halter dress kindly given to me by CeCe (I want to be her when I grow up) and I was hardly even visible next to the young ladies in bright colors and curled hair. I love it when people love to dress up.

This is obviously a great group that is achieving the elusive goal of every dancer over 35, viz. Getting More Young People Involved. Ballroom dancing was only re-popularized within the last decade so there is still a big age gap. We need more young dancers and these folks are well on their way. Hooray!

Here is a link to some photos on Facebook. I’m not sure if they are publicly visible but hopefully the link will work even for non-FB users. Check it out. We hope to see the Mercer dancers again soon

Update! Mercer Ballroom Club now has its own website! Check it out!

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dance events dancing in the media faaaaaaaame!

Opportunity for Dance & Stardom

Looking for a chance to show off your swing moves, help promote Macon tourism, and become a video star? The Georgia Sports Hall of Fame brings us this news: On Friday, January 24 the Macon-Bibb Convention and Visitors Bureau is shooting a new video for use in their Visitors’ Center and looking for dancers to appear in it. It will be titled “What’s Shakin’ in Macon” and the dance scene will be a large group dance to Otis Redding’s “Shake,” this song rightchea:

They will be shooting at 5:00 p.m. in Cherry Street Plaza, and anyone can show up and participate. The CVB is offering refreshments and “Macon gifts” to everyone who joins in. You can call 478-743-1074 or email tbush@visitmacon.org with questions. We will definitely be there . . . will you?

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Friday Night Dance Parties social dancing USA Dance

USA Dance last weekend, our dance this weekend!

In case you missed it (did you know that’s become an abbreviation? ICYMI.), here’s a great video clip of Minwoo & Anna dancing the cha-cha step that Jim Riley taught us at USA Dance #6059’s monthly chapter dance this past Saturday. Gotta admit, that step was challenging. But it’s very cool once you put it all together. We had a great time that night.

Keeping the fun going, we are hosting our dance this coming weekend, Friday, Jan. 17. It’ll be at the Howard Community Club from 8-10:30 p.m. Casual dress, $5 admission, bring your song requests. We will be continuing our friendly dance competition, so if you would like to take home a Sparkly Trophy for the month, this could be your chance!  Hope to see you then!

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dancing in the media in other news social dancing

Bishops have shuddered!

Stumbled across this great piece from 100 years ago in the International Herald Tribune (until recently the international version of the New York Times). Seeing the scandalous reputation of the tango in its early days of popularity is always fun, especially since the tango dancers I know are some of the most morally upright people you’ll ever meet! We have a great Argentine tango group here in Macon that offers lessons at the Howard Community Club and milongas (practice dances) at a local hotel. I’d recommend joining I Heart Dancing Macon on Facebook if you are interested in checking out this group. We love to dance American-style ballroom tango but haven’t had a chance to immerse ourselves in Argentine tango yet. 

Here is a cool recent news story about American tango competitors if you’d like to see what Argentine tango looks like today. Would it cause your bishop to shudder?

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Friday Night Dance Parties lessons social dancing teaching

2014 Scheduling Update

For those who are still drafting their New Year’s resolutions, we are delaying our waltz lessons until February. The dates will be Feb. 16 and Feb. 23–two Sundays–4:00 to 5:30. Total cost for this “mini session” of classes is $45 per person.  Meanwhile, we will be hosting our monthly dance at the Howard Community Club on Friday, January 17 and then Friday, February 28 as scheduled.

I’ve got some more interesting dance news for this year but I’m waiting to make sure everything is finalized before I make it public. (teaser teaser teaser!)

By the way, do you like this new layout?

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exhibitions & performances Friday Night Dance Parties social dancing teaching

What’s up in 2014?

Well, DLDancers fans, we are hoping to make 2014 a BIG year that will see us back into competition after a hiatus that has gone on for too long!  Along the way, we will be

  • teaching the waltz January 5 and January 19 4:00-5:30 at Madison Studio, 1575 Forest Hill Road in Macon. The cost is $45 per person. Beginners are welcome and partners are not required.
  • continuing to teach the rumba each month at Shadows Dinner Theatre in downtown Macon starting in February. We are anticipating further collaborations with Shadows in 2014 as well and will keep you posted.
  • performing in an exhibition on February 13 at the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, presented by Paula East.
  • continuing to host our monthly dances at Howard Community Club. Here are the dates; mark your calendars!
Jan. 17
Feb. 28
March 7
April 25
May 23
June 27
July 25
Aug. 22
Sept. 26
Oct. 24
Nov. 28
Dec. 19

These dates are all Fridays but not all fourth Fridays. The time (8:00-10:30) and admission price ($5) will stay the same. We plan to keep up our friendly dance competition as well, so if you’ve ever wanted to take home a sparkly trophy, 2014 could be your year.

See you on the dancefloor!

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Friday Night Dance Parties

Post-Christmas/Pre-2014 Dance December 27

Just a quick note that we will host our monthly dance on Dec. 27 as usual. Time to burn off a few holiday calories and/or get an early start on your 2014 resolution to DANCE MORE.  8:00-10:30 p.m. at Howard Community Club, $5 admission, casual dress. Plus you can dance in our friendly competition and take home the sparkly trophy!  Hope to see you there.

Stay tuned for info about our plans for the new year!

Categories
dance events Linktastic social dancing

Bring your date to Shadows this weekend

Daniel and I will be returning to Shadows Dinner Theatre on Saturday, November 16 to teach a beginning rumba lesson and enjoy the great romantic atmosphere and delicious meal at Shadows’s “Date Night” event. It’s not too late to reserve a table for yourself and your sweetie! Call 478-321-7526, or you can reserve and pay directly from Shadows’s online calendar. Just click on “Date Night” and we’ll see you Saturday!

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MSDC teaching

Foxtrot in November

If you’ve been waiting for your chance to join our ballroom class at Madison Studio, November is your chance. We’ll be doing a short session of 2 classes (90 minutes each) in November focusing on the foxtrot. The dates are Sunday, November 3 and Sunday, November 10, 4:00-5:30 p.m. Learn a new dance and show it off at your Thanksgiving dinner! The cost is $45 per person for the session. You are welcome with or without a partner and with or without previous dance experience.  Please contact us by Friday, November 1 to confirm your participation and reserve your spot in the class.

More dance event announcements coming soon, so stay tuned!

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social dancing teaching

Dancing in the Shadows

Daniel and I were very excited to début at Shadows Dinner Theatre tonight as part of their monthly Date Night event. This gorgeous downtown venue (on 2nd Street between Poplar and Cherry) hosts interactive murder mystery dinners, private events for corporations, parties, and birthdays, and a special couples’ evening once a month–that’s Date Night. Couples share an intimate, elegant dinner in a romantic atmosphere,  have a professional photo taken to commemorate their evening, and enjoy a “date night” activity.  The couples present tonight got to learn the rumba from Daniel and me.  Everybody including us had a great time and we are already looking forward to teaching again next month.  Date Night is every third Saturday and the owner of Shadows has assured me that the website will be updated by Monday with November’s events. As soon as the calendar is set, you can book online via their Events page.  Be quick quick, not slow to check it out because seatings are limited.