Continue reading »]]>

Not really. (Do you see a pattern developing here?)  But it turns out that Team LaJack is prominently (albeit facelessly) featured in the TV ad for Dancing Stars of Central Georgia!  Finally I understand why the DWTS pros go to the trouble of dressing cute and putting makeup on for rehearsals.  Our friend Sheree’ saw the ad Sunday afternoon on Fox during the NASCAR race; then I saw it last night while watching Castle on the DVR.  Then in class today one of my students said “Dr. Thomason, I think I saw you on TV!”  I definitely feel famous . . .

Continue reading »]]>

This weekend in conjunction with the annual Cherry Blossom Festival, the Macon Friends of the Library held their annual Old Book Sale.  They sell donated books and library books that have been taken out of circulation at fantastic prices.  I never have any luck going to the sale with a specific agenda, but it is one of the world’s great opportunities to cruise around, see what you can see, and then feel good about buying it because it’s only $1.  Last time I went, I stacked up so many books that I required a box to haul them to my car.  This time, I only bought 3 things.  Two are irrelevant to the present topic but the third one is a total gem.  You see, I was inspired by Adult Beginner‘s recent forays into ballet-book-buying and ballet-book-borrowing to ransack the “Dance and Theatre” section.  Of course, the section was 95% theatre stuff–mostly plays, a few books on set design, lighting, the inevitable 100 Best Monologues for Teens or similar, and one volume titled Now Hiring: Theatre.  I didn’t open that one but I imagine that all the pages simply said “BWAH hahahahahahaha just kidding!”

However, mixed in with the odd No Fear Shakespeare and Four Plays by Ibsen and so on, I found this gem:

How to Become a Good Dancer

Yes, that’s How to Become a Good Dancer by Arthur Murray, with Dance Secrets by Kathryn Murray (Mrs. Arthur), and delicious midcentury illustrations by Lealand Gustavson, may his name be praised. Click through for more photos!

Click each image to enlarge. The book promises a coupon for 2 free Arthur Murray lessons, which is still intact on the back page, and a set of paper footprints for laying out step patterns. Those, sadly, are missing. But this book is a gem.

Title page

"Dancing is conversation to music!"

"The First Step"

"This position is WRONG."

So many ways to go wrong...

1954: when men were men and women were "girls."

'Nuff said.

Mrs. Murray's section features special exercises for the ladies--er, "girls."

"Dance Etiquette"

Cures bashfulness!

Continue reading »]]>

Just had to reproduce this exchange with my Twitter friend The Original Turtle (@the_turtle):

@nicole_sauvage: Need bigger house for working out choreography. #firstworldproblems #dancerproblems

@the_turtle: @nicole_sauvage the weather is getting better… You could use the driveway!

@nicole_sauvage: @the_turtle True fact! Would not be the weirdest thing ever seen on this street.

@the_turtle: @nicole_sauvage in Buenos Aires, they tango in the streets. I assume they stop traffic for it.

@nicole_sauvage: @the_turtle Only for the good dancers. It’s a convenient means of quality control.

@the_turtle: @nicole_sauvage yeah, but with the right tango heels you could but a serious dent in the hood of somebody’s car in Buenos Aires…

@nicole_sauvage: @the_turtle I really like the way you think.

Continue reading »]]>

Daniel and I had to stay busy between meeting our Dancing Stars partners and finding out the dances we’d been assigned, so last Sunday we spent the afternoon at the Macon Museum of Arts and Sciences’ “Instrument Petting Zoo” event.  The event is an annual collaboration between the Museum and the Mercer/Macon Youth Orchestra and it’s designed to introduce young children (preschool/early elementary) to classical music and musical instruments.  This year, small ensembles from the orchestra played some dance selections (a pair of “Renaissance dances,” a waltz, a sarabande, a tango, and a samba) and the manager wanted to showcase some dancing along with the music.  She contacted Ms. Madison who put Daniel and me on the case as well as choreographing a number herself.  We rallied the troops from our group class and from Got Dance? Move It! so there was plenty of participation.

The Madison Studio’s junior performance ensemble performed beautifully to the “Renaissance Dances.”  Daniel and I danced the waltz; then Daniel partnered our student Megan and two of the GDMI dancers joined them for the tango.  Another GDMI member choreographed a gorgeous contemporary piece for the sarabande, and all of us closed out the program with some audience participation to the samba.  We did 3 performances over the course of the afternoon with an almost-full house for every one.  Got effusive compliments from the orchestra manager (Hi Connie!  Thanks!), a few museum higher-ups, and some audience members.  Most of all we were incredibly proud of the GDMI dancers.  They are so game and energetic and up for anything.  We salute them!

Continue reading »]]>

Several people asked us for details about our participation in the Atlanta Dance Classic competition next weekend. The venue is the Westin Peachtree Plaza, 210 Peachtree Street, Atlanta 30303. We are dancing several American Smooth heats Friday morning in the 11:00 hour, then we will do our rumba exhibition number during the evening session. There’s no charge for spectator admission during the day but a ticket for the evening session is $35. We’re also dancing American Rhythm during the day Saturday; most of our heats are during the 1:00 hour.

The website for the competition is www.atlantadanceclassic.com. I’ll put this information on our website and also on Facebook. We would love it if you could come and cheer us on! These competitions are always fun, high-energy events. You are sure to see some great dancing!

Continue reading »]]>

I’ve just updated the “Local Dance Opportunities” page with

• 3 special events happening this month,
• the date for this year’s Stars Over Macon in October, and
• a “weekly events” section.

Seriously, if you’re not finding enough times and places to dance around town, maybe you are not trying hard enough.  Or not spending enough time on this website?

Continue reading »]]>

Our class is learning the cha-cha–and also learning how hard it can be to do the steps accurately AND up to tempo. (If they’re anything like me, it’s usually one or the other…) Last night I downloaded my favorite slow/practice cha-cha song. Click and enjoy!

In other news, it became known in class last night that I have never seen Saturday Night Fever.  How egregious is this omission for someone who will watch practically any movie with dancing in it*?  I’ve also never seen Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (whence “Represent Cuba”), but that seems less embarrassing somehow. I have seen Take the Lead, Mad Hot Ballroom, Shall We Dance (both versions), Scent of a Woman, Strictly Ballroom, and numerous ballet movies, good, bad, and indifferent.

Dance-movie suggestions and cult-favorite song choices welcomed in comments.

*Exception: Black Swan, which I am still debating about.

Continue reading »]]>

First of all, let me say thank you once again to everybody who came out to our monthly-dance-turned-Daniel’s-birthday-party last night.  It was a ton of fun, Daniel was delighted, and we will be eating the leftover snacks for days!  Extra shout-outs to one couple (you know who you are) for bravely attending your first social dance EVER.  It only gets easier from here!

Now, then (weird transition phrase, that).  After finally watching Monday’s Dancing with the Stars sometime around Wednesday night–DVR is a necessity for the overscheduled–and seeing Kirstie Alley’s much-discussed fall, I realized I didn’t want to be the only dance blogger not to, well, discuss it.  So: my thoughts, let me show you them.

I thought Maks was incredibly professional in the way he handled the whole thing.  He immediately cued Kirstie back into the routine by listening to the music and taking a position that told her where they would pick up in the choreography.  Then, once it was over, he took full responsibility for the fall–although Kirstie chimed in on Twitter and said “Maks is too humble; we all know it takes two to tango.”  But as Daniel always reminds beginner gentlemen, the man is in charge on the dance floor but that means he has to take the blame if something goes wrong.

As for Kirstie, I’ve been impressed by her performances anyway, but the way she rose to the occasion of dancing the rest of her routine really knocked my socks off.  That’s where her professionalism–born, I assume, of a long show-business career–stood her in good stead.  Adrenaline can sometimes be your friend too: the worst has already happened, your body is buzzing from dealing with the sudden and unexpected, and stopping is not really an option, so why bother being cautious or anxious through the rest of the routine?

I worry that some people will look at the fall, think “Oh, that happened because Kirstie is too fat” and conclude that people who are not already at a healthy weight shouldn’t be dancing.  Granted, Kirstie is not a 90-pound sylph, but few people are.  Kirstie’s weight cannot have been an issue in that move, which (as she and Maks pointed out later in the “celebriquarium”) they had rehearsed a million times.  Maks wouldn’t have put it in the choreography if he didn’t think they could both accomplish it.  Ballroom dancing is impressively adaptable to people of all shapes and sizes; you don’t have to already be skinny and fit to start dancing or even to dance at quite a high level.  It is also–as DWTS has shown repeatedly–an excellent way to get in shape and lose weight if that’s your goal.

People forget, when they see dance performances in their final state, that hours of blood, toil, tears, and sweat go into perfecting those performances.  To me, Kirstie’s fall was merely an instance in which that hard work momentarily became visible in the final product.  No one wants that to happen, but in a way I think it’s beneficial when it does.  Dancing seems to intimidate a lot of people because they think of it as a product of talent rather than effort.  I’ll give you a hint: it’s mostly effort.  Which is why, in the course of learning the rumba routine we danced for everybody last night, I elbowed Daniel in the forehead hard enough to make a sound (“thwock!”) and Daniel once snorted (by accident) right behind my head and made me burst out laughing.  Fortunately, those things happened in lessons and not in a performance.  Kirstie and Maks did exactly the right thing when they just got up and kept going as if nothing had happened.  That’s the part we could learn from.  Daniel and I are both guilty of letting minor mishaps show on our faces when they would probably have gone unnoticed otherwise.  It’s something we should work on so that if we ever have a major mishap on the floor, we have the wherewithal to follow Kirstie & Maks’s example and just keep going.

Continue reading »]]>

Okay, fans, click through for video of our Smooth heats at this past Saturday’s Garden City Dance Challenge in Augusta.  Tomorrow I’ll post the Rhythm heats and our solo showcase!

Huge thanks to my mom for being our videographer.  Next time we will teach you how to use the zoom and maybe even give you a tripod!