SAMBA NITE SUCCESS!

Samba Nite was a huge success! We started with a bit of academic stuff about Brazil and the origins of Samba. After that, we were treated to a demonstration of drumming from Ray. Little did we know, but we were just about to become his backup band! One by one, more drums appeared and Ray taught us how to work with the samba beat. I think we were good....maybe we'll put together a CD...??

We ended with a lesson in dancing Ballroom-style samba, a whole different animal from the samba danced in the streets of Brazil during carnivals. I'm so proud that everyone picked up the routine really well. We did:
1. Box (1a2; 2a2; 3a2; 4a2)
2. Botofogas (5a2; 6a2; 7a2; 8a2)
3. Whisk (1a2; 2a2; 3a2; 4a2) - dont forget to change your direction on the last count!
4. Promenade samba walks (5a2; 6a2; 7a2; 8a2) - with a close of feet and face partner again on the last count.
...and you are back to the beginning to dance box again.

Thanks to everyone who came and all of the generosity!Along with the raffles and games, we raised 97.65GBP for Age Concern and had a lot of fun.

DANCE BEYOND IS TAKING A BREAK FOR THE SUMMER. I'M HEADING TO THE STATES TO COMPETE, SO I'LL BE KEEPING YOU POSTED ON EVERYTHING I'M UP TO OVER THERE. PLEASE DO WATCH THIS SPACE - SOME PRETTY FUN STUFF COMING UP....!!

Samba Nite!

This Friday night, I'll be holding a special Samba lesson as part of a mini-symposium on the Samba itself. You will have the chance to hear some authentic-style Brazilian Samba drumming as well learning the steps to dance.

Stuff to note:
- its £3 and all proceeds go to Age Concern
- we'll have some food and drink, but it would be great if you could bring a little gift to raffle (like a Secret Santa - everyone wins, yay!)
- starts at 7pm, ends at 9pm. If you'd like to, some of us will head to the Empire afterward to dance the night away!

Do rsvp to let us know if you can make it. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Dance Like the Stars Masterclass at Fitness First in Bangor

On Friday May 9th, Fitness First in Bangor organised a dance masterclass with me (!) to raise money for their favourite charity, The British Heart Foundation.

It was a superb event with a great turnout. By the end of the hour, we had a roomful of people dancing the flirty Cha Cha, the dramatic Tango, the beautiful Waltz and the crazy Jive!

Watch this space for news of my exciting Samba workshop coming up later this week....

WEEK 11 - May 7th 2008

Tonight we decided to change things up a bit and learn some jive. Its a less crazy version of the ballroom jive which you might have seen on TV, but its a lot of fun, especially because there's a wide variety of music that you can dance it to. The key is (and contrary to everything we've taught you before!), to NOT WORRY ABOUT YOUR FEET : ) Just go with the flow and have fun.

We gave you a 4 move routine:

1. SWIVELS IN TIME
Take a double hand hold with your partner, and both step back to indicate the start. Then, both partners swivel to your left, then to the right, and to the left again. Emphasise this with your arm movements. Leaders, raise your left arm (letting go of your follower with the right!); followers turn under the arm clockwise, and then turn anticlockwise to face your leader again. The whole move should take 8 counts, with each step I've described taking one count except for the turn, which takes 2 counts for each direction.

2. THE OPENING OUT
Again, leaders left to followers right hand hold and both partners step back (just not too far out!). Followers, take a step forward to the leaders right side and place your left hand on their right shoulder; leaders, drive your left hand down and you will see that this causes your follower to swivel out and face the same direction as you. To get your followers to return to face you again, pull your left hand up again. Leaders, raise that left hand a little higher - followers, again, turn clockwise over 2 counts, and anticlockwise over 2 counts. Fabulous.

3. CHANGING PLACES
This time, take a double hand hold and take a step back. Leaders, wrap your follower into your right side still holding both hands. Followers, you are turning anticlockwise, letting your right hand go over your head, so that you end up at the leaders side, and with your arms crossed. Leaders, let go with your right hand and turn to face your follower. Now its the leaders turn to wrap into the followers right side. This time, followers, let go of that right hand and turn to face the leader. For final change of place, followers repeat your move. You should end facing each other in a 2 hand hold.

4. AMERICAN SPIN
You may have seen this move before. Leaders, toss your followers right hand into your right hand (you could actually do this with style, by literally tossing your followers hand up into the air, and appearing to catch it with your right hand, a bit like juggling!). Drive your right hand forward to make your leader step back, then bring your hand forward to make them step forward, and create a cup shape with your hand....that's it! Your followers will spin themselves, otherwise, with an added push from you, you might just send them into orbit! Followers: when the leader makes their hand into a cup shape, make a fist (or ball shape) with your hand, and use the resistance of the leader to spin yourself clockwise. You don't even need to push against their hand. In fact, lets not try to push our leaders over!

End facing each other, and ready to begin again!

'Habitats for Humanity' night

Saturday May 3rd seemed to be THE night to get your dancing feet out and raise some cash for a good cause. I knew of three events being held to raise money to build homes and schools in places like Guatemala, Ghana and Uganda. We supported the 'Habitats for Humanity' event held at the Belfast Boat Club, to raise money to send volunteers to Guatemala.

It was a fantastic night, very well attended, with mini-lessons in salsa, bachata (we haven't taught you that one yet, but we will!), rueda and some fun dances.

I was thrilled to have had the chance to dance with Roy Blackstock, a ballroom and latin dance teacher, adjudicator and former all-Ireland Champion. We performed a show dance rumba to the song 'Nobody Knows' by The Tony Rich Project. It was tremendous fun!!

Enjoy the long weekend, and we hope to see you on Wednesday for more dancing dancing dancing!

WEEK 10 - April 30th 2008

Hey Everyone!

Thanks to everyone who came to class last night. Excellent effort by our visiting models - we'd love to have them come back! That was a lot of fun.

So last night we decided to add a touch of panache to our salsa. You will see dramatic dips and drops in salsa clubs wherever you go. We did attempt to demo a few of them, but as you saw, there are numerous variations and I admit that I chickened out of one particularly cool one! Maybe J and I will have time to practice so that we can show you next time. Anyway, we picked a couple of nice easy ones for you to keep and try for yourselves.

SHOW OFF YOUR PARTNER: Super easy one!

LEADERS: Take the ballroom hold with your partner and do 123 of a X-body. For 567, just turn your body (from the waist up only) toward your left. To get out of it, just rotate to the right, and put your follower back on their feet facing you!

FOLLOWERS: Now, I know that we talked about trusting your partner this week, but when you go out social dancing and you dance with someone you dont know, its safer to take responsibility for yourself. Its also a good idea when we are learning lifts, dips and drops. Besides, we want to make sure that we dont make our leaders carry us - thats just not nice!

Okay, so your steps: 123 of a X-body, but on 3, make sure that your weight is on your right foot, and that you are now FACING your partner. On 5 6 7, your leader will be rotating their body, which should make you look over your left shoulder (at the audience). Lower by bending your right leg - keep your left leg out straight, and most importantly, keep your body upright. DONT LEAN BACK otherwise your leader will lose balance. Essentially, you are crouching on one leg. To get out of it, your leader will rotate you back to starting position, so step onto your left leg and face your partner. You will be ready to start again, going back on your left.

THE LEAN: I love this one - simple and elegant, its just classy!

LEADERS:
Again, this is basically a X-body turn (aren't you glad we taught you that one?!!) but on 567, give your follower an outside turn (to the right), and make sure that you stay in that 'open' foot position and dont turn to face the opposite wall just yet. On counts 123, drape your followers hand over your head and shoulders (the comb), and then let go of their hand, and put your left arm around their waist to make them feel nice and secure (followers like that!). Now, all you need to do to create the 'lean', is to shift your weight over your right foot. Keep your body straight though, otherwise you'll end up with a funky looking line, and worse - you'll make it look like your follower is heavy :O !! The lean happens on 567; to get them back on their own feet again, shift your weight back to both feet. As you get better and better at this, you'll be able to go straight into a basic (forward left).

FOLLOWERS:
We are doing a X-body with a turn on 567. By the end on this, we should have our right arm draped attractively over our leaders shoulders, and we should be side by side with them. As you feel the leader shift to the right, keep your body as rigid as possible (think of how this will contribute to a washboard stomach!), keep your weight on both feet, but allow yourself to lean on your partner. Don't worry, they won't let you fall!

Now here, Followers, we can add a bit of style. You could put your left arm straight up, or across (parallel to the floor). You could even bend and lift the left knee (in ballet, this is called 'passe').

Your leader will then shift their weight back to both feet, which will allow you to step onto your left foot, and get you set up to go straight into a basic (back right).

We also danced the CHA CHA basic, as we did in week 8. This time, we added a new move called the NEW YORK (I have no idea why it is called that, and honestly, I've never met anyone who does!). The New York can be done after a basic. Start by facing your partner, weight on your right (leaders), or left (followers). Swing the other leg through and step on it, so that you are now both facing the same direction (leaders turn to the right, followers turn to the left). Now step onto that back foot again (leaders right; followers left), and do the side-close-side step. Timing (2-3-cha cha cha). You can repeat this move now on the other side (leaders - right foot through; followers - left foot through). Again, timing, 2-3-cha cha cha. From here, you can go straight back into the basic (leaders: forward left; followers: back right), or you can continue with the New York ad infinitum (although, I wouldn't recommend it...).

Thanks to everyone who danced with me for my birthday jam - that was cool!

Oh, we also forgot to mention - Jonathan and I danced in a salsa contest on Tuesday night for Salsa-ni, and we not only survived a bunch of elimination rounds, we placed 2nd!! This is the only picture we have so far of the night...hopefully more to come! See you all next week!