Two Left Feet Newsletter - April Issue
Dear Ginger
Dear Ginger,
I love to dance, socialize and meet new people. I often go to dances with the ladies from bingo. Many times, we meet men at the dances, but most of them are not very experienced dancers. What can we do?
I've recently been introduced to a very nice woman who lives near my home. I like her very much, but she seems very lonely and usually sits home by herself watching T.V. I know she doesn't know many people, and it would be so good for her to get out of the house more often. I'd like to help her, but I'm not sure how.
A new couple recently moved into our neighborhood. My husband and I like them very much and we've all gone out to dinner several times. The problem is that my husband and I like to make the evening complete by going dancing after dinner, but our friends don't know how to dance. What can we do?
The answer to all your problems is quite simple. Invite your friends to a Champagne Guest Party at the Fred Astaire Dance Studio of Hanover. The parties are held on the last Friday of the month, at 8:15 pm, and the next one is scheduled for Friday, 29th of April. The champagne, dancing and entertainment will make the evening a very special one. Your friends will thank you forever for introducing them to the world of dancing. Make your reservations today by calling 781-826-2500. Have a wonderful time!
From Students To Students
I can't believe it! 12 years ago my husband Bill and I received a telephone call from Fred Astaire in Hanover giving us some free lessons. Ballroom dancing had been on our “list of things to do together someday” so we said yes to the lessons. Within 9 months we had learned three steps in six dances well enough to really impress Bill's co-workers at the annual office Christmas party. Bill kept up the lessons for 4 years, then decided he had learned enough. However, I was bitten by the “dance bug” and wanted to go on. We still dance together at various functions and are continually asked if we are pro's! I went on to compete in many Fred Astaire competitions, doing American Smooth and Rhythm. Then I added and finally switched to International Latin and Standard. I now focus only on Standard. Unlike other dancers I know, I have only taken lessons at Fred Astaire in Hanover. Their teaching is always top notch. They know how to have a good time and Bill and I have really enjoyed their many events. I take advantage of visiting coaches as that way I have met, been coached by and danced with some of the top dancers in the world. So, why dance? What else can you learn in your spouse's arms and show off in public? Sounds divine to me!
Crazy Rumors
It is rumored that the World Dance and Dance Sport Council are approving a competition in Pisa, Italy, site of the famous leaning tower. This is a disconcerting thought, because it has recently been established that the “leaning tower” is no longer leaning… it is all the other buildings around it that are leaning! Apparently the people who live there all walk around in special shoes with one heel higher than the other. This not only presents serious problems in heel turns, but also will require the judges to wear mountain climbing boots, in order to prevent them from accidentally sliding from one side of the floor to the other.
Dance Quotes
Dance is your pulse, your heartbeat, your breathing. It's the rhythm of your life. Its the expression in time and movement, in happiness, joy, sadness and envy.
To dance is to be out of yourself, larger, more powerful, more beautiful. This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking.
Dance first. Think later. It's the natural order.
There is a bit of insanity in dancing that does everybody a great deal of good.
We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once.
I have no desire to prove anything by dancing. I just dance. I just put my feet in the air and move them around.
A dance is a measured pace, as a verse is a measured speech.
So you can't dance? Not at all? Not even one step? How can you say that you've taken any trouble to live when you won't even dance?
Aspire to greatness but remember: No one was ever assassinated for not making the finals of a dance competition.
Dance Spot – The Mambo
No other dance from south of the border has ever attained the instantaneous popularity that the zestful Mambo did when it was first introduced from Latin America. Across the nation, dancers who had never progressed beyond the Foxtrot and Waltz were clamoring for Mambo instruction. It was, and still is one of the most abandoned fun dances of all time.
No doubt, many of you will be surprised to learn that the evolution of the Mambo almost entirely the work of one man: Perez Prado. During the early 1930s', Latin style dance bands were coming increasingly often before American audiences. They were filling the air with Rumbas, Sambas, Tangos. Then in the 1950s', Perez Prado recorded a song called “Mambo Jambo” and the fun
was on. The Mambo can be danced according to the individual dancer's temperament. Conservative dancers can maintain a closed position, while the more daring can perform breakaway step and completely separate themselves from each other.
The Mambo is a dance that doesn't move along the line of dance. Steps are quite compact with the feet usually not more that 12 inches apart. Break steps, cross body leads, spins, and various body movements all add to the unlimited variety of movements that can be used for individual expression in the Mambo.
The Warm-Up - Why?
Although putting on an extra layer of clothing or turning up the heating in the studio may mean the dancer feels warm, this does not have the same effects on the body, as a good warm-up.
A good warm-up is a group of exercises performed immediately before an activity that provides the body with a period of adjustment from rest to exercise. It is designed to improve performance and reduce the chance of injury by preparing the dancer mentally as well as physically. A warm-up should have the following beneficial effects:
• To make the muscles more stretchy. This allows greater movement at the joints and reduces the risk of injury. Muscle elasticity depends on how much blood is running through it, so cold muscles with little blood in them are more likely to become injured or damaged.
• To make your breathing faster and deeper. This allows more oxygen to be breathed in and more carbon dioxide to be breathed out.
• To make your heart beat faster and stronger. This delivers more oxygen and glucose to the muscles. They are used as fuel to make energy, and then the muscles use this energy to create movement.
• To increase the internal body temperature. Capillaries in the skin will open up and so you will look more pink, or even red. You will also start sweating as the intensity of the exercise increases. The reason you sweat is to lose heat so that your body does not become dangerously hot inside.
• To allow your nerve fibres to work more efficiently. Messages carried down from the brain go to muscles, so these muscles will react faster and in a more coordinated way.
• To allow time to focus.
• To increase the range of movement available at joints. This is due to an increase in the elasticity of the tendons, muscles, ligaments and other connective tissues.
Check out May's Newsletter for how you should warm-up properly. /by Hazel Fish/
Events This Month
Saturday April 30th is the date of our Spring Showcase. It will be held here at the Hanover Studio from 6:00 pm till 10:00 pm. Make sure to reserve your seat as soon as you can, because the seating is limited. We have an Early Bird Special, which is $35 per person before April 15th. Price will be $45 per person after that date.
Due to the high interest in March, we are going to have a second month of Country Western Series in April. Classes will meet every Friday at 7:30 pm for five weeks starting on April 1st /and that's not a joke/. Cost is $62.50 per person; series must be completed within the month; no carry over to another month; no refunds after starting date; you may use 5 of your existing group classes.
Michele will teach the exciting “Two Step” and some Country Line Dances that she learned in Ohio, with her former partner Jeff Foxworthy. Boots, handkerchiefs and hats are not required, but highly appreciated.
Please don't hesitate to suggest the next month's series theme.
Dance Horoscope
Aries, the rams, are easily intoxicated by rock and roll, jazz, heavy metal and marching music. They like primitive forms of music. Stumping sounds drives them out of their mind. They have a special feeling for rhythm.
New Studio Rules
1. The dance instructor is always correct!
2. If the instructor is wrong, refer to rule # 1
