Two Left Feet Newsletter - July Issue

Congratulations To Boston South

Congratulations Boston South on taking home the Second Place title for Top Studio in the entire New England region! Thanks for making this year's Summer Sweepstakes so successful! With two teachers in the top ten, we are very proud of all our students, their enthusiasm and participation. Here is the official line-up after four weeks of some serious competition and lots of fun:
1.  Canton, CT
2.  Hanover, MA
3.  West Hartford, CT
4.  Springfield, MA
5.  Hamden, CT
6.  Glastonbury, CT
7.  Trumbull, CT
8.  Belmont, MA
9.  Worcester, MA
10. Norwood, MA
11. Providence, RI
12. Boston, MA
The contest here at Hanover was highlighted by our amazing theme parties, starting with the Medieval Party and the infamous castle. Following that we traveled around the world during our International party sampling everything from foreign cuisine to Bulgarian folk dancing. We also got to see Richard and Kristina perform an exciting Irish dancing routine. From there we moved down south for some good ol' Country Western, where we learned the Cotton Eyed Joe line dance. Mr. John Dorris taught us the basics of the Two Step. Deyan and Kristina performed the passionate Paso Doble.
The culmination of the month was the Black and White Ball on the 24th of June. Linda Auton danced the International style Foxtrot with Richard. Kristina danced the Salsa with Deyan and the Viennese Waltz with Richard. All and all, we had a ball! Be sure to check our gallery for the pictures from those parties. Still to be announced are the results for the top ten students.

Good Luck Competitors

The 40th Colonial Classic DanceSport Competition will be held at The Marriott Hotel in Cambridge, MA on August 12th & 13th. Everyone is looking forward to a weekend full of top notch dancing, lots of fun atmosphere and competitive excitement. The competition will start on Friday with the Solo's and Smooth Divisions, and continue in the evening with the Professional Division. Saturday will start with the International Standard and American Rhythm and end in the evening with the Grand Ball & Banquet featuring a spectacular performances and staff shows from the studios in New England. We would like to wish the best of luck to all our competitors! Go show them we are the best dancers with the most school spirit!

From Students to students

"They are offering free ballroom dance lessons this week and I want to be able to dance at my brother's wedding," said Misha. We were on a weeklong cruise and she had found it in the activities list. Having wanted to do this for years, I jumped at the chance and took her (Marti – my wife - came and watched). Each night after supper we went to the dance floor and were often the only ones there until they closed at l am. Misha had a great red dress and the second we showed up they would play “Lady in Red”.
As soon as we could organize our schedules and only six weeks before Scott's wedding, Marti, Misha and I signed up at the Fred Astaire Dance Studio of Hanover. Within five lessons my wife quit (just couldn't accept the concept of Sam Clemens quote - "spend like you've never been poor, eat like you've never been hungry and dance like nobody is watching."). I lost Misha to a very attentive schoolmate and foundered on alone, becoming more and more addicted.
Despite passing my Social Foundation level test, I still felt self-conscious and when there were constant requests to try a competition, (and not being the competitive type), I was reluctant to perform in front of strangers. Then I asked two of the teachers who were not involved in my training "Why should I compete?", they both said that it makes you raise the standards for yourself. With that type of comment, I signed up. My first competition, despite the fact that my hands vibrated the first hour (Christine loved it!), and I made lots of mistakes, and couldn't remember steps that I could do in my sleep, and forget to get fully dressed for the smooth competition, I did well.
The most encouraging part was getting compliments from teachers from other studios and coming home having found the warmest competitors ever. With each competition, my pleasure or displeasure is based on how well I think I danced, not the placing received, but I won't quit until I can't walk. I even dream about dancing.

Dance Spot – The Waltz

The Waltz dates back to the country folk dances of Bavaria, more than 400 years ago, but it was not introduced into society until 1812, when it made its appearance in English ballrooms. During the 16th century, it was simply danced as a round dance called the “volte”. In many of the dance history books, it is often stated that the “volte” made its first outside appearance in Italy, and then later on to France and Germany. In these early days, the Waltz had quite a few different names. Some of these names are The Society Waltz, The Redowa, The Boston and The Hop Waltz. When the Waltz was first introduced into the ballrooms of the world in the early 19th century, it was met with outraged indignation. People were shocked! A man dancing with his hand upon a lady's waist? No proper young maiden would compromise herself so. The waltz was thought to be a wicked thing.
The waltz did not become popular among the European middle class until the first decade of the 20th century. Until then, it was the cherished property of the aristocracy. Yet in the US, where there was no blue-blood caste, it was being danced by the citizenry as early as 1840. Immediately upon its' introduction in this country, the Waltz became one of the most popular of all American dances. It was also the only dance to survive the “ragtime revolution”. With the beginning of ragtime in 1910, the waltz slipped into second place in the public's fancy, being supplanted by the many walking strutting dances of that era. People who had not mastered the techniques and whirling patterns of the Waltz quickly learned the simple walking patterns, and so came the ragtime rage and the birth of the Foxtrot. In the latter part of the 19th century, composers were writing Waltzes to a slower tempo than that of the original Viennese Style. The box step, typical of the American Waltz, was being taught in the 1880's, and an even slower Waltz came into prominence in the early 1920s. The result is that we have three distinct tempos: (1) The Fast or Viennese Waltz, (2) The Medium Waltz and (3) The Slow Waltz - the last two being of American invention. The Waltz is a progressive and turning dance moving along the line of dance. The figures are designed for both a larger ballroom floor and the average night club floor. The use of sway and rise and fall highlight the smooth, lilting style of the Waltz. It now contains many open position movements as well as the use of syncopated rhythms to enhance the overall beauty of the American Style Waltz.

Events This Month

Who Is Deyan?

Born in Bulgaria, Deyan started ballroom dancing when he was 11 years-old against his will. The daughter of a family friend needed a dancing partner to take lessons at a local dance school and Deyan was drafted. After a year of dancing the girl quit but Deyan was hooked.
During his ten year competitive dancing career with partner Neli Boneva Deyan won The National Ten Dance Championships several times. Deyan began teaching ballroom dancing back in 1997 as a founding member of The Dance Sport Club “Tuida” in his home town of Sliven.
He graduated from university in 2002 with a Bachelor's degree in Finance and Banking and came over to the US as a management intern in Maine. In 2003 he married his fiancé Maya in New Hampshire and soon moved to Massachusetts to teach at Fred Astaire.
Deyan enjoys digital art and enters contests and other projects in that area now and then. He is a fan of Japanese animation and art and among his favorite artists are Yoshitaka Amano, Yoshitoshi ABe and Shirow Masamune. He can spend days playing video games, listening to techno music or reading science fiction books.
Deyan likes teaching and performing all dances, but he had the hardest time learning the Electric Slide when he moved to the US.

Dance Horoscope



Cancer, the Crab, likes tear jerkers, sad music and the Blues. They find their favorite music in the romantic songs of Italy, in which they love to involve their partner.