BALLROOM
LESSONS
Classes are offered to both individuals and couples, per session or in a series, by appointment.
Private lessons are designed to go at your own pace, focusing on the ballroom dance style(s) you want to explore. We work with students of all ages and abilities, whether they are getting ready for competition, learning a specific dance for a special occasion, or simply just wanting to have fun!
BALLROOM DANCE STYLES
Foxtrot
The slow Foxtrot is a favorite among many ballroom dancers...think about the smooth dancing of Fred and Ginger. Once you learn the Foxtrot, you really feel like a dancer. Composed of fairly simple walking steps and side steps, the footwork timing is usually "slow, slow, quick, quick."
West Coast Swing
West Coast Swing is a form of swing dancing that is danced in a slot to moderate tempo blues, R&B and contemporary music. It is the smother, sexier version of the swing dance family. Its basic patterns are both 6 and 8 beats, but those patterns can be varied by +/- 2 beat increments. It's characteristically highly musical and can adopt many nuances from other forms of dance.
Salsa
Salsa is a popular form of social dance that originated in New York with strong influences from Latin America. In many styles of salsa dancing, as a dancer shifts their weight by stepping, the upper body remains level and nearly unaffected by the weight changes.
Rumba
Full of sensual movements, the Rumba is considered by many to be the sexiest of the ballroom dances. The basic rhythm of the Rumba is quick-quick-slow with distinctive side-to-side hip movements. These hip movements and characteristic sways of the Rumba are generated by the bending and straightening of the knees.
Swing
Lively and flirtatious, the Cha Cha is full of passion and energy. The Cha Cha requires small steps and lots of hip motion (Cuban motion), as it is danced in 4/4 time.
Tango
One of the most fascinating of all dances, the tango is a sensual ballroom dance that originated in South America in the early twentieth century. Tango is usually performed by a man and a woman, expressing an element of romance in their synchronized movements. Many people are familiar with "ballroom tango," characterized by strong, dramatic head snaps.Argentine Tango is a much more intimate style of the modern Tango.
Swing
This dance (and all contemporary Swing) has its roots with the Lindy Hop dances done at the great Savoy Ballroom in Harlem in the 1920’s and 1930’s. East Coast Swing is an energetic, fast dance, done usually with triple steps and rock steps to Big Band or contemporary music that ‘swings’.
Waltz
The waltz is characterized by rise and fall, and sway actions. The feet stay in contact with the floor, creating a smooth, gliding look.. A truly romantic dance, the Waltz is comprised of soft, round, flowing movements.
Disco
Disco is based on the Hustle, an American dance which originated in the 1970s. It is traditionally danced to club hits of both the 1970s as well as contemporary times. The dance is designed to be highly dynamic, flashy, and powerful. Although it's movement history is rooted in a 6 count basic, the final form of the dance is a 3 count basic with some extended patterns and syncopations.