Practice Makes Perfect

Posted on September 10, 2015 by WildBill

The worlds of competition dancing and social dancing don’t overlap too much. Sometimes the studios where they learn do overlap, though. Wilddancer and wife took many lessons from another Senior Champion, James Kleinrath, at the now-extinct Imperial Ballroom in Redwood City, CA, where we frequently saw Winston and Lily Chow practicing. Their devotion and discipline were admirable, and it paid off when they won a Senior Championship. James told us that to become really good dancers, one needs to enjoy practicing. Perhaps that separates competition dancers from social dancers, because we did not have the time nor the attitude to do that much practice. And we wanted to be able to do a wider range of dances than most competitors can do, enabling us to dance in a wide range of venues to a wide range of music. Plus, the social dance floor is a whole different place, with dancers of all abilities that need to be avoided, while competitors normally can expect other competitors to obey the “rules of the road”.

2015 National Dance Day is July 25

Posted on July 22, 2015 by WildBill

If this is late July, it must be time for the annual National Dance Day celebration. You can see the background for this event on our original post. Yeah, we know that its scope is lots bigger than social couples dancing, but it’s a good excuse to get off your butt and move to the music. You can see more details here. Even better if you meet a special someone and see how romantic couples dancing can be. And then maybe you’ll be inspired to take a few lessons, and learn to move together as a couple.

Top Ten Car Tunes for Social Dancing

Posted on May 28, 2015 by WildBill

Some of the best songs written about cars are among the best ones for dancing, too. Wilddancer often gets asked by dancers (who’ve had some lessons, so they know the difference between an east coast and a west coast swing, for example) to recommend songs for bands or DJs to play for dancing. Here is our personal list, which fortunately includes seven different dance steps:
1. Cuda Janet (Plymouth Barracuda) by Wild Bill Coggshall (2014) – West Coast Swing
2. Pink Cadillac (Cadillac) by Bruce Springsteen (1984) – Hustle
3. Little GTO (Pontiac GTO) by Ronny and the Daytonas (1964) – East Coast Swing
4. One Piece at a Time (Cadillac) by Johnny Cash (1976) – Country 2-Step
5. Hot Rod Lincoln (Lincoln) by Commander Cody et al (1972) – 10-Step (this is a kind of polka that’s simple but fast; you can see it on YouTube
6. Mustang Sally (Ford Mustang) by Wilson Pickett (1966) – West Coast Swing
7. Little Deuce Coupe (1932 Ford) by Beach Boys (1963) – East Coast Swing
8. Little Red Corvette (Chevrolet Corvette) by Prince (1983) – Cha Cha
9. Jaguar and Thunderbird (Jaguar & Ford Thunderbird) by Chuck Berry – Country 2-Step
10. In My Merry Oldsmobile (Oldsmobile) by Bing Crosby – Viennese Waltz

Fusion Dance Mixes Ballroom with Other Dance Forms

Posted on July 23, 2014 by WildBill

Fans of ballet know what partnering means in ballet, which normally does not resemble social couples dancing. But now FJK Dance, the brainchild of Fadi J. Khoury, the Baghdad-born son of an Iraqi ballet director, is mixing ballet with ballroom, Middle Eastern, and jazz dance, including presenting “Tango Unframed” as part of a program at New York Live Arts on July 23 and 24, according to The New York Times.

Will Breakdance Replace Classic Ballet?

Posted on June 21, 2014 by WildBill

The spectators were drinking Red Bull instead champagne and the performers were wearing electic casual clothes not tutus and tights, but the dancing was incredible on June 20 at Chicago’s Opera House, on the opening night of the 2014 World Tour of the Flying Bach troupe. While there have for many years been interesting crossover music and dance combinations (jazz choral groups singing baroque songs come to mind), pairing the piano and harpsichord of Bach’s Well-Tempered Claviar with breakdancing (usually done to rap or Hip-Hop music) is a real stretch. Especially because the dancers, who usually have a straightforward beat to follow, now had to each follow a separate melody line of a fugue. And we wonder how much impact such performances will have on classic ballet. Ballet is more about women than men, but breakdancing is more of a male activity because of its demands on upper body strength. And to further add to the contrast, the 2014 schedule snubs New York and includes only Chicago for its 6 U.S. performances, but has 10 performances in Chile, 8 in Canada, 3 in Belgium, and 1 each in Azerbaijan and Qatar.

“All Men Must Dance” at Stanford’s Annual Big Dance

Posted on May 8, 2014 by WildBill

Friday, May 9 at 9 pm the fun begins, and lasts until 6 am on Saturday. We’re not sure whether this year’s theme is a promise or a threat to male dancers. After all, they will have to do a LOT of leading (i.e., thinking), as well as moving, during the couples dances, which all experienced male dancers can attest is very tiring. In any case, this will be the 21st year that Stanford’s amazing Richard Powers has led this event, and doubtless at 6 am there will be a lot of dancers who are 10+ year veterans.

Mountain Winery Names Featured Beverage Wilddancer

Posted on April 24, 2014 by WildBill

From the Saratoga, CA-based Mountain Winery you can see the whole South Bay. We couldn’t resist attending their April 18 Country Roadhouse event, because it featured a proven country-western band called WANTED) But when marketing director Katelyn Studebaker found out what Wilddancer does, she immediately named their featured whiskey sour after us. And she had the dance floor well set up, with a lane around the outside for the dances that moved (mostly two-step and cowboy cha cha on April 18) and the center for swing and other dances that don’t move.

Creative Combination of Social and Competitive Dancing

Posted on March 31, 2014 by WildBill

Whether you’re already an enthusiastic social dancer, or just interested in an up-close look (from front row table seats) at world-class ballroom dancing, you might want to take advantage of a thoughtful “guided tour” during the San Francisco Open DanceSport Championships April 11-13 at the Marriott Hotel near the San Francisco Airport. Senior champs James Kleinrath and Melody Singleton, who have recently taken over the Imperial Ballroom in Redwood City (where Dancing with the Stars standout Anna Trebunskaya trained former San Francisco Forty Niners star Jerry Rice), will be the tour guides. Top dancers in all four divisions will be dancing Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, Viennese Waltz, Quickstep, Rumba, Cha Cha, Swing, Bolero, Jive, Paso Doble, Mambo, Samba and more. Because the worlds of social and competitive dancing have recently grown apart, and because competitors are now being groomed (mostly outside the United States) to compete from an early age, these two worlds rarely overlap. Wilddancer believes taking advantage of local opportunities for promotion is all too rare in both the ballroom and country-western dance worlds, so applaud the creativity of James and Melody …who are exceptions, having started as social dancers, and are imparting their skills to social dancers. And if the past is a guide, there will be some opportunity to do social dancing during breaks in the competition, with a nice large floor and great dance music. The $50 tour will start at 8 pm on Sunday, April 13, and there is an optional dinner nearby starting at 5:30 pm. Contact James Kleinrath, at 650-591-6757 or jameskleinrath@hotmail.com.

Dancing Combats Sedentary Ills

Posted on February 28, 2014 by WildBill

“Sitting is the new smoking”. Two recent studies show the ill effects of lack of movement. In January 2014, a Kaiser Permanente study of over 82,000 age 45+ men found that men who sat 5+ hours beyond their regular workday were two times more likely to have heart failure than those who sat for 2 hours or less and were more physically active. And in February 2014 a study of about 2,300 age 60+ people published on February 19 in the Journal of Physical Activity & Health, and reported in numerous periodicals such as the Los Angeles Times showed that even people who get regular moderate exercise need to avoid spending too much of the rest of their time sitting. According to the study you are likely to be more sedentary if you are older, male, more educated, less wealthy, being a smoker, and having a chronic illness. Scarily, the study found that the odds of disability were 1.52 times greater for every one hour increase in sedentary time. It’s too bad that men have a harder time learning to dance than women, but guys you have to “man up”, take more lessons, and get out on the dance floor. And if you want to replace your current moderate (or heavy) exercise regimen with one that is more fun, be aware that dancing can be very hearty exercise (have a look at the “Physical demands” section of the Dancesport topic at Wikipedia).

Real Men Dance: New Cuban Fury Movie

Posted on February 14, 2014 by WildBill

Social couples dancing smacks of romance. What better day than Valentine’s Day to release a movie that could significantly boost interest in salsa. Salsa combines hot moves (hey, it originated in Latin America) with plenty of exercise, and is already the latest worldwide social couples dance craze. A British movie specifically timed for release today might be the next big dance movie hit. It’s a comedy, but shows that anybody can learn to dance. And there’s romance, so the learner is rewarded for his efforts. YouTube is full of trailers. Have a look .