Date Night Rhythms
Count Me In
by Jeffrey Pray on 02/08/12
I'm the guy. All the pressure is on me to lead all these dance moves. It's a huge responsibility. I'm thinking that opening a door for a lady and leading her in dance are still revered as a good thing, a carry over from the old days. For that I'm glad.
Even though I am responsible for the lead, I really, really rely on my partner, Glenda. Something I share with everyone in our studio, is how to get the dance started. Because Glenda knows music so much better than me, she will count me in. If it's a Rumba, she will quietly repeat (quietly so as not to blow my cover that I'm not the best music counter) "slow- quick quick - slow- quick quick" until I pull the trigger. In the Salsa, she will repeat 1,2,3... 5,6,7. But remember, the guy starts it, so lady's you may have to repeat that count a couple of times until we're ready to go.
So my advice is to work together and get off on the right foot. Actually, it's the left foot for us guys.
When a Light Goes On
by Jeffrey Pray on 01/22/12
Earlier this week we had an entire family in the studio to learn the Jitterbug before they all went on a big vacation. With four couples and three kids, it made for a great private group session. They are truly a Rock n Roll family.
We spent a good hour..... wait, let me rephrase that. We had a blast with this family for several reasons: they were out to have fun, they knew music - big time, and they danced to some great Rock n Roll tunes.
Even though it's a great time, I know that it can be frustrating to learn a dance step. Believe me, Glenda has thrown the yellow flag on me more than once for "un-sportsmen like conduct" when I would get frustrated learning a new dance step. Fortunately, I think there are fewer flags these days.
It is always interesting and sometimes challenging to find different ways to teach different people a dance step. Sometimes I use analogies with the guys, like basketball pivots, fishing reels, crushing bugs and even starting the lawnmower to convey the motion or action I'm looking for in a dance step. The same was true in this Jitterbug class, and it was fun to see the "light go on" when one of the couples who had been struggling to "skin the cat", nailed it. They are in for a great time on their vacation.
Calico Skies Vineyard and Winery
by Jeffrey Pray on 01/18/12
On Saturday afternoon we took a drive into the Iowa countryside. As usual, I kind of knew where it was - not Iowa, the vineyard. With nothing more than my frontier instincts we spotted Calico on a beautiful hillside, just a mile east of the Big Sioux River off Highway 18. OK, there might have been some googling involved, but for the most part it was my frontier instincts.
If it wasn't like 20 degrees, you would've sworn you were in California wine country! Calico has a great wine bar and the owners are great hosts that know their stuff. We enjoyed their wine enough to buy 5 bottles. We've been telling our friends about the place in hopes of getting a group together for the next "Murder in the Juice Joint" dinner. Since they already sold out their January dinner, we are hoping to get in on the next one...
So last Saturday wasn't really a Date Night, it was a Date Day. A good one. If your'e looking for a great Date Day, check these guys out at http://www.calicoskieswine.com/index.html.
Blog Alert
by Jeffrey Pray on 01/17/12
I will share our experiences on and off the dance floor - nothing more than PG stuff. OK, maybe a PG13 will show up once in while, but that's it, I promise. Glenda and I interact with a lot of people at Date Night Dance Company in our studio, at other studios when we take lessons and at real live honest to gosh dances.
I'm keeping this first blog short because we are out the door in 15 minutes to teach our Wedding Dance class tonight. We have four great couples in class tonight for Jitterbug, Cha Cha, and Nightclub 2-step.
