Dance Lessons AZ

Dancing in the Rain!

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rsz_1rsz_20150714_183203 (2)Welcome to another beautiful day here at Dance FX Studios  in Mesa, Arizona. It is nice and overcast and though the Arizona heat brings humidity, the smell of rain fills the air and we can not help but get excited. Dancing is always fun in an indoor environment, but my personal favorite is dancing with my significant other in the rain or under the bright blanket of stars.

There are many relationship benefits to dancing, whether its a fun and sexy Salsa or an intimate and slow Nite Club, connecting with your partner creates romance and even some stress relief! Imagine you get home from work, it’s pouring rain and the last thing you want to do is drive anywhere. That bar you two usually spend your weekends Country dancing at is so far away! Take a note from the cliche chick flicks, grab your partner and dance your hearts out in the storm! Trust us when we say both of you will be giggling as you run back inside soaking wet. But will it be worth it? Yes!

Private dance lessons can help you build a new hobby as social dancers that both of you can enjoy inside or outside! At Dance FX Studios here in Mesa, Arizona we love helping our couples learn how to create a fun and exciting pastime that will spice up your relationship. Not only will you and your partner be in each other’s arms for the entirety of the lesson, but when you go outside to practice, your neighbors may be sneaking a jealous peek at the two of you through their window, wishing their partner would explore with them the amazing world that is dancing. Please do watch for cars on the road though… 😉

You or your partner may feel a bit weary of Country, Latin or Swing dancing if you have never done it before. This comes with all activities that involve a social atmosphere, but don’t fret, we can help with our New Student Offer for beginner’s dance lessons and once you two start dancing together, the whole world will be blocked out and you can focus on the love of your life right there in your arms. Your stress will fall off your shoulders and your night will end in laughter and love from your one and only.

Dancing together can truly be an amazing experience and will boost your relationship to another level that can only be felt through the connection of dance. The time you put in to learning a romantic activity pays off in the long run for your relationship. You will always want to dance together, even if it is just a simple spin on the kithen floor. When you are turning grey and can’t travel anymore, you can escape reality by pushing back the couches and swaying to the sound of your favorite song with the one person who took those dance lessons back in 2015 with you.

It is starting to rain outside so I may just grab my own partner and head out for a quick slow dance before the sun starts to shine. Maybe you should do the same and enjoy some time together!

Country Dancing AZ

Dancing To The Music!

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rsz_1rsz_dsc05818Do you go out social dancing here in Arizona? Do you maybe just sit and watch the dancers from the sidelines? When you watch people dance, you can automatically tell who the REALLY good dancers are, but you may not know exactly what draws your attention to them. They don’t always have the craziest moves (or outfits), but there is something unique about them. They may seem to have great chemistry or that they dance together often, but the most important piece is actually something you’re listening to… the MUSIC! Not only does their dancing seem natural and very smooth, but they are also using the music to guide their movements and interactions with each other. At Dance FX Studios, not only do we teach you how to lead and follow each other, but we also give you all the tools necessary to look smooth and natural on the dance floor which includes dancing on time to the music.

Dancing is an interpretation of music, which means that dancing to the music makes everything you do look that much better. Yes, I know, lots of people just see it as background noise that can be fun to dance to, but music does serve a purpose and can make you look even better as a dancer. It is easy to move as one and on beat if there is a shared comprehension of music.

First, of course, you have to know the rhythm of the dance. Is this song a Country Two Step, a Swing dance or is it something entirely different, like a Latin dance? Once you have a good foundation and your ear is trained, you can then move into dancing with the music. It is important to be in tune to the rhythm, melody and mood of a song so that you don’t seem stiff and disconnected when dancing.  If you have played an instrument before, you have a head start when it comes to developing your sense of musical sensitivity. If you haven’t, don’t fret! Musicality can be taught in your private dance lessons with us!

Now back to musicality. Musicality has two parts: receptivity and creativity. Receptivity is the ability to receive, comprehend, be sensitive to, and have a working knowledge of musical concepts like rhythm, tempo, phrasing, and even mood. Creativity is the ability to connect with accompanying music, interpret it, or phrase and add movement dynamics that relate to music even in the absence of accompaniment, in a way that is unique or interesting.

Learning to differentiate instruments will help you translate what you hear into movement, which will, in turn, give your Country or Latin dancing a more natural look.  As an exercise, find a song you like and listen to it as you normally would. Then play it again but listen only to one instrument, like the drum. Block out every other sound and just focus on the drum until the song is over. Repeat this exercise until every instrument in the song has been followed. Then, try different styles of music. To challenge yourself, look for music with varying time signatures, from other cultures, and outside of your normal range of music genres. When you are breaking a piece of music down, do you find yourself counting it out or just listening to the general flow of the song?  Sometimes counting is necessary, especially when understanding the rhythm of the dance steps, but fixating on counts can create a very mechanical looking dance. If you find yourself struggling to count, look for musical cues. Remember, one of our wonderful dance instructors here at Dance FX Studios will give you even more great tips on how to dance on time with the music. 🙂

Ultimately, musicality affects the movements you choose to do and create with your dance partner. It makes you more interesting to watch and definitely makes dancing more fun! Let us create a natural, unique dancer out of you. Come try our New Student Offer for Latin, Swing or Country dance lessons for beginners and get started on your journey to become a confident social dancer today.

Country Two Step lessons

Doing What Makes You Happy…Dance!

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Country Two Step lessons for beginnersI’m in Starbucks again today.  There are two men sitting across from me.  I like to watch people.  These gentlemen are speaking rather loudly, so I cannot help but over hear their conversation.  The men are talking about life and their beliefs.  It sounds like one is counseling the other on his ideal life.  I don’t quite see the happiness in the vision he portrays, but it makes me reflect on what each individual considers to be happiness.  We all are so very different.  One of my favorite versions of happiness is social dancing.

When I began social dancing as a profession (think Country dancing, Latin and Swing dancing), I received a lot of grief for it.  People did not see it as a real job.  They’ve been this way about many things in my life.  But, as those who know me know, I’m a free bird and must try things out for myself.  Over the past few years, I have tried to train my brain not to dwell on others opinions.  Dancing makes me happy.  I think it is important.  I wonder how many people out there haven’t begun dancing because they are afraid of what people will think of them.  They are postponing their own chance at happiness due to fear.

Here’s my advice to you, my dear.  Jump in.  Go for it.  I read an article once explaining how you know you are on to something good when you begin to receive resistance.  I think that is correct.  I think the best things in the world come with some kind of push back.  If you are interested in partner dancing, and you’re receiving some kind of negative or discouraging feedback, I encourage you to fight the negativity!  Take a leap of faith.  I can only begin to tell you of all the wonderful benefits of dance that you will experience when you cross over to the other side.

Give it a chance.  Take some time to relax, de-stress from your busy schedule, or do something fun for yourself. Country dancing, or Latin dancing can give you just that.  Maybe what you really have needed all along is a new hobby and the opportunity to meet new people. Perhaps you and your spouse are in need of a night out and some quality time together away from the kids or work.  Social dancing is perfect for adding a bit of romance to your relationship.  Whatever your reasoning is, don’t let fear prevent you from finding a little piece of heaven in dancing.

Dance FX Studios in Mesa, Arizona (where I teach) offers so many options for individuals or couples seeking to learn to social dance.  We have everything from Latin styles such as Salsa, Merengue, and Bachata to Country styles like the Arizona Two Step and Country Swing.  We also offer less genre specific styles such as West Coast Swing and Nite Club Two Step, so you’ll never be left without a song to dance to.  Whatever your style or preference, we can help you get on the dance floor.  You’ll have our support and encouragement the entire way.  Take part in our New Student Offer, and schedule your introductory dance lesson today.  We are open six days a week:  Monday through Friday from noon to 8pm, and Saturday 11am to 4pm.  I hope today is the day you do something good for yourself.  Take a chance and have some fun. 🙂

Country Swing Dancing AZ

Become A Confident Country Dancer!

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Country Swing Dancing in ArizonaNights out are often a lot of fun and generally spent with good friends! Not only do you get some good laughs and great memories, but you get to spend time with people you treasure. Have you ever been out with these same friends and felt left out? Sure, you enjoy Country music and love to go to the Country bars with your friends here in Arizona, but they know how to dance and often leave you sitting, watching, wishing that you could join in on the dance floor. They offered to teach you, but you believe that you have two left feet. Let us at Dance FX Studios in the Phoenix East Valley show you that you’re wrong! Over the last 15 years, we have taught all kinds of people to social dance, including couples and singles.

Now, to get started, you may have built up the courage to try one of those free classes that they offer in the Country bars. If that took you two steps back (no pun intended) confidence-wise, you’re not alone! It’s nearly impossible to learn to Country dance as a beginner in a group setting, with all of the others around you at different skill levels.  Sometimes those classes go by too quickly and all you really learn is the basic and then go out on the floor and the girl starts leading herself through moves. That’s frustrating! Let’s change your experience of dancing from this moment forward. Here at Dance FX Studios, we have a fun curriculum that can make a confident Country dancer out of you!

At Dance FX Studios, we teach LOTS of Country dancing, from the Two Step to Country Swing! We focus on taking a logical (but fun) approach to dance as we help you discover how to be a great leader or follower, and so much more! Our main priority is to help you to develop an awesome connection with anyone on the dance floor. We also want you to understand the rhythms of different Country dances and how to move on time with the music. Of course, you know you’ll learn all of the turns and spins that will help you to really shine out there too!

If you have visited several Country dance bars out here in Arizona, you know how crowded and wild things can be! We want to help you to see that Country dancing can be safe and fun, not just for yourself, but for your dance partner. We have created  some fun exercises that simulate a crowded dance floor so that you can be prepared for what’s to come when you get out there. Once you have a good hold on your Country Two Step and Country Swing, we teach you how to seamlessly mix them together to become a dynamic Country dancer! YEEEHAAAAWWW!

Get started on your Country dance journey with us at Dance FX Studios. Come on in for your beginner’s Country dance lesson with our New Student Offer. We cannot wait to have you in our dance family!

Country Two Step dance lessons

Reconnect With Private Dance Lessons In Arizona

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Country Two Step dance lessons ArizonaGreetings to all the leaders and followers on social dance floors everywhere out there in blog land! Another day here in John’s Little Corner and another day loving life! Speaking of love and life, how is your love life going these days? Is it on track and going the direction it needs to go? Are you sharing things together on a deep enough level? How strong is that bond between you? Whether you are just dating, married, partnered or even the “friends with benefits” type of relationship, going social dancing , from Country Two Stepping to Salsa dancing around Phoenix, truly does help in your love life. So today I want jump into this topic and elaborate on how dancing improves romance at home and beyond!

No matter where you are in your journey to becoming a confident social dancer, one thing is for sure, knowing how to Country, Swing or Latin dance means fun date nights! Even better for those of you who are bargain shoppers like myself, a possible inexpensive date night! If you’re just starting out taking private lessons together, each lesson is a mini date in itself. How cool is that!? Can it be challenging, yes, but the rewards for the challenge are unlimited and everlasting. Think endless romantic opportunities wherever music is playing. Holding your sweetie tight and swaying to your favorite dance music.

If you are half way into your dance lessons and able to complete combinations on a dance floor, there is a sense of accomplishment that you both will share. And when you have reached that level of dance where instruction is no longer needed and you are creating your own dancing moves, then you have made one heck of a memorable date night. How many couples can really do that well? Anywhere you are in your journey of dance (unless you count the gas money for the trip to the Country bar or Latin Club, or if there is a cover charge at the door), a date night of dance costs you $0.00! How awesome is that to know that the investment you made in your dance lessons begins to pay itself back immediately. The more dates you go on, the more payback you get. And the best part is that you will grow more confident dancing each time you give it a try.

More dates! How does that sound to you? A date is time away from work, life and children, and gives you the opportunity to connect or reconnect with your partner. How often do you look around you when you are out, lets say at work or at the store or at a restaurant? I do all the time. You see couples walking next to each other but not holding hands, or even worse they walk behind one another! Or how about the couple at the table across from yours. They sit in silence and look around while they eat, never saying anything more than, “This tastes good”. Depending on your line of work, you may even see similar situations with couples, that no matter what their proximity to one another, there is distance between them. Life does this to us and yet life also gives us the solutions… if we know where to look. Time away from it all, even if for a short amount of time, is key to a successful rewarding relationship. It’s right up there with communication being important to the relationship, and dance solves both of those! Get away and take a social ballroom dance lesson, share in something, create a conversation from that lesson you shared and do that as often as you can. Make time before it is lost, or in many cases too late to try! You will see that even after the lessons are over with you will be closer than you were and have something to talk about and something to share, not just with yourselves, but with others around you.

Let’s not forget romance as it does fade away if you allow it to. And it’s easy to let romance slip from your relationship. You spend all that time in the beginning getting to know one another and learning how the other person lives and has lived. You make compromises and creative solutions to blend your life styles together and once that has been established, then what? We drift apart unintentionally with all life throws at us and since we already know all there is to know about the other we begin to grow silent and lose the connection we worked so hard to build. Dance is all about connection, and as you learn it together, it fills that void of silence between you and opens you back up to one another, just like in the beginning. Now that’s romance! Its not the flowers, chocolates or gifts…romance is quality time together where no matter what is happening around you. Your entire world is right there moving along the track of life with you.

Now hopefully you answered my earlier question with a positive answer, but if not, or if you truly could not answer my question, it’s not too late! The fact that you can see the need for more connection in your relationship is a true blessing that your partner needs to share in with you. So grab your partner’s hand, pull them close, and show them with your body language how much they mean to you. Show your partner how much time you want with them, away from everything else, and let them feel how romantic the two of you are together!
From Johns Little Corner, I’m John, thanks for reading, and I will see you hopefully on the dance floor and not at a silent table across from mine!

Sweep Her Off Of Her Feet With A Broom!

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Have you ever found yourself without a dance partner and desperately wanting to practice your playful Country Two Step or sexy Argentine Tango dance moves? Have no fear!!! There is always room for you as a student to come and practice your dance steps at Dance FX Studios in Mesa, Arizona! We welcome our students on the floor and encourage them to use the studio space to get some extra dance time in daily. If you are unable to make it out to see us on a particular day, however, you actually do have the perfect dance partner waiting for you at home! What do we mean by this? You have an ‘everyday item’ that is actually wonderful to dance with… your BROOM!!! Yes, I said your broom….Specifically the handle.

You may be scoffing, but read on a there are many reasons why a broom can be an excellent dance partner. First, it won’t talk back! 🙂 True, you won’t receive feedback (which is why it is important to make sure you also take private dance lessons to receive more information), but if you step on or drop it on accident, it won’t protest and, it will allow you to focus on something very important, your dance frame. As a dancer, it is imperative that you maintain a good frame. Why? Your frame is the point of contact that you have with your partner, which is what we call your lines of communication. Think about it, what do you expect when you pick up the phone and get frustrated with if it is faulty…the clarity of the line. If the sound goes from loud to soft, you tell the other person. If it begins breaking up on you, you move to another place or hang up and try again. In partner dancing, from Salsa dancing to Swing dancing, the communication is a little easier to control, because both parties are in the same place, and you can communicate verbally if needed. However, you don’t necessarily have the time to think about what is happening and get your point across, this is why we use non-verbal communication through the frame. At Dance FX Studios we teach different types of dance frames and connections between partners that are used for each dance so be sure to come in and learn about all of this before beginning your at-home dance journey.

Here is where the real reason for using the broom comes out…. It helps you to understand how to better maintain a frame that is communicative to your partner. Since the handle of a broom is stiff, it can better show you the flaws in your frame and it makes you work to maintain a connection. The best way to practice with the broom stick is to place it evenly in the crook of your elbows. I know you may want to hold it tightly so that you can “sweep it off of it’s feet” :), but this placement actually helps to bring your elbows in front of your body and create a movement that is easier for another person to follow.

Whether you have a partner or not, come learn how to be a confident social dancer here at Dance FX Studios. Come take advantage of our $25 New Student Offer and learn to Country dance, Swing dance, Latin dance, and even dance the Argentine Tango. In an hour-long private dance lesson, you’ll begin to get healthy dance habits from us right from the start!

You can even put on a fun tune that will enhance your experience of dancing with your new-found buddy: Billy Idol’s Dancing With Myself. His lyrics say everything: “Dancing with myself, well there’s nothing to lose and there’s nothing to prove; I’ll be dancing with myself.” So grab that broom next time you get the urge to bust a move and create a fun way to practice, improve yourself as a dancer, and pave the way for a great experience in dance!

Fun video of someone dancing with a broom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEoaN9qIxFs

Tango dancing in AZ

What Are Your Dancing Goals???

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Tango dancing in ArizonaAnother day here in John’s Little Corner at Dance FX Studios and normally it is a beautiful day but today, despite life’s beauty, there is a dark cloud growing over head and its called frustration! I met with a couple the other day for an Introductory dance lesson that went great, but they shared some information with me that really grinds my ochos!!! It’s not the first time I have heard of this type of thing happening, but my couple was so specific as to what they were wanting, it blows my mind that it took them several tries with different Arizona dance studios for them to finally find us to help them to accomplish their dancing goals. My frustration is with other studio’s agendas taking precedence over their student’s goals. As a student it is primary that you learn something that you will use, that is why you become students! But not everyone learns the same way. Some people are visual learners, and some are more hands on, and some people need a good balance of both to fully understand what it is they are studying. As adults, we kind of have a pretty good idea on how our brains process and absorb information. So here is my frustration…

The gentleman and his wife, my new students, have been to four or more different ballroom dance studios in Phoenix wanting to share time together and learn how to dance. They were shown a number of dances at each studio, from the Salsa to Swing dancing, which is typical because… how do you know what you will like until you try a few different dance styles, right? Plus…it is good to know a few different styles because, unless you control the music wherever you go, you have to be prepared for whatever comes on at weddings, in the Country bars, at Latin dance clubs, etc… Here’s the thing though, if you have been shown a number of different dances and know what you like and what you want to learn, is there any reason to keep pushing other dances onto you? NO! Yet even worse is the fact that this gentleman knows that he can only learn one thing at a time and did his best to try and learn a couple dances at the same time, but with no success, only further frustration. They were even told that they would only do one style but ultimately they were lied to. WHY???????? What is the purpose of this at dance studios? To keep students confused and keep them longer making them invest more and more money into nothing but frustration and confusion? I don’t understand. Really I do, but it saddens me to know that something as joyous and healthy as dancing is is being exploited into something dark and irritating because of greed. Dancing is a beautiful thing that deserves to be shared by everyone! Yes, to stay in business you have to take care of business, but do you do that at the expense of your students piece of mind? No. I tell you, NO!
We ballroom dance instructors need to make the dance lesson customized to our students needs. Listen to their goals, pay attention to how they learn, and adapt. Just because you are the instructor, doesn’t mean you don’t learn from your students. As a student you have the right to direct how your lessons will go, within reason. You can not just change everything how you see fit because then you would no longer be the student. Believe me, us good instructors of dance do have a method to their madness, but some apparently are just full-on mad… so be cautious in your choice of instructor and studio, and make sure your dance lessons fit your needs and styles of learning. And, beginner dancers, please communicate your ways of learning to your instructor before enrolling into their dance program because the last thing you want to have happen is that you make a bad investment.
Now I could continue on about this but I am going to move past it. I could go on and on how we here at Dance FX Studios in Mesa, Arizona listen to your needs, customize your lessons around your learning style, help you reach your goals, help keep frustration from being an issue in learning, and most importantly help you enjoy the beauty in dance! But I don’t really need to if all these other studios continue on in their ways of doing things. So remember newbies, learning to Latin, Swing and Country dance is a thrilling journey, and an investment well worth your time and effort, but make sure it’s your own unique journey and not one from someone else’s manufactured journey-making machine!

Until next time, this is John in his Little Corner at Dance FX Studios saying, I hope “Dance FX You” in the way it should so you can gain a hobby and skill that will bring you joy for years to come!