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Ballroom Dance Resource - Articles on Dancing Dr. Wong goes into great detail with this article on posture, footwork and more. A must read for all ballroom/Latin dancers.~ by Dr SH Wong www.rpmerleon.com Sexier, Sportier and More Popular Than Ever By Lindsay Satterthwaite For many people, ballroom dancing conjures up images of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers gliding across a dance floor in a tuxedo and a lavish ballgown. But times are changing, and as a new addition to the Olympic Games roster of sports, ballroom dancing is sexier, sportier, and more popular than ever. From a recreational level all the way to the Olympics, ballroom dancing is making a comeback, with younger dancers falling in love with it. In the last five years, the trend has become younger people dancing. Especially in the age range of five to 16," said Sandy Brittain, president of the Ontario Amateur Dancesport Association, adding that there has been a large increase in the number of dancers overall. Brittain attributes this steep incline to the increase in recent years of families immigrating from countries like Poland and Russia - places where competitive ballroom dancing is extremely popular. "This has made quite a difference in the scene," she said, explaining that it is very common for these families to put their children in ballroom dancing because it is social and a great way to meet people when they are new to the country. The OADA, Brittain explained, is the association that deals with and focuses on competitive ballroom dancing in Ontario, adding that if you were just dancing socially, you wouldn’t need to become a member. "Dancing is something that is for life. You can do it anywhere, anytime, singly or together with someone." Anywhere from one-third to one-half of the memberships at the OADA are of people under 16, she said. "These young dancers come in with hopes of becoming the Canadian champion one day, and younger adults go into as a way of staying active," she explained. In Dancesport, the dancers are competing at a championship level and have to be extremely fit, Brittain explained. "Studies have shown that dancing is comparable to running a middle-distance," she said. "A couple can dance five consecutive dances each for a minimum of one-and-a-half minutes. It is very demanding." A lot of people start because they see the sport on TV and they want to become a competitive dancer, Brittain explained. "Dancesport becoming an Olympic sport has definitely brought about the biggest change in ballroom dancing. People are hoping to get into the Olympics," she said. Nancy Logan, the owner of Dance Dance Dance, an adult dance school on the Danforth, agreed with Brittain that younger people are becoming more involved in ballroom dancing, but added it was not only for the competition. Logan said the mandate of her studio is social and helps people prepare for important social functions such as dinner dances and weddings. At her studio, students range in age from high school age to mid- seventies. "A lot of younger couples, under the age of 25, are surprising us because they want to learn some of the more traditional dances like the fox-trot. They come in with a Frank Sinatra CD and ask to learn something that goes with the music," Logan said. "Anywhere from one-third to one-half of the memberships at the OADA are of people under 16." "A lot of people come in to our studio to learn how to dance for their weddings, and then they keep it up because it is so social," she said. Logan noted that there is an increasing group of people who want to learn the club dances like the salsa and cha cha, but there is still more of a bias towards the traditional dances. Logan attributes this bias to movies such as Forever Tango and Mad About Mambo. Mad About Mambo is about an Irish kid whose hero is an Argentinean soccer player who told him the best way to learn footwork is to take dance lessons. Based on this premise, Logan said she gets a lot of athletes in her studio, especially boxers. They’re not too graceful, but they learn a lot of footwork, she said. "Couples have to learn to communicate in a whole new way - through their body language instead of with words." In her studio, about 60 per cent of the clientele are couples, but anyone, couple or not can come in and learn. The advantage, Logan said, to being on your own, is that it is faster to learn the steps because the problems are not compounded by another person. But that doesn’t mean they will be able to dance with another person faster. Couples taking lessons enjoy themselves more, Logan observed. "Couples have to learn to communicate in a whole new way - through their body language instead of with words. Dancing is about physical co-operation. It’s not like tennis where you can move on your own. Dancing transmits to the partner," she said. Dancing is good for everything: grace, natural movement, the mind. It is good for the soul and a celebration of life, Logan attests. "They now use ballroom dancing lessons for elderly patients in the States for mental exercises for new patterns. Studies have shown learning a new pattern has increased the mental processing," she said. "Everyone is my studio has a slightly different story. There is definitely no pattern, but it is clearly more and more younger people." Logan said a lot of her students move on to do competitive dancing, but most couples who come through the door have never taken a lesson in their lives. "Dancing is something that is for life. You can do it anywhere, anytime, singly or together with someone." Dancing is good for the soul and is a celebration of life. Dancing has come back into vogue, she said. It is making a comeback for a lot of reasons, it is so much a part of modern culture. "Women will always give (dancing) a try, but men are always more apprehensive. But after the first session, the men absolutely love it and they can release a lot of stress and learn they’re not as bad as they thought," she said. "I tell men that if they know how to dance, it is a major social skill." Joanna Juchau, 26, and now-husband, Andrew Juchau, 27, took dancing lessons through the City of Pickering in preparation for their wedding. "Most of the couples that were there were older. But we knew one other couple who was also getting ready for their wedding, and we met another couple around our age too," she said. Juchau said the classes definitely helped their style, technique, and comfortableness dancing in front of an audience. "We learned the waltz, cha cha, tango, and mambo," she said. The most fun part of taking the lessons, she said, was practicing the steps with her fiancé in their kitchen. "We can apply these steps to any dance that we do now." "Dancing has come back into vogue." Learning how to dance helped them communicate in a different way. Though they both had a good time, the couple does not think it is something they would continue. "I would definitely do it again, but I don’t think that my husband would! I would like to learn the rumba," she said. The couple, who is active in other sports together, including badminton, said that ballroom dancing was great because it was incredibly social and they got a lot out of it. |
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