Tell us, when did your mind-body first bend or move you to it's
will? Apparently, according to my parents, I leaped,
skipped and twirled as soon as I was walking. So they put me in
dance class to be sure I learned how to avoid the furniture in my
enthusiasm.
Besides your obvious coolness, what makes you so qualified to
teach? I don’t know if I thought that there is much
“obvious coolness” in me, especially when I applied for
the job of being a ballroom dance instructor. (Keep in mind: this
was before “So You Think You Can Dance” made partner
dancing “cool”). Growing up, I took classes in ballet, jazz,
contemporary, and choreography before being accepted at The American
University as a dance major. There I also studied anatomy,
kinesiology, and a variety of body therapy techniques.
Dancing had become my form of
self-expression, but it wasn’t until I began teaching ballroom
dance that I found a way to share that passion with “normal”
people. For ten years I taught and then directed two ballroom dance
studios, teaching all levels of private and group instruction as well
as choreographing and performing in local events.
My biggest qualifications are that I truly
believe that I can help people to bring out the dancer within them.
I feel that we all dance in our hearts, but we need someone to help
us to find it’s expression through our bodies and in connection
to others.
What other things are you qualified to do? I try not to be too qualified in anything, because
then you get asked to do more. But since I love exploring movement,
I did expand my teaching into the yoga field after taking a break
from teaching ballroom to fully experience the challenges of
motherhood (see qualifications for motherhood in some other
informational manual). Ballroom dancing appeals to my needs for an
outward expression of my personality, while the yoga gives me a
chance to focus inward.
What can we expect to see, hear and do in your classes? My classes will cover two dances in a session, and
will start with the basic patterns (the words) of a dance. I’ll
assume that you know nothing so that we can start at the beginning.
For those of you with experience, I will add the complexity of the
body movement and styling options, which will bring the dance to
life. I always show the men’s and woman’s
parts separately before I give you a chance to mess each other up.
Then we’ll learn how to coordinate what we are doing with the
music. (Which, at first, always seems to be faster than what we had
thought). After “official” class time, we will
spend some time practicing, so that I can help you work out any
glitches in the system. It is one of those things where we say,
“don’t try this at home without supervision”. Expect some fun.
What pose/move do you dig the most and why? I must say that I love moves with dips. (Go ahead,
make your own jokes).
If you could push a button and remove a pose/move (or dance) from history,
which one and why? I hope I don’t offend anyone when I say that
I really don’t care much for the Polka, though I did once hang
out at a Polka Convention for about an hour. Although the idea
someone spinning until I don’t think does have its appeal.
I’ll save that for that in the Hustle instead.
Like, what's your sign man? Aquarius.
What are 3 things that make you smile real big and cheesy? My family, a camera, and my own bad jokes. (ed. we are all about bad jokes)
What is your favorite quote when you're in need of a little
inspiration? It truly does change. I find inspiration in the
books I read or the music I am listening to. Suddenly, something
will resonate with me because that is what I need to hear or learn at
that particular time. Then I will let that idea go…..only to
re-discover it at another time through a different source of
inspiration.
If you could do
anything to change the world, what would it be? NOW, I will turn to one of my favorite
quotes from The Black Eyed Peas, “Now you gotta have love to set it straight,
Take a hold of
your mind and meditate,
Let your soul gravitate to the love
y’all.”
Any other interesting information you would like to share with
the nice people reading this here Bio? (ed. apparently not)
