Growth Is Not Always Constant

Ever felt like maybe you’re not cut out to dance? You're practicing something that seems easy for everybody else, and it seems out of reach for you.

I’ve had those moments, and it’s simply part of learning. Sometimes we have to shift gears mentally, find a different approach, and take a few days or more to work though more challenging materials. In the end it’s worth it, but some days are not as simple as others. If you never have tough days you are either exceptionally gifted, or you are not pushing yourself to grow. I’ve missed the exceptionally gifted gene, so I’m in the “pushing myself” mode.

While I teach quite a bit I also take lessons myself, especially in areas that are not my strengths. In addition to building a broader dance foundation, it keeps me humble, it pushes me in new directions and it gives me additional perspective on the learning and teaching process. I certainly relate with my students who are struggling with some aspects of dance.

The other night I was my own advisor, reviewing something I filmed at a recent private lesson. I had to say the same thing I say to students, except to myself. (Anybody else find it easy to tell others something and realize the same advice applies to you?)

I had one of those “gee… this should be easy…” and “maybe this is too tough for me” and finally the “maybe I’m simply not a dancer” moments. But we all know that the dirty word for advancing is spelled “p-r-a-c-t-i-c-e,” and that doesn’t mean just one night or a couple hours one time.

Regular, consistent practice over time makes a huge difference, even if there are moments along the way that make you wonder.

So what did I do? I practiced for about 15 minutes, took a break, and then did a little more. Not killing myself or beating myself up for lack of progress, just a little more practice so I could end on a positive note. I also realized that doing the same exercises to slower music might help, and that made a positive difference.

Slower practice is sometimes much harder than it looks, but for many moves doing things slower gives you time to make more adjustments.

When you’re not getting it, sometimes it’s OK to just chill out and not worry about it for today. Try to slow it down, do a shorter practice, but return to the exercises as soon as possible, with another short practice. If it’s working, keep going; if not, repeat the process of short practices over a few days. Sometimes you simply have to go do something different, unrelated to dance. (That's how I started this article.)

I’ve seen it over and over with others, and in my own practice; almost anybody can master any dance skill they decide they want, assuming they to put in enough effort. This concept is huge in social dancing, where perfection isn’t the game, but making a great connection with your partner is more important. You improve for yourself, and you can set any standard you desire, but that doesn’t mean you’ll always have great days practicing.

(Competitive dancing is another subject, requiring a stricter mindset, but similar concepts apply IF you are willing to take the time and effort.)

When you’re having your tough days, cut yourself some slack, try things slower or faster, cut your practice time and/or do some “fun” dancing, something you previously mastered that was hard in the beginning.

As a rule try to end your practices on a higher note even on your down days. Do something positive and fun just before you take a break. Everybody has occasional down periods; just don’t let them keep you down. Remember, that dirty word called “practice” doesn’t mean being miserable. We all have to find ways to work through the tougher materials, while keeping our overall attitude positive.

Let me know how you work through tougher periods or learn challenging materials.

The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it.
--Chinese Proverb

Classes vs. Privates - Part 3

I wrote about this subject last year but I want to revisit it again. See the previous article links at the bottom of this article.

I’m often asked if private lessons are better than group classes, especially since classes are much cheaper in terms of one-hour costs.

My answer is always take both if you can handle it. In classes instructor simply can’t focus on your specific issues, so they make generic suggestions and hope you fix yourself based on what you’re seeing and feeling. Of course, you can make huge improvements in a group class, but it’s easy to miss something that is obvious to great instructors. Here’s something that happened to me personally.

I’ve been taking a one-hour class from an amazing hip-hop dancer/instructor named Sho-Tyme once or twice a week, for a few months. (View video below to see him having fun.) Earlier this week I took a one-hour private lesson, and within the first 10 minutes he showed me a posture/head isolation exercise to correct something I was missing. When I get it right, it’s amazing how much better I look and feel.

He also gave me enough material for a couple months of practice. I already see a positive difference, although the real payoff will be down the road as I practice and grow into the concepts we practiced in private.


Sho-Tyme Having Fun

Unfortunately, I’ve been practicing some moves slightly wrong since the beginning of his classes, and now I’m starting the process of “unlearning” them and getting the right feel. I need some intense practice time to internalize the details and make it a part of my dancing. Intellectually I “get it”, but undoing my previous practice makes it more of a challenge that it should be.

In other words, in class, I thought it was right and getting better each week, but I missed something rather basic. Instead I was reinforcing an ugly habit every class, not to mention my own out of class practice time.

I was making positive progress in many areas. But because something foundational was weak, more class practice was also making some things worse and I was unaware of the issues.

In my case, I actually thought I was doing things right, but there is a specific motion I totally missed. In my head I was getting it better each week, but in hindsight I see it’s a case of “I didn’t know what I didn’t know.”

I suspect I eventually would have figured it out, but I hate to think of the work to unlearn/relearn if I continued to practice incorrectly for another three to six months or more. It's so easy to miss something that should be a part of your dancing, especially when you are working hard to improve.

If you’re taking a class from a great instructor, take some private lessons with them and ask them what they would suggest to upgrade your look and feel. Ask them to focus on foundational issues, rather than the cool move of the week. Those you can pick up in class if your foundation is strong. A few lessons can make a world of difference, because they are exclusively focused on your strengths and weaknesses.

It’s obvious to me I would have benefited from taking the lesson sooner, because then I’d be reinforcing the right moves practicing in class and on my own.

Once you find an instructor you like, I’d recommend you take some private lessons as soon as you can swing it. It makes a huge difference by giving you insights, concepts and details that often take months or more in a group class.

Even though I’ve known this concept for many years, it’s still humbling to see it in action myself. Hopefully you’ll avoid my mistake.

Previous articles on this topic:
Classes vs. Privates – Part 1
Classes vs. Privates – Part 2

For a list of all the ways technology has failed to improve the quality of life,
please press three.
--Alice Kahn

Back in the Saddle and Keeping Up Physical Therapy

This is mostly a personal entry…

It’s been an interesting month here and I’m back working on articles. You’ll see a new set over the near term.

It’s been extra insane around my house. Many of you know I have five kids and I’m probably busier than most, even during my “normal” periods. This last month has been off the charts in terms of external projects.

My oldest son graduated from college. I helped him move a few hours away to his first job. One of my daughters turned sixteen (big party… new back lawn and lots of house fix up for the big day) and my mother-in-law broke her hip, giving my wife hospital duties and me some additional driving duties for my four other kids (mother-in-law is recovering slowly).

While I’ve missed some dance classes, taking classes is about the only thing I did outside of work, home repair, and driving kids around. I didn’t go club dancing, but I’ve made some excellent dance progress overall. Sometimes I think taking a short break from club dancing is an excellent perspective builder, but I’ll detail that in another article.

I learned this technique earlier in life, when I started working out. If you need some of my time that overlaps one of my favorite classes, I may not tell you the explicit nature of my conflict. If you have to know why I can’t make your event, I often say I have “physical therapy” and most people respect that conflict. If they press I tell them, “I’m working on my balance and strength related to some previous activities.” I don’t provide any additional details and it works great.

If I say, “I’m going to a dance class”, they act like that can’t be important, but I disagree. I make it a point to keep a few classes as “appointments for myself” and unless someone is dying, I rarely miss them. A couple days a week I avoid business meetings late in the day so I can make a 5:30pm class that really challenges me. I treat it as personal therapy and it makes me stronger and better at almost everything else I do, and I hate to miss it.

I make my living at the computer (I solve business problems all day) and being physically healthy improves my thinking ability. Not only do I love dancing, but I enjoy the challenge of improving my physical and mental abilities, and good dance classes fit that bill.

Being older than many dancers, I know how tough it can be shoehorning a new passion into your already busy life. Sometimes I laugh to myself when someone says they don’t have time to learn something new.

In my case I use the micro-practice concepts I’ve previously discussed, I practice in my car (head and shoulder isolations), do some mental training, and I still go to a set of classes, even when I’m extremely busy. If someone wants my class time, once I mention the physical therapy conflict, we generally find a different time. It’s not perfect, and occasionally I still miss some classes, but overall it helps me keep some control in an extremely hectic schedule.

Let me know what you do to keep your dance education moving, even when things are crazy.

When choosing between two evils, I always like to take the one I've never tried before.
--Mae West

Left or Right Brain? Should I Care?

Most people spin better in one direction. One side of their body learns motions faster than the other. Stronger dancers invest untold hours working on their weaker side, both in spinning and other movements where body symmetry is helpful, expected or required. A styling move may require both sides to work perfectly together, but most people start with one side ahead of the other.

In this two-part series, we’ll explore some ideas and concepts for growing your weaker side, working toward additional mastery for both sides. The side effect is you’ll be a better dancer, without directly using your dance practice time.

Before doing that, let's confirm your dominant side by looking at this fascinating graphic. (Most of you probably looked at it already, because it does catch the eye, and using a female silhouette provides endless fascination for most guys.)

Which way do you see the dancer turning? Most people will find that a silly question, because the answer is so obvious. Show this to a few people, though, and you’ll be amazed at what they say. It’s a great conversation starter!

Some people will note she’s turning clockwise, some counter-clockwise ('anti-clockwise' for our international friends). The interesting thing is the graphic never changes, but different people will see her differently. A few will say she never changes and others who see a change will swear that the graphic itself changes every so often. By design, the graphic plays to your strengths.

Your first impression answer to the “which direction” question provides an insight into the way your brain is wired; either right or left side dominant. If you return to this graphic a few minutes, hours or days from now, you’ll notice that your first impression of her spinning direction is consistent each time you look again.

The interesting thing is many people (not all) can see her spinning the other direction after staring at the dancer a while. I look at her standing foot as it meets the shadow foot for 10-30 seconds or so, with a soft focus, and can see her start turning the other direction. Others will notice her change direction while they are reading this text, without directly watching her. Initially it took me a few minutes to change her rotation, then once I knew it was possible, the time reduced. Now I can regularly change her direction within a few rotations.

While I find this concept fascinating, as dancers we want BOTH sides of our brains working together. Knowing your starting point is helpful. Most people spend their whole life as right or left handed, then when dancing work toward both sides being equal.

Stronger dancers work to improve the symmetry of their movements, and there’s plenty you can do off the dance floor to accelerate this process.

Please let me know which direction you see the dancer spinning first via the comments, and if you can get her to change directions easily.

Part 2 of this article outlines some ideas and exercises for improving your weaker side. I’ll have that article up ASAP.

For more details on the right/left brain dominance implied by this graphic, check out the original article from Perth Now. This article has appeared on multiple websites. My source is the PerthNow version from Australia

Love is staying awake all night with a sick child.
Or a very healthy adult.
--David Frost

Leadable Moves: Not Always

It all sounds so simple. I lead, she’ll follow and life will be sweet. If I lead well enough, we’ll look like an amazing team. Many people call “leadable moves” the glue that holds social dancing together.

What are those moves? It seems like the definition of “leadable moves” is all over the place.

I’ve heard the following statements:

• "If you stick to leadable moves, you can dance with anybody.”
• “If leaders lead, follows will follow.”
• “The strong leads can put a follow though almost any move.”
• “If the follower’s part to a sequence needs to be taught, isn’t it by definition then ‘not leadable’ and unlikely to be used on the floor?”
• “These are all leadable moves…” (from the introduction of a DVD I own).

It still returns to the original question:
What are leadable moves and how do you define them?

Here’s my definitive definition: “The basic set of moves known to most follows in your area. This assumes dancers who have at least six to nine months’ experience, plus or minus around six to nine months.” (My definition of definitive might differ from yours.)

This set of moves is often simple but can be jazzed up with styling if desired. It usually includes single and double turns, cross-body leads (CBLs) with or without a single turn, hammer-locks, open breaks, plus some variations and combinations of these moves. Names for the same move will vary in different areas, and there are other moves in this category.

Don’t get too hung up on the strict definition or the list of moves above; it simply means 'learn the moves you see most people doing in your area, and/or are taught by the most popular instructors, then branch out and develop additional material around that core.' You want as many moves as possible that work across a large set of dancers.

I’ve always considered salsa dancing similar to a discussion with a common language. Two people can have a great dance or discussion without previous interactions, as long as they have enough shared vocabulary. Leadable moves fall into this common language area.

When I started in salsa, I thought an experienced lead could make any follower look great. It appeared that if you learned to lead well enough, then ladies would automatically follow your moves, even if they were totally new to them.

With a little seasoning, I’ve figured out exposure to a move or variations of similar moves is required before a follow responds as planned. No previous exposure and your results will vary.

More mature follows may get it, or will the second or third time around, but again, it depends on their existing experience and vocabulary.

A larger common vocabulary of moves is required for the more nuanced or complicated patterns, although an experienced lead can do amazing things with less experienced follows, because they learn how to give additional hints for follows, providing clearer directions. Again, the concept of leadable moves is more elastic than I initially thought.

With beginning follows, it’s easy to see the results of having little common vocabulary. No matter how clear my lead, sometimes a new follow will struggle with basic. Most of the time they take my hint with subtle arm pushes and pulls, along with consistent footwork, but that doesn’t always work. Most follows feel it in my lead, some look at my feet and get the mirror concept, some need words to clarify the footwork, and a few are clueless due to lack of exposure.

In other words, even something as simple as basic isn’t “leadable” in some cases without minor teaching or previous experience with the dance. A ballet or jazz dancer with years of experience will catch on quickly, but if she has never partner danced or seen salsa, she is unlikely to know the salsa language the first day, no matter how mature her overall dancing.

Once the lead starts turning his partner, you see the same dependency. It’s common for new follows to turn the "wrong" direction when you prep a simple right-hand turn (AKA under-arm turn). Some follows interpret the preparation arm signal as "start turning now" rather than wait a count or two until the lead actually starts turning her.

It’s not the follow’s fault directly; she simply doesn't know the signals, but most learn quickly. A mature lead can use his other hand on her shoulder to help her “do the right thing,” but if the lead is babysitting every simple move, you could argue even a simple turn is not leadable, although I could also play attorney on that one and argue it the other way.

Once you get outside a regionally specific set of moves (which can provide an enjoyable dance), then 'leadable' depends more and more on the common language shared by the two partners, along with moves the lead executes well, but are similar to existing moves within the follower’s experience.

If you want a set of quality moves that can be led with minimum experience (and they scale nicely for more advanced situations), check out the Salsa Syllabus DVDs from Edie The Salsa Freak. That set is gold for leadable moves that work across a wide range of people, although they still are dramatically more fun when both partners know these foundational moves. Again, a decent lead can amp these moves up with additional styling and multiple spins when dancing with more advanced follows.

There is a set of foundational, base level moves that many feel are leadable, but over time, you’ll see the definition of leadable changes as a function of the shared dance vocabulary between the partners. Over the years, a common set of moves has become “standard” in each scene, so seek those out in your area, knowing most, but not all, will apply in other locales.

The term leadable changes as your dancing matures, so don’t get too caught up in the definitions. Simply find moves that work with the majority of dancers in your area, and master them before focusing on materials that are more complex. The more both partners know, the more leadable the moves become.

My grandmother was a very tough women. She buried three husbands.
Two of them were just napping.
--Rita Rudner

Finding Instructional Clips Online

Over the last couple of years there has been an explosion of video clips available on the web. I wouldn't be surprised to find my dog and cats are partnering for a new salsa series, and I'll just stumble on them one day. The problem isn't finding salsa (or dance) clips, it's finding out which ones are worth your time and can teach you something interesting.

Recently, I've been exploring a new site called "WonderHowTo.com". As of this writing, they have over 600 "Dance" clips including 70 in the "Latin Dance" subsection. I've found a few clips I doubt I would have found otherwise, and this site is an interesting concept.

At first I was trying to figure out why I shouldn't simply go to YouTube and search for "salsa," but now I get it. All the videos on this site are instructional in nature, and the site rejects performance, promotional or entertaining clips that don't teach something. Everything is focused on the free "How To" concept. That's an interesting nitch, and I suspect this site will grow more popular over time.






All "submitted" clips are hosted elsewhere and this site catalogs them for you. Often you are watching embedded YouTube or Yahoo clips, but they catalog video from many, many sites, so just as often you're sent to sites you'd probably otherwise miss. This casts a much wider net than simply doing a YouTube search when you're in the mood to learn. Users are encouraged to submit URLs to more instructional clips, so it promises to be an ever expanding universe of learning material.

Of course, like all video viewing, this site can also be a huge time sink, but with the focus on learning, at least you're not wasting your time watching dancing birds and young girls fighting.

Check out the "Categories" link to find "Dance" and then start watching. The grading system seems a little questionable to me at this point, but that has great promise as more and more people view clips and grade them.

I like the concept and suspect the site will do very well over time. I haven't explored all the dance clips, but I did find some interesting ones I hadn't seen in the past.

Please let me know what you're doing to find instructional clips and let me know what you think of WonderHowTo.com. If you see my pets dancing, let me know.

We don't know half of one millionth of 1 percent about anything.
--Thomas Edison

Taking Classes Over My Head: Part 2

This is part 2 of a series on Taking Classes Over My Head. Check out the previous article, cleverly named "Taking Classes Over My Head: Part 1."

Imagine an up-and-coming athlete who decides he’s skipping strength training because he “just wants to play the game.” That doesn’t work, because strength is foundational to playing at higher levels in sports. Similarly, if your dance goals include being above average, investing in your foundation while pursuing higher-level classes is an excellent strategy for longer-term growth.

Most people dislike being called a beginner as an adult, even if that's their current status. Many guys prefer struggling in the intermediate or advanced classes rather than be caught dead in the beginner class. For many, it's simply uncool to be at the novice level, and they can't wait to "move on," even if that means skipping some fundamentals. They purchase “advanced” DVDs when they are far from mastering the lower level DVDs from the same instructor.

As someone famous for taking classes over his head, I’ve seen some great progress and been frustrated at points. I highly recommend you attend some classes above your level, even if you sit out part of the class and watch. Being around great dancers can inspire or depress you, depending on your personality and goals; but either way, it’s good to see what you’ll be like in a few years if you put in the effort.

It’s also important to note that I approach solo and partner dancing differently. In individual dancing classes (jazz, hip-hop, samba, salsa footwork, etc.) you should challenge yourself by trying the higher-level classes at regular intervals. If you create a bad habit or try a move and get hurt, that’s far from ideal. But it’s your issue, created by reaching higher, and you can dial it back a little before moving forward again. Being around the stronger dancers can accelerate your growth and inspire you to work harder, although sometimes going back a level is the best strategy for longer-term growth.

In a partnering class, being over your head isn’t always the best idea. You can injure a partner trying to perform a move that is too far beyond your current skill level, not to mention frustrate partners who are also trying to improve. You can also build a set of partners who avoid you at the clubs, knowing you’re not ready for prime time. You need to balance your level with that of the class in partnering situations, and be mindful that your background (or lack of it) affects others.

Sometimes you need another approach and I employ a method I call “backfilling.” If I’m going to take a class that’s over my head, I make sure I’m also filling in the gaps in my experiences. This translates into taking lower level classes at the same time, hiring the instructor for private lessons, or watching instructional DVDs and/or on-line clips that provide foundational information.

I’m also not afraid to abandon a more advanced class and go to a lower level—including beginner—if the moves or techniques are too far over my head. After a while, (weeks or months) I’ll continue the lower level class and ADD the more advanced class to see if I’m ready. I often continue with the lower level classes along with the advanced class for a few months or more after moving up, reinforcing the basics, while also working on more advanced material at the same time.

As I’ve stated, there can be a dark side to going to classes over your head. Without a proper foundation and some backfilling, more advanced classes can frustrate, build a set of bad habits, and in a partner situation, hurt someone. If you do take more advanced classes, stay out of the way when the moves get too complex for your current level.

In a group class, instructors don’t have the time (or desire) to fix you if you’re too far away from the class average. Many teachers focus on the better dancers in the class, especially if they label the class as intermediate or advanced. This means you sink or swim mostly on your own. Sometimes beating your head against the wall when the majority is much further down the road isn’t a good use of your time.

Many classes build on previous knowledge and it’s your responsibility to be sure you can keep up, especially when partnering. When taking classes over my head, I often take some private lessons with the instructor, sit out parts of classes if appropriate, and make sure I practice on my own to get up to speed. The private lesson gives the instructor a chance to slow down the material and explain details that others already know from previous experiences.

Combining private lessons and classes, I learn the right way to do the exercises or can ask for clarification of complex class materials during my next private lesson. The combination creates a multiplier effect. I get more from the classes and grow much faster, sometimes passing people who were beyond my level and have taken the classes for months or years.

As stated, taking advanced classes and challenging yourself to move up is an excellent idea. However, if you take too many shortcuts and ignore the lower level material, you’ll pay a negative price over time. Those who gloss over the fundamentals often end up either being weaker than they should be or going back later to fill in the blanks.

Free lunches rarely exist on or off the dance floor, so be sure to backfill and seek out the fundamentals as you move up the class ladder. Over time, you’ll become an excellent dancer if you continue to seek out instruction, no matter what they label the classes or DVDs.

There's nothing wrong with Southern California that a rise in the ocean
level wouldn't cure.
--Ross MacDonald

Eyes Up! Not Just On The Floor

A master instructor at Millennium named Eric Ellis is famous for saying "Eyes up, use the mirror. The floor isn't telling you anything!" when people are looking down while dancing. (I've also heard him being more direct in private with, "The floor doesn't tell you sh#t!" but I doubt he wants to be quoted on that one.)

It's hard to fix some habits on the dance floor. We have to fix them in life, then it's easy on the floor.

Eric has said "eyes up" to me occasionally, and we discussed it last week because I had one of those "Ah-ha" moments. While he had said it in the past, I was too worried about other aspects of the exercise to pay much attention to that specific comment, assuming it was because of my concentration at the time.

Then I saw someone else in a class looking slightly down during an exercise, and realized "hey, that's me." She wasn't looking at her feet, but she was looking a little below eye level. It wasn’t a great look on an otherwise accomplished dancer. I had never noticed it before, but it was so easy to see why that doesn't work when I saw it on someone else.

After seeing her and becoming aware, I realized I look slightly down when I'm not dancing. It's subtle, and I doubt most people would notice directly, but it doesn't look right while on the floor. Eric said I could fix it by bringing my chin up about a quarter-inch or so, and after reviewing I see he is right. It's not a big change on one hand, but years (decades?) of doing something different make it a tough adjustment while dancing.

Then the obvious thought hit me again. If I walk around 15 hours a day looking slightly down, it would be really tough to fix it while dancing for a few hours. I need to make looking at eye-level part of everything I do, and then doing it while dancing will be easy.

Recently, I started practicing "eyes up" everywhere, including when I'm walking to my office, standing in the kitchen, shopping at Home Depot, taking a shower or brushing my teeth. Rather than focus on this fix when I hit the floor, my goal is to make it part of my overall look all the time, especially outside the dance studio.

This concept applies to posture, balance and many other dance elements. Some things can't be fixed on the floor alone, but instead need to be a part of your day-to-day life if you want them to stick.

It's why strong dancers, gymnasts and many athletes carry themselves with great posture outside of their professional life, because it's tough to be hunch back all day and gracefully elegant while dancing or performing.

Now I am not worried about mastering it on the dance floor, I'll get it right during the day, knowing over time it will be natural during the dances.

Let me know what skills you are practicing in life to upgrade something in your dancing!

Have the courage to be ignorant of a great number of things, in order to
avoid the calamity of being ignorant of everything.
--Sydney Smith

Micro Practices: Quickies Are OK!

"Two or three minutes? That's not even one song!" he said when I told him I did a series of quick practices over the day. “That doesn’t sound like enough to me.”

He’s missing the point. I call them “micro-practices” (MP) and everybody should integrate them into their daily routines. They could work for partnering, but as a rule they are for upgrading your individual dancing skills like spinning, footwork, Cuban motion, posture, and other body control exercises.

When you’re a pro, you get up each day and can practice for hours, refining your dancing on the way to the next level. You're paid to dance, and practicing is a way of life. However, if you’re working for a living and want to advance your social dancing, sometimes it's hard to carve out chunks of time for practice. That’s where micro-practices (quickies) can be a winner for you. Like your love life, they shouldn't be all you do, but in balance they keep things moving in the right direction.

It may be counter-intuitive, but a set of quickie practices often beats longer sessions, assuming you do enough of them. Often they're gold, where the combined effort of a dozen one to five-minute practices gets you further than one forty-five minute session. Some techniques require longer practices, but the micro-practice beats the heck out of "I didn't practice today because I couldn’t find a twenty or thirty minute block of time”.

There is magic in repeating something over and over, every hour or so, for a couple minutes throughout the day. Time management gurus always say when you’re interrupted from a task, it takes you time to restart. Micro-practices use that principle to your advantage, because the start-up time is reduced if you repeat an action often enough.

The series of little practices gets you to the point where you can hit the move immediately, rather than after 10 minutes of warm up. It’s amazing how much you can advance with micro-practices alone, although you can gain even more when combining them with intermittent longer rehearsals.

Edie the Salsa Freak is famous for learning to spin in the bathroom at work before she turned pro. The floor is tile, there is a great mirror, and she would spin a couple times to the right, a couple times to the left each time she used the restroom. If nobody was around she might sneak in a few extras, but most of those practices lasted 60 seconds or less. With just 10 extra spins per day, she had over 300 spins each month BEFORE doing any extended practicing. Over time, it adds up to thousands of extra spins, giving her the experience she needed to get to the next level.

Most work days I’m at the computer all day, and each time I need a break I practice a shine, a spinning combination and/or a new part of a "pattern in progress." It may be just a tiny fragment, but doing it repeatedly over a couple days (or weeks) makes a huge difference when I get to a block of time for an extended practice.

Before starting work, I often sneak in a two-minute practice before sitting at my desk. Nobody cares if I start two minutes later, and it reinforces the new materials I’m working on. Some days the quickies are the only practice I get; sometimes it’s part of a bigger practice day, where I combine micro-practices with much longer sessions or classes.

I’ve stood in line at Sam’s Club or the bank, doing footwork practice, knowing that may be my only practice for the day. In previous articles I've mentioned I practice head/shoulder exercises in my car. (Shines and partnering are highly discouraged while driving.) When you hit the dance floor, your partners don’t care if you practiced at a dance studio, in your bathroom or in line at the grocery store; they simply notice your improvements.

Some days when I haven’t had much practice, I’ll sneak in a few minutes before bed. It may not be much, but again, it’s my way to move myself forward. It takes about as much time as brushing my teeth, so I have little excuse to skip it. I'd love to practice more some days, but that just isn't my reality at points.

You don’t have to tell anybody you’re sneaking practices around your bathroom breaks. That really falls into the “TMI” category (“too much information”). Keep this little secret between us and they’ll just think you are improving using the traditional extended practices. If you can do regular practices, that's great, but I want to grow even when I’m timed starved (the story of my life).

Try it yourself; sneak in a few micro-practices, multiple times per day, especially on those days when you can’t get to a complete session. You’ll see it makes a substantial difference if you keep it up. Once you're in the habit, you'll find little slivers of time and use them to your advantage, even if it's just working a body roll twice or an extra couple of spins per day.

Let me know how you are getting the most from limited practice time; I’m always looking to accelerate my growth and I’m sure some of you have your own best practices. Please share!

Indecision may or may not be my problem.
-- Jimmy Buffett

Hearing But Not Listening: Part 3

This is part three of a two part series. Confused? I didn’t intend to write this article, but I’m being pulled back toward my roots, and I think you’ll find it interesting. See the bottom of the article for links to the first two articles in the series.

Certain tunes mark chapters of my life. It's probably the same for you. Even if you don’t share my passion for music, you still have your favorites that bring back specific memories from your journey. You hear a song and it takes you back to high school, or a special person, or it ignites a whole set of feelings stirring inside of you. A specific tune transports you back to that early salsa class, your first great dance with someone, or a summer trip across the country.

When I was writing the original articles for this listening series, I remembered one song in the back of my mind that started me listening to vocals decades ago. I knew it was a Kenny Loggins tune but couldn’t recall the song title, or the specific album. I could still hear the feel of the tune in my head, although I couldn’t remember the specifics.

After publishing the articles, it kept bugging me, so I did a Google search and found the tune that started my vocal listening years ago.

Kenny Logins: Enter My Dream


In the 20th Century, when I was a young adult, music was on vinyl disks called records or albums, and I purchased hundreds of them before I was twenty. When I was 17 or so, Steve Gadd and Harvey Mason were among my favorite drummers, and they were the session players on Kenny Loggins' first solo album titled “Celebrate Me Home.” I originally purchased the album for the drummers (and because Bob James was playing piano and producing).

The groove on “Enter My Dream” fascinated me, and it still does today. It has a reggae influence and I was studying Latin music variations at the time. I was also learning how difficult it was to play slow, controlled, and dynamic, while creating a feel without rushing the time. This tune is an amazing example of laying back and creating a great groove, without rushing or getting in the way. The song breaths and feels effortless, like a work of art. In the process of listening to the drum track a few hundred times, I was drawn into figuring out the vocals in the last part of the tune.

From around the 3:45 time mark until the final fade, the voices ebb and flow, adding layers on a set of interesting overlapping lines. The voices sound like a dream, with rich harmonies creating a floating feel. I couldn’t figure out what they were saying at first, other than maybe the top layer. It was all a big mess of sounds, but I knew they were saying something related to the dream, and I couldn’t figure out any of the words.

Over many hours, I starting being able to selectively listen to the different voices, figuring out the words and enjoying the textures created as they overlapped each other. My ability to separate musical layers in my mental ear began when I spent so much time breaking down this song, and it started me on a quest that I still enjoy today.

Most people won’t enjoy this tune like I do, because being able to hear some of the lower layers took me so many hours of listening. But the drum track still impresses me today, especially since I know the difficulty in playing such a great feel at that tempo. (I also love the “Lucky Lady” track on that album; what a great rhythm section!)

I hope you enjoy my starting point in my musical journey, but finding your own is more important. Find something that intrigues you and that you enjoy and listen to it hundreds of times. Check out one of my early articles titled “Listening to Music: 100 Times or More” for more insights.

Let me know the tunes you enjoy that help you fine-tune your listening. I'm sure you have some that bookmark your life as well.

This is part three of a two part series. I never intended to write this article but I decided it made sense to outline my personal starting point, hoping it inspires you to find something you love and can enjoy as you grow.

Here are links to the previous articles in this series:
Hearing But Not Listening: Part 1
Hearing But Not Listening: Part 2

The difference between genious and stupidity is that
genius has its limits.
--Sam Carbin

Taking Classes Over My Head: Part 1

"You’re taking jazz classes with Eric Ellis?"

"Are you taking Sho-tyme’s basic hip-hop class?"

I hear it in their voices--the wondering, "Why do YOU take those classes?" with the “I know you aren’t on that level” connotation. They are right. I sometimes fall into the lower 10% of a class at the beginning, but I don’t stay there. My goal is always to be the fastest improving person in the class, and I employ the same principles I learned about music to grow my dancing. One consistent paradox of growing quickly: Working the fundamentals hard moves you further over time than skipping the basics and trying the cool stuff too early.

Sho-Tyme: Basic Hip-Hop Instructor at Millennium


Association is a powerful thing, both in dancing and in life. Being around stronger dancers can improve your dancing faster than hanging out with those just figuring it out for the first time. It can also backfire if you're not careful. Getting too far over your head tends to create frustration, or worse, bad habits that require unlearning and relearning. Who has the time to do that?

Having danced a few years, I mix beginning and more advanced classes; but remember that I’m averaging two back-to-back classes, three times per week, plus a private lesson most weeks. If I’m not too tired, some weeks I’ll add another two or three classes, often at a beginning level, depending on my overall dancing mix and how much I go out to the clubs.

I didn’t start that way, and I’m constantly re-evaluating my class mix to get maximum return on my time.

I have a method to my madness; I don’t simply take random classes and I don’t go to more advanced classes for my ego (it would be crushed by now). I probably take many more beginning/basic classes than most of my peers, because in music I learned the most advanced musicians have excellent fundamentals, built over many years. The more solid your dance foundation, the faster you can grow over time.

My Class Guidelines:

• Over-train the fundamentals
• Be among the best at your level
• If you can only take one class at the start, take the beginning classes until you are in the top few students (see points above)
• Use the same strategy as you move to more advanced classes
• Practice, practice, practice
• Back-fill where appropriate, taking both more advanced classes AND a class a level or two below your most advanced class
• When taking more advanced classes, take a few privates from the instructor to really understand how things should look in class
• Find instructors who appreciate and focus on the fundamentals, and don’t only work flash and style

As someone famous for taking classes over his head, I've played out these strategies for a couple years. You can use the strategies for your growth. Being a little older than most, I want the biggest return on my efforts, and sometimes that means looking at classes a little differently.

Many think I'm on the crazy side, but these principles provide an excellent return on the time invested.

I'll share my experiences and provide additional details in Part 2 of this article.

Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every
six months.
-- Oscar Wilde

Finding "One" Over the Wires: Doug's Update

This is part of a series on assisting someone to hear the time in the music; check out the links at the bottom of this article to see the previous articles in the series.

This is a quick and dirty update. Doug Fox (http://www.greatdance.com/) has posted an article about our "Over the Wires" experience.

If you're following our progress, I suspect you'll find it interesting to hear about it from his perspective. I posted an article a few days ago with my point of view, so check out both for a more complete picture.

Check out his article at: The Exhilaration of Nailing the Rhythms of Dance Music

In case you are new to this blog, Doug Fox (of "Dancing Into the Future" fame) and I are working on a project where I'm helping him to find "one" in the music, without ever meeting face-to-face. For details on how this got started, check out the previous articles:
Finding "One" over the Wires
Nov 2nd Update
Feb 10 update
Feb 14 update
Mar 15 update

A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with
people, of getting things done.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower

Hearing But Not Listening: Part 1

OK... I'll take one for the team:

Men often hear but we don't always listen. I think it may be an inborn skill, but my Y chromosome keeps me from being totally objective.

For the record, women are often guilty too, but men are the gold medal winners in the "in one ear, out the other" competitions. Most men have an uncanny ability to ignore female voices during ball games, video games, and sometimes across the dinner table. It's not all men's fault, we were born that way, and we trained long and hard to miss statements from women like "Pick up your socks," "How about we go shopping together," "Did you notice the grass is taller than the dogs?” or "Do I look fat in this?"

Most guys hear that something was said, but the blank look on our faces says we never picked up the details, especially if there are any video screens within viewing distance. If you ask the guys later, they will swear, "You never said that!"

It can wreak havoc in relationships, and in dancing, we want to move beyond simply hearing the music, toward actively listening to the music. This means being able to block out certain instruments and focus on others. While men occasionally have a head start in this type of listening, both men and women benefit from training their ears to pick out select sounds in music. Everybody can improve their listening skills, so where do you start?

Over the years of working with dancers to hear the music, I’ve found that decoding the lyrics (words) of tunes is an excellent starting point for ear training. Our ultimate goal is to go back and forth from listening to the complete mix of sounds, to focusing like a laser on a single instrument from the beginning to the end of the tune. Singers voices are among the easiest "instruments" to pick out, especially for non-musicians, as we are already familiar with that sound and the language.

Sure, you could simply Google a song and get the lyrics quickly. But it's tough to Google while dancing and it does nothing for your ears. The effort of actively listening to the tune, figuring out the words and writing them down gives you skills that pay off when you're dancing.

Look up lyrics on-line only after you master the skill of hearing them with your ears. The more tunes you work through yourself, the sharper your listening skills become and that provides raw materials to shape your dances.

Be sure to start simple; pick out some of your favorite commercial music that has a singer and write out the words to the song. Salsa is fine, but not required.

For most people, it’s tougher than it sounds. Getting the chorus (AKA “the hook”) is generally easy, but getting every word is often more challenging. While our goal is ultimately to hear all the instruments, figuring out the words to a tune requires the same skills as listening to the instrumentalists. However, it’s also much easier than hearing the individual instruments because we already know the language. Check out the introduction of this old Anita Baker tune and try the following exercises:

• Figure out the exact words she uses until the she says “and love…” at around the 41 second mark. It’s a fairly clear rap and most people can figure out the words with a few listens.


• WRITE THEM DOWN (How hard can that be; it’s less than 41 seconds, and she speaks slowly!)


• Try to say it EXACTLY like she does. (This is the interesting/fun part.) She pushes some words, breaks up the syllables and stretches other words.


• Play the introduction repeatedly and say it out loud until you are totally in sync with her phrasing and emphasis (I love how she says, “... stop! and find your own…”).

Anita Baker: 1992 – Rhythm of Love

Don’t be surprised if you have to listen and replay the intro 50 times or more to get it right. I spent hours getting it nearly perfect on that tune, and I still don't get it right all the time. The process is very valuable in terms of forcing yourself to really listen to both what she says and how she says it, but the real payoff comes later as it gives you the ability to selectively focus and actively listen to different sounds. Moving to the dance floor, your active listening skills pay off big-time as you advance, and you’ll never get too good at it. Remember that when a female voice says something we don't want to hear, just use the blank look you rehearsed for so long.

In part 2 of this article, I’ll provide some interesting ideas for people with more advanced ears. The Rhythm of Love is an interesting study for both novice ears and expert listeners.

I also like the Sting tune called “Fragile” as a learning tool. Someone has done a salsa cover of this tune, but so far I haven’t found it on YouTube so I'm including a couple of his versions (they are excellent).

See if you can get every word and you’ll find some sections require listening many times to verify you’re right. Again, the process of listening over and over is part of the ear training so don’t panic if you listen to one part 25 times. It goes that way sometimes.

If you can hear, understand and write out the words in most tunes consistently, you are ready for working on the instruments, and you’ll have a huge jump start over people who start with other sounds. Many people do succeed starting with other instruments, but I strongly believe in the “walk before you run” concept, and lyrics are a better starting point for most people.

Sting - Fragile


Another tip: Sometimes an alternate version of a tune can help you hear some things that were difficult in your first version. Many tunes have remixes available and/or the artists have a live version and a studio version. I’ve sometimes figured out lyrics from one version that were close to impossible on the other. If you get stuck on a word, try another version before cheating and using Google. Finding the lyrics on line does little to help your ear training, although it’s a great verification tool once you believe you have as many words as possible.

For fun, here is another version of the Sting tune.

Sting – Fragile (Alternate version)

Let me know how these exercises go; I suspect you’ll be amazed how much your ears improve with these concepts. In Part 2 of this article, I'll highlight some things more advanced listeners will find interesting.

Formula for success: under-promise and over-deliver.
-- Tom Peters

Finding "One" Over the Wires: March 15 Update

This is part of a series on assisting someone to hear the time in the music; check out the links at the bottom of this article to see the previous articles in the series.

Doug Fox and I continue to talk about once a week and he continues to make significant progress. Doug is a huge Argentine Tango (AT) fan and student, so one of our goals is to make sure he hears the time in all types of music, not just Salsa tunes.

This is consistent with my approach, since I see hearing the time as a skill unrelated to any specific musical style. We continue to work with simplified commercial music, where the time is much more defined and regular. Many commercial tunes beat the time into your head like a jackhammer, but that also helps us clarify some of the structural elements. Some of our newer tunes are less obvious, and have elements requiring growth.

Because of our earlier discussions, he understands the structure of the music. On the few occasions where he gets off the time, he has anchor points and he’s self-correcting. That's music to my ears because my primary goal is his hearing the time, and hearing when he’s off so he can adjust when appropriate, without my input.

We added a couple new tunes this week, including an old Whitney Houston tune and a new Norah Jones song (“I've got to see you again”), which Doug says they frequently use in the tango classes. It’s considered a “neo-tango” or a “slow 3/3/2 milonga”. In other words, it’s a modern tune which happens to work well in a tango context. (We added a couple songs last week that I haven't documented, and I'll sneek those in when I can.)

The Whitney Houston tune is the first time we worked on a tune that is NOT created as a dance tune. It’s used in the 1992 movie “The Bodyguard” and is a mood piece rather than a dance number. Overall, the time is consistent--like salsa music for most of the tune--but at the end of certain phrases, it slows down for half a measure, and then returns to the time established earlier. This is quite dramatic and the song breathes nicely. While it’s harder on dancers, it makes great sense in the context of the movie and the lyrics of the song. (The introduction is also not in strict time, and that is a little more common.)

Whitney Houston – Run to You


In musical terms, this “slow down” concept is written over the music as ritardando or more commonly abbreviated as either "rit." or "ritard" meaning "to slow down consistently". You can think of this like the way a train slows down just before it stops. It's chugging along consistently, then they apply the breaks and the train starts getting slower every second.

This concept of a steady tempo with occasional slowing is inconsistent with most social dance music, including salsa. Changes in tempo require the dancers to adjust their dancing in the middle of the tune, frustrating most dancers because it’s not the norm.

As a rule, salsa starts at one tempo and stays the same until the end of the song. There are exceptions to this, but I’d estimate over 98% of all salsa music is one tempo from beginning to end.

By listening to “Run to You”, you start hearing the contrast between consistent time and the slowing down (ritardando), improving your sense of time dramatically. For most people, it’s easier to hear the time changes later in the tune, after the drums have kicked in (they are silent in the beginning). Experienced listeners hear the time breathing in the intro, and hear the ritardandos as they happen.

When this tune was recorded, there was a conductor directing the musicians and coordinating the tempos among the musicians. You can’t see the conductor, but you can hear his influence as you listen.

Check out the tempo around the 2:21 mark and the 3:27 or so. Around both of these points, you’ll hear the band slowing down, along with her singing, before the next phrase restarts at the earlier established tempo. (It also happens around the 58 second mark, but the drums are just entering, so it’s tougher to hear the tempo changes.) You’ll need to start before those timings to hear the standard time, and you’ll also notice it shows down for half a measure, then returns to the “normal”, consistent time until the next slow down, at the end of the next phrase.

Note that I’m leaving out quite a few details here; this “ritardano” concept happens more than just three times, so see if you can hear it as it’s happening. I’m planning on cutting a video for this tune to discuss it in context. Typing all the details makes it painfully obvious to me that I’m summarizing and skipping plenty of details.

I’ll outline the Norah Jones tune and some interesting aspects of it in a future article.

Overall, Doug Fox is moving from someone who questioned whether he could ever hear the time when we started, to someone who regularly gets it right, in increasingly complex music. When he’s wrong, he hears it and is self-correcting most of the time. He's still practicing, as this skill isn’t something most people learn in one or two lessons, but his foundation is strong and growing on a daily basis. In the near term, Salsa and Tango will both be easy for him, in terms of hearing the time and knowing he knows how it all fits together.

Doug told me he is writing something for his blog shortly, and I’ll post a link when his point of view is available.

In case you are new to this blog, Doug Fox (of "Dancing Into the Future" fame) and I are working on a project where I'm helping him to find "one" in the music, without ever meeting face-to-face. For details on how this got started, check out the previous articles:

Finding "One" over the Wires
Nov 2nd Update
Feb 10 update
Feb 14 update

Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.
-- Robert F. Kennedy

Unaware Club For Men

The Hair Club for Men has been around a while, and I suspect some have escaped and joined the "Unaware Club for Men."

The guys that scare me the most are the ones who "don't know they don't know." They try leading complex moves, missing the fact that their partner is in pain from the last move. They dance off time, wondering what is wrong with their partners and why the women don't follow well at this club. They run their partners into those around them, step on toes and act like nothing happened. On the crowded dance floor they dance big and ignore the fact that their partner is getting hit or is very uncomfortable with their choices. If they see something go wrong, they assume it's the other guy's fault.

Some of us guys are simply clueless, and the psychologists are now telling us things that are obvious if you've danced a while (or are female).

Dr. David Dunning of Cornell University said that the "incompetent are often supremely confident of their abilities. They are blissfully ignorant, because the skills required for competent assessment are also the ones they are missing."

"Not only do they reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of the ability to realize it,'' wrote Kruger, now an assistant professor at the University of Illinois, and Dunning.

"This deficiency in 'self-monitoring skills,' the researchers said, helps explain the tendency of the humor-impaired to persist in telling jokes that are not funny, of day traders to repeatedly jump into the market -- and repeatedly lose out -- and of the politically clueless to continue holding forth at dinner parties on the fine points of campaign strategy."

The incompetent, therefore, suffer doubly, they suggested in a paper appearing in the December issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

"Not only do they reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of the ability to realize it,'' wrote Kruger, now an assistant professor at the University of Illinois, and Dunning.

The findings, the psychologists said, support Thomas Jefferson's assertion that "he who knows best knows how little he knows.''

The studies do conclude it may not be the guy's fault. Sort of like the "pigs don't know pigs stink" concept. Check out the complete article below for additional details.

http://home.att.net/~profmulder/Incompetence.htm

I'm thinking maybe there is some hope, because if a guy reads this article, maybe he'll wonder if it applies to him. Most who don't get it will assume it's the other guy, but it's possible some self reflection may make a difference. I'm not holding my breath but I'm hoping something will help.

Let me know your thoughts!

If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.
-Milton Berle

Finding One - Bossa Nova feel

For those following the "Finding One Over the Wires" series, one of the tunes I use is the Robin Thicke tune named "Lost Without U". I don't use it because it's salsa music, I use it because it's simple and an excellent starting point for people to hear the time.

Robin Thicke: Modern Bossa Nova Feel


Birgit Marita posted a great comment with a link to another bossa nova and I realized I should post the bossa nova that is probably the most famous in the world named "The Girl From Ipanema." Almost everybody has heard this over the years, but many people think of it as elevator music, since it's a laid back, "less is more" concept from the mid 1960's.

In most arts, including dance and music, it's smart to get a feel for the history of the art and see how it's evolved over the years. Most people will find it easier to hear the time in the Robin Thicke tune, because the drums are very clear.

In the original version, the drums don't play in the beginning, and when they play they are in the background, providing a feel but nothing like modern tunes. Once you hear the time in the Robin Thicke tune, it's a very small jump to this classic version.

The Girl From Ipanema by Stan Getz & Astrud Gilberto (1964)


And finally, below is a live jazz version of the same tune, so you can see how it's performed by one of the original artists in a live setting. The Girl from Ipanema starts around the 3:10 mark in the clip (assuming you are counting up). I really like the piano solo around the six-minute mark. Remember that this music and these artists are very mature and are excellent examples of the "less is more" music concepts.

Stan Getz Quartet - Desafinado and Girl from Ipanema


All these people have the technical ability to play 10 times more, but in this context they choose to play fewer notes overall. That is an artistic choice, and to do this well often takes musicians 5 to 10 years or more just to get into the ballpark. It sounds so simple, but it's not.

As dancers, we have similar choices, where we learn to perform complex moves with grace, and we pick and choose which is appropriate for the music and our partner.

Let me know your thoughts!

Men aren't attracted to me by my mind.
They're attracted by what I don't mind.
-Gypsy Rose Lee

Taking Classes - It's Easy for You

I recently had a couple people say, "Oh, taking classes is easy for you, you're a natural." My first thought was "Natural... are you kidding? I wish! I'm really just a persistent SOB, even when quitting feels like the obvious option during a class." I generally don't say that, instead I grin and say "thank-you," like my Mom taught me many decades ago.

We all need to stretch ourselves, either in dance or another activity. We are all moving forward or backward; there really is no “staying right here” and treading water. Your longer-term physical and mental health is enhanced by stretching beyond your previous best efforts. Sometimes being a fish out of water is the best way to grow, although short term it can bust my ego if I don’t keep my head straight.

Here's my scene a couple years ago: I walk into class and everybody turns and looks at me. They look like they're staring at a lost puppy and their face says "Ah... Clearly you are looking for the senior fitness class." No! Welcome to beginning ballet at the Millennium Dance Complex. They address me as "sir" as in, "Hello sir, this is beginning ballet, is that what you are looking for?" Their voice makes it obvious they assume I've stumbled into this studio when I was simply looking for the rest room.

It's deadly quiet except for some piano music playing softly from the CD player. Almost everybody is stretching, keeping to themselves, and most are lacing up those satin dance slippers the ballet types wear during the exercises. Two thirds of the room are young enough to be my daughters, and the other guy in the class is dressed in a skin-tight, spandex leotard, not looking super masculine.

Turned out spandex guy was an excellent dancer (like most of the females), and rightly so didn't care if his attire looked girlish to me. He was serious about being a stronger dancer. Later I learned the tight clothes allow the instructor to make more corrections, where my ghetto look hides a ton of errors from the instructor.

I'm in my shorts and athletic shirt, and you might guess I didn’t exactly blend with the natives. It took a few minutes and I'm wondering to myself, "what the heck am I doing here?" Taking serious classes and lessons is not for the faint of heart.

Imagine being male, late 40's, gray hair, never danced before and taking your first beginning ballet class. Yes, I did it. It wasn't pretty, and I'm thankful they don't allow video because blackmail was a distinct possibility if I was on the tape. It was painfully clear those exercises look much easier on stage or TV, especially when someone else is doing them.

I couldn't bend over and touch my toes, and I didn't know a plie from a pizza. A chaine turn wasn't in my vocabulary and to increase the fun, the excellent instructor was from Japan. All her French words (the official language of ballet) were spoken with a sexy Japanese accent, leaving me wondering what the heck she was saying most of the time, although it sounded great. She was extremely nice to me, had great technique and was more than patient. She mercifully ignored me other than providing subtle corrections and encouraged me to return, since she could tell I was trying, but there was little denying I was the ugly swan in the room.

I was slowly getting it together, but for months I was in the wrong zip code. I often reverted to knuckle-dragger mode and used my famous monkey-see, monkey-do learning technique because I didn't understand the language of the dance. Many of the moves were too fast for me and I hated the "across the floor" exercises. (People going one to two at a time, spinning, turning or in my case, stumbling across the floor while everybody else watched.)

I had points where I had to simply laugh at myself, because I was either that or leave with my tail between my legs. Many times I was bad enough the others took pity on me and complimented me when I did the least little thing better. Sometimes it was close to "Wow... you really hold on to that bar well" but I think they realized that I wasn't leaving, and I earned respect for simply staying in the game week after week. I found ways to focus on incremental improvements and just keep going, even when the "fun" part of dancing seemed worlds away to me.

But I stuck it out, once per week for almost a year. At one point the class I was taking was cancelled due to remodeling at the studio. Now all the ballet classes during the week are in the morning instead of the one evening class, so I have moved on to a couple jazz classes each week.

It's still not pretty, but now I'm committed to going to jazz classes a couple times per week, working my way from total ignorance to intellectual understanding. My technique is still in the lower third of the class but considering I started in the lower 10% of the class (read: usually the worst) actually seeing a few people behind me is something new and welcomed.

Here's the point for you: If I can do it, so can you! Maybe you go to a shines class, a more advanced salsa class, stretching, ballet, hip-hop or jazz class (the good ones are excellent spinners, and someday I will join that group).

Do something to improve your game. Nothing builds confidence like starting at the bottom and attending the classes until you move up the ranks into the reasonable range. Maybe like me, you find yourself outside the norm for the class attendees. Maybe you wonder if you really can become a dancer, since everybody else makes it look easy and they don't struggle like you and me. Over a few weeks (or more), we can push through the feelings that make us all feel uncomfortable when we start something new.

I'm still a work in progress in that area, but every week I try to do something that is a little outside my comfort zone, building my ability to block out what others think of me in the process. That is an excellent life skill that applies to learning anything significant as we continue to mature.

Obviously, it's easy to say "never stop learning" but unless we push ourselves, it's much easier to stay home and watch TV. Learning more benefits your dancing and makes you feel much better about yourself. Little is out of reach, even if you don't fit the "normal" status compared to others.

Of course, you need to make a commitment to stick it out a few months and more. There is real magic in taking classes beyond a few months. Things that seemed impossible (like touching my toes or chaine turns) become routine with consistent practice.

Find a way to stretch yourself this year. Life tends to favor the bold, so go find a class, DVD or otherwise find ways to continue your dance education. The rewards are amazing, and go way beyond the dance floor.

Again, I rarely blend in my classes, and at points it can be painfully obvious I'm not a natural dancer. In my experience, the harder I work, the more natural I look. Overcoming obstacles and sticking with it a while builds your skills and more importantly builds your self-confidence. That carries over into other areas of your life, making you a better person even if you don't become a world-class dancer.

Let me know what you are doing to improve and stretch yourself this year.

Until Eve arrived, this was a man's world.
-Richard Armour

Finding "One" Over the Wires: Feb 14 Update

This is part of a series on assisting someone to hear the time in the music, check out the links at the bottom of this article to see the previous articles in the series.

Doug and I had a great session today.

One week after we had a phone conversation where we worked through a set of simple exercises, he is consistently getting the 1 & 5 right in simple music, and now we are now expanding into a couple different tunes and he's still getting it right! Our new tunes included "Heard It Though the Grapevine", the Michael McDonald remake version, and the Motown Remix version, with Gladys Knight and the Pips.)

Michael McDonald: "Heard It Though the Grapevine"


I know some of the my salsa guru friends are shaking their heads right now, because I take a totally different approach to teaching the music and timing. Rather than start with clave, and the other Latin percussion instruments, we start with simple music and build a foundation that applies to all dance music, salsa or otherwise. (We do focus on instruments in the rhythm section, including clave, but that is later in my system.)

My approach starts with a simple concept of understanding the right music structures, and the goal is to get people to realize how easy it is to hear the time. This assumes they have the right foundation and we build it from the ground up. It isn't based on hearing one instrument, but it all starts with my first rule in the "Baarns Musicality Principles" (BMP)

BMP Rule Number 1:
Music Has Structure! (and the corollary: Music Ain't Random!)

I have an article in draft form behind the scenes which expands on the principles and the first rule above. I expect to have it live within a week. It revolves around the concept that if you can get a handle on the basic structures (8 counts, phrases, sections), and can hear the structures in simple music, you can build on that to hear the time in nearly all dance tunes.

At this point Doug is making great progress and hopefully he'll write about it in his blog. I'm extremely proud of the quick progress we are making. He paid me the ultimate instructor compliment today when he said something like, "Gee, this all seems pretty easy..." I doubt he was saying or thinking that in the past. I suspect it all seemed like a big cloud or bowl of soup to him. Now he's almost bored with how easy it is and he naturally wants to move on.

I cautioned him that it's critical to get the first steps right, and practice it more than you might enjoy, because once you add a partner you need to already have these concepts running on autopilot.

I wish I had recorded his original stab at counting the time in simple tunes, because he's doing it so convincingly today few will believe he struggled with it previously. We were both having a great time because he's having those "ah-ha" moments where it's all starting to fit together for him.

Once the foundation is in place, combined with regular practice, anybody can hear the time in the music.

Doug and I are continuing our building block approach and in the next couple weeks will will start moving into more complex commercial music, then start our transition into simple salsa tunes.

One thing that is important for you. The process we are taking reflects our starting point, factoring in Doug's previous experience. Everybody has different ears and I used to be surprised how different people are. Some people will take twice the time Doug took to get where he is, some may take less. That really doesn't matter, because once you get it, you own it for life. So what if it takes you an extra few weeks? Some guys have spent years dancing off the time, and they don't even know it.

It's an amazing individual process because I can't "show" someone what to hear. In a dance class, you can show me a move, and we get instant feedback via the mirror and/or video camera. Where I'm missing something, it's easy for you to point it