However, we do not have a good way to gauge how many people may be interested in such a class. That is what this post is for.

We envision a ten-week class, meeting for 75 minutes each week and costing $125/person, in which the focus will be primarily on partnering, musical interpretation, in-class performances (for the other class participants), movement technique, and unlocking your individual and combined creativity.

We will work in the context of American Style Rhythm (cha cha / rumba / swing / bolero / mambo), though not exclusively. The partnering and interpretation principles are appropriate for every style of partner dancing (Smooth / Standard / Rhythm / Latin).

Past partner dance experience is definitely a good idea. If there is overwhelming demand for an introductory-level class, then only minimal dance experience will be expected. If we offer an advanced-level class, then considerable dance experience will be required.

You should plan to enroll with a partner (a friend / neighbor / roommate / romantic partner / dance partner) as the class material will be heavily geared toward creating interesting dancing with a partner. Leads, if you have no partner, you are encouraged to enroll anyway. Many ballroom dance classes attract more follows than leads. Leads, your enrollment means that individual follows may enroll and have a partner available in class.

Learn energetic, exciting, and passionate Latin dances like the rumba, cha cha, and salsa. In this class, perfect for beginners and experienced dancers, we cover turns, spins, style, and basic common patterns for several Latin dances, as well as challenges in balance, speed, flexibility, body awareness, and expression for more advanced dancers. No dance experience or partner required.

Each spring, the people at the Valley Social Dance Studio in Appleton, WI organize a competition and showcase, inviting a number of dance schools from around WI. Schools from Green Bay, Appleton, Wausau, Eau Claire, Madison, and even Rockford, IL attend this fun and uplifting dance competition.

In years past, the Art of Dance has trained dancers to participate in this competition. Since the date is fast approaching, this year we will not have a delegation to participate in this comp. However, if you will be in the Appleton area the weekend of the competition, I encourage you to attend as a spectator if only to experience the atmosphere at a competition.

The evening of Friday, 28 March 2008 will have various “solo” (choreographed) partner dancing entries.
The entire day of Saturday, 29 March 2008 will have all of the “freestyle” (non-choreographed) entries.

In years past, I have attended the adult camps and had a fantastic time. Not only is the access to quality instruction superb, but the instructors are the very people who often judge at the competitions Sarah and I attend.

The adult camps offer a full week of dance classes, social dances, performance, and full immersion into ballroom dancing. The organizers limit enrollment to ~250 participants. In the years I have attended, there have been about 30-40 participants under age 30, with most of the participants ages 40 and above.

It is mostly amateur dancers who attend the camp, most of whom do not compete in dancing, but rather enjoy dancing as a great hobby. Classes are offered in beginner through advanced levels and are taught by skillful nationally (and internationally) prominent dancers and dance teachers.

Private lessons are available with any of the instructors. (Look at the website links, above in the white box, to see who is teaching. The current Rhythm champions are teaching at the first adult camp, if that gives you some idea of the caliber of instruction available.)

I have never attended the youth camps - intended for HS students - so I do not know first-person details about them. I suspect they are quite similar to the adult camps in quality. HS students may attend the adult camps, and each year I was there several HS students were participants.

I have no relationship with the camp or with the organizers. I am posting it here so that you may consider planning to add a dance camp to your summer plans.

Learn energetic, exciting, and passionate Latin dances like the rumba, cha cha, and salsa. In this class, perfect for beginners and experienced dancers, we cover turns, spins, style, and basic common patterns for several Latin dances, as well as challenges in balance, speed, flexibility, body awareness, and expression for more advanced dancers. No dance experience or partner required.

As you may have seen in the article “Two arts providers to shut down near Overture Center” in the Local section of the Wisconsin State Journal from Thursday, 06 September 2007, I am not renewing the lease at the present studio’s location.

However, I will not cease business operations, as implied by the article. Sarah and I will both continue teaching in and around Madison. Independent ballroom dance teachers frequently rent space from other desirable facilities - health clubs and other dance spaces in particular - for running their group classes and private lessons.

Over the four years of operating the studio and teaching dance, I have cultivated my joy of dancing into an overwhelming passion. I cross-train in other forms of dance and movement, including Jazz Dance, Modern Dance, and Ice Skating. Sarah and I spend many hours each week with our Coach and in other dance classes taught by other fabulous instructors. We devote many more hours to practicing dance, to developing strength, and to enhancing body awareness, styling, connection, and flexibility.

The decision to stop running my own studio space has been difficult. I enjoy the ease of running group classes and private lessons out of my own facility. Operating out of the State Street area is attractive and central to everywhere in the city, but it comes with the high rent and parking hassles of any desirable urban environment.

A “perfect storm” of factors has brought me to the decision to not renew the lease, including the vacancies in my building (limiting foot traffic and exposure), the ongoing construction projects (also limiting foot traffic / exposure), parking complaints from numerous clients, and my own desire to devote more energy to professional competitions. Since my lease will expire at the end of September, I weighed these factors and decided not to renew.

The studio itself is more active and more popular than it ever has been. More people are enrolled in group classes. More people are taking private lessons and refining their skills as dancers. More people are interested in attending and participating in Competitions.

I genuinely enjoy teaching dance and seeing confidence, courage, skill, pride, and self-respect develop in so many people. I appreciate all the support and encouragement so many people have provided both recently and in the last four years.

Sarah and I will both continue teaching! The Art of Dance will continue to operate, just not out of its own studio. It will operate as a ballroom dance school without one specific physical location.

I have space committed for two Salsa classes (New Dancer Salsa and Intermediate LA-Style Salsa) beginning in October at the MAC Sports Center in Verona. (See the links for details and to commit to attending.)

We are finalizing plans regarding the use of other facilities as well. Potential locations include Downtown, the Near East Side, the North Side, Fitchburg, and or course in Verona.

Sarah will be teaching group classes, too. A “Swing Sampler” class - including East Coast Swing, West Coast Swing, and Lindy - is on the horizon! Contact Sarah to express your interest.

The Art of Dance website will continue to exist. Please keep the site bookmarked and use the Calendar to find our classes and events as well as other dance events in and around Madison.

Finally, I encourage everyone to Post a Comment (below) regarding your experiences at the studio in the past or regarding the kinds of classes, events, and workshops you would like to see in the future.

Thank you,

Darrell

Afterward, we will crash the party at Madison Avenue ( map ) on University Ave. It is a popular “age 18-and-up” campus nightclub featuring House / Hip Hop music.

Come alone or bring your friends, but please come to the Soirée dressed to impress in dress-code appropriate clothes, since we will be hitting the nightclub after the Soirée. (men: shirts with collars, no caps, no shorts - ladies: whatever makes you comfortable.)

In October, the Art of Dance will no longer have its downtown Madison location. Instead, attend the studio’s classes held at wonderful facilities in the Madison area. See “Held At” (below).

This Group Class will meet each Wednesday from 7:30-8:45pm beginning 17 October 2007 (no class the day before Thanksgiving) for a total of eight sessions.

We will focus the majority of class time on LA-Style Salsa (breaks on the one-count, featuring lots of cross body leads), though we will also cover some Rotary Style (aka Miami or Cubano Style) Salsa, featuring many turns and spins for both the leads and the follows.

In this 75-minute class meeting for a total of eight sessions, you will learn energetic, fluid, compact Salsa dancing, featuring many spins, turns, and changes of place.

The class will heavily emphasize creating a solid constant connection between the lead and follow and how to use that connection throughout the entire dance and in every move that we create!

This class assumes participants have solid experince with leading, following, partner dancing in general (Salsa dancing specifically) and will move at a pace appropriate for Intermediate-to-Advanced Dancers.

In addition to a number of exciting new moves, you will work on Cuban motion (hips), fancy footwork, arm styling, syncopation, body rolls, and freezes.

You do not need to enroll with a partner. Expect frequent partner changes and numerous group activities and exercises.

Pre-registration is required. Contact the Instructor to reserve space in this class.

In October, the Art of Dance will no longer have its downtown Madison location. Instead, attend the studio’s classes held at wonderful facilities in the Madison area. See “Held At” (below).

This Group Class will meet each Wednesday from 6-7:15pm beginning 17 October 2007 (no class the day before Thanksgiving) for a total of eight sessions. Please note the time the class is held - the announcement email I sent to the studio’s distribution list contained the wrong time.

In this 75-minute class meeting for a total of eight sessions, you will discover how to produce many of the common dance moves you see at nightclubs where people dance Salsa. Many people begin going to Salsa clubs and using their new skills after only two or three sessions! Yes, it is possible to learn enough about Salsa dancing to have a lot of fun very quickly.

We will cover the Miami or Cubano style of Salsa, featuring many turns and spins for both the leads and the follows. We will use a simple set of common moves to explore good lead and follow connections, inventiveness, and fluidity in Salsa dancing.

This class is intended for people new to partner dancing or new to Salsa dancing and will move at an appropriate pace. Experienced dancers, enroll to improve your sense of partner connection and to refine your body action and basics!

Improve your own balance and learn to recognize how each partner influences the balance of the other. Develop an understanding of how you move your own body and how those movements are felt and interpreted by your partner. (Applies to leads and follows alike.) Build the fundamentals for creating good partner connections and for leading and following well. Exercise those fundamentals to invent your own moves!

You do not need to enroll with a partner. Expect frequent partner changes and numerous group activities and exercises.

Pre-registration is required. Contact the Instructor to reserve space in this class.