Youth Showcase A Big Success

Wow, what a busy week we had here at the studio. Our own Veronica Wagner and Dorothea Hockett, from the Academy of Dance, presented their 2nd Youth Showcase at Dancer Avenue Studio this past Saturday.

For several days prior to the Showcase, we had 28 young dancers from both studios practicing very diligently on their dance routines. They came in groups, duos, trios and soloists. Some tapped, some did jazz, others danced ballroom and some even had vocal numbers. There was a buzz of excitement felt inside both studios all week.

A quick recap - As Saturday evening finally arrived, parents, children and friends began to fill our studio. The kids went upstairs to change into their costumes and prepare for their performances. The audience was treated to a sumptuous pasta dinner while waiting for the show to begin.

Soon it was time, the show started and one by one they came out in spectacular fashion performing their numbers. We were entertained to Jazz, Ballet, Samba, Vocal and Lyrical numbers. Their hours of training & rehearsing were paying off. These young dancers showed a great deal of poise and maturity throughout the entire evening. What a show!

Veronica and Dorothea are very fortunate to have a large group of brilliant young dancers. Veronica rewarded them by presenting each dancer with a souvenir shoe bag and a participation trophy for their performances. Also, as a special Thank You, the dancers were invited to attend a “cast party” the following evening at our studio.

Sunday evening the kids reunited again for the fun filled "cast party". They played games, they danced, ate cotton candy & pizza, and simply spent timing socializing with each other

The Youth Showcase was well attended and is growing in popularity. It is almost as big as our adult Showcases. I hope you can come support these kids the next time we have a Youth Showcase. It really is a good show.
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Sincerely,
Mark and Veronica

Do You Want to Compete In Ballroom Dancing?

This past weekend, we attended a ballroom dance competition, the California Open Dance Championships. This is a wonderful event and is a good example of how a competition should run.

The organizers provide a professional staff of helpers to meet your every need, the event has a fun and friendly atmosphere, the dance times run as scheduled, the dance floor is large (as far as competitions go) and spectators are entertained to a variety of levels of competition.

Competitor Anne Herron

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Competitor Chris Hutson

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So what is it like competing at a dance competition? Many students will inquire, but only a handful will commit to the task, especially not knowing what lies ahead. When I suggest the idea to a potential competitor, they usually respond by saying, “it’s too hard, I’m not ready.” Then I usually say “they all say the same thing”.

Dance competitions are well categorized in Pro/Am divisions (Professional teacher with amateur student). Competitors are categorized by level (about every 5 steps of dancing), by age (approximately every 10 years of age) and gender (male or female). This way you can be certain that other competitors in your division know roughly the same steps, are within a few years of your own age and are the same gender. The organizers attempt to level the competitive “playing field” and ensure fairness for all divisions.

Now it’s up to the student and their teacher to make sure they are ready. Rehearsal time is extremely important. You should try to take at least 2 lessons per week, depending on your schedule and budget. Costuming and grooming also play a key part, as you want to present as “professional” an appearance as possible. Knowing your steps and looking well groomed go a long way. Arrive early and try to acclimate yourself to the environment. These are just a few key points to know.

I believe the benefits gained from participating in a dance competition are numerous and recommend it to anyone considering the idea. Once you have a goal in mind, you will find that your lessons are more focused (you’ll want to make sure you’re prepared!), your movements will become more graceful and well defined as your learn more technique, and you’ll become more confident in yourself while aspiring toward a higher level of dance.

There are many steps to prepare for your first dance competition. But with an experienced and knowledgeable instructor, you’ll get off to a good start. Make sure you are working with a Certified Professional Instructor and ask them how you can get involved in a dance competition. Good luck and we’ll see you on the dance floor.

Sincerely,
Mark and Veronica

Happy New Year 2009

Hi everyone, Happy New Year. I hope 2009 is beginning well for all of you. In the second half of last year, we saw the economy take a turn for the worst. Many businesses had to close their doors - Mervyns and Circuit City, just to mention a few.

We know it was a difficult time for both our students and the studio. We hope the economy will stabilize by year's end and everyday life will settle down a bit. We at Dancer Avenue Studio would like to express our thanks to all the dancers that continued their support of our studio last year and into this year.

Now, onto happier topics - We decided to offer a price reduction in January (maybe February too) to encourage students to get back into their dancing. And it seems enrollment is better in January. Dance classes seem a little better than the past two months and people are slowly returning to their dance lessons. Thank You.

We’ve got some great events and parties planned for you this year. We started with a big kick-off and we look forward to ending with a big bang. We had a "Welcome Back" party on Friday, January 9th. We had exhibitions and extra treats at the party. It was nice to see many familiar faces.

Next month, in February, we have two great events we invite everyone to attend. It will be our Valentine Party on February 13th and the Youth Showcase on February 28th.

The Valentine Party is usually well attended as many ongoers seem to enjoy watching the Show, eating the pasta dinner and wearing the theme color RED for the evening. Come early, we expect a large crowd.

The upcoming Youth Showcase will be the 2nd production by Veronica Wagner, assisted by Dorothea Hockett, of the Academy of Dance (next door to our studio). These kids are working hard and I'm sure they're anxious to perform. If what I see during rehearsals is any indication of what lies ahead, then they’re definitely headed in the right direction. It will b a good show and we invite you to attend.

We have many parties and events planned for this year and we certainly hope you can attend as many as possible. We appreciate your support in the past and we ask that you continue to support Dancer Avenue Studio this year. We strive to provide a fun & friendly atmosphere to everyone and want to make our studio a source of learning and entertainment. We look forward to seeing all of you this year.

Sincerely,
Mark and Veronica

An Olympic Year

Have you been watching the Olympics? Did you see the opening ceremonies? Something seems a little different about this year’s Olympics. For the most part, I’ve missed the Olympics the last 3 or 4 times around, but this year there has been more hype surrounding the Olympic athletes like Michael Phelps, the U.S. gymnastic and basketball teams and volleyballers Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor (who will appear on the upcoming season of Dancing with the Stars).

NBC did a good job marketing the Olympics and it was accessible on TV several times a day for several hours at a time. Several people I talked to said they were tired during the two and a half week period of the Olympics because they were watching the Olympics late at night. So was I. As of matter of fact, I still haven’t caught up on my sleep.

One of the breaking stories many people were talking about was the allegations of the underage athletes from China. There were questions about the validity of their passports and documentation of their ages. We’ll see what develops in the near future.

China made a big impact on this year’s Olympics. The opening ceremonies were magnificent and the Chinese athletes won more Gold medals than any other country (the U.S.A. won more total medals). But at what cost?

There were questions about the ages of the Chinese gymnasts, there were comments about the grueling hours of training, and stories about young athletes being separated from their parents and families. Maybe they met their Olympic goals, but what about the long term effects. The past has proven that gold medals don’t make a country a super power.

Maybe the American way of life isn’t as bad as some critics would have you believe. Our athletes are given more freedom to choose (sometimes too much), freedom to act as they want (within reason) and the freedom to interact with their family and friends. It’s not always a perfect system, but I think we’ve proven that it works.

The U.S.A. is still the land of opportunity and so many athletes and families want to make their home here. Go Olympians! Go U.S.A.!

Sincerely,
Mark & Veronica

Appreciating the Help

Well, it certainly has been a busy two weeks at the studio. We had our Summer Showcase on July 27th, Mark’s Birthday Bash on August 8th and then the Youth Showcase on August 9, 2008. It’s been over four weeks without a day off, that’s quite a while to go without a break. But now I get to slow down a little before we begin to gear up for the end of the year.

It takes a lot of work and coordinating to produce a Showcase or a Friday night theme party with dance exhibitions. We must coordinate the decorations, catered food, set up of chairs and tables, ticket and program printing, music editing and more. Veronica and Charles are always by my side and they are very helpful to me and the studio. However, as organized as I may seem (some of you know otherwise!) I often need help to complete the showcases and events that are held at the studio.

I would like to thank some of the helpers at our recent events. Thanks to Andrea Haase (front desk), Huishi Yen (front desk), Dave Suess (programs), Eddie Ngo (camera), Jennifer & Jenelyn Ngo (food setup), and others. Special thanks go out to Anne Herron and Chris Hutson who really went above and beyond the call of duty to help with both showcases and the birthday party.

Both Anne and Chris did so much, they cleaned upstairs, they cleaned downstairs, they replaced the linoleum in the kitchen and have done much more. They don’t ask for any compensation, they just do it because they love the studio and in these economically difficult times, they’re just trying to help the studio succeed however they can. These comments are not just to “toot their horns” but to let everyone know that I can’t produce a showcase by myself and that I really appreciate everybody’s help.

Moral of the story: It’s a team effort to produce our showcase and special events. Your help is welcome and is greatly appreciated. If anyone is interested in helping at our future events, please ask me.

Sincerely,
Mark & Veronica

Summer Showcase 2008

The morning starts out like almost any other morning. But we know in the back of our mind that today is a special day. As we get ready for the event later that evening we walk through important steps and details in our mind. We take a little more care than usual to dress ourselves, prepare our hair and make-up (not me, the women), and then go to the studio.

There is a gentle buzz of activity at the studio when we arrive. People are bringing in their costumes, some are mingling and others are finishing last minute preparations at the studio. The Finale rehearsal is called for all performers and nerves begin to awaken. We go through the steps as we were shown, one last time. We go upstairs for our final make-up and costume preparation, as the spectators are let in and begin to fill the ballroom.

The adrenaline is beginning to flow through our bodies and the hype is filling the air. We now position ourselves behind the curtain as our “run-on” music plays. The curtain flies open and the moment has finally arrived – it’s Showtime!

Another successful show! As usual, the Showcase was very entertaining. We had Latin routines in Cha-Cha and Bolero and Ballroom numbers in Waltz and Fox Trot; we enjoyed the specialty dance like the Argentine Tango and group numbers from Koko’s Flamenco Group and Passport to Dance, a youth ballroom group, coordinated by Veronica Wagner.

One of the greatest things about ballroom dancing is that all ages can dance and perform. We had young kids from the youth ballroom group and mature adults performing at the Summer Showcae. Congratulations on a job well job.

To see the online photo slideshow, click the link below
(OR copy/paste into your browser):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dancer_avenue/sets/
72157606560311382/show/

Sinerely,
Mark Mendez

P.S. It's my birthday today!

How to Dance if You're Inhibited

Hi Everyone,

Sometimes students say they are a little embarrassed to dance while people are watching or just to dance at all. I came across this article and thought I would share this with you. It sounds mostly like social club dancing, but it can apply to ballroom dancing as well.
Enjoy - Mark
* [comments added by Mark]

So, you are out dancing...and you want to dance, but you are a little too shy, or don't really like the thought of everyone else watching you. If this is your problem, then this article is for you!

Steps

• At home, stand in front of your mirror and turn on some of your favorite songs. Try out a few dance moves of your own, and see how it looks. Become familiar with your dancing style, and come to feel comfortable with yourself. Note what you enjoyed and what you did not enjoy while practicing this, and match them accordingly while you are out dancing.
• Find a friend Find a friend to go out dancing [or practice at the studio]* who isn't inhibited at all about dancing. This may just be the kind of friend who would drag you out there and make you do it whether you like it or not!Tell them beforehand not to listen to you, as you protest loudly or pretend not to hear you over the music - but do tell them to stop if you are about to cry.
• Learn how Have your friend teach you how to dance [or take lessons]* so you know what to do when you are out there on the dance floor.
• Just do it Now go out with your friend and dance [try studio parties]* -make sure to take lots of breaks and don't care if people are looking at you - and if they are, just dance more! Just do it!! This is your time to dance!!
• Try something basic If this is your first attempt to get out there and dance, perhaps you would prefer to try something more basic. Feeling the tune of the music, sway back and forth ["rock step" for ballroom dancers]* in a speed that feels comfortable to you. During faster songs, try a step together and clapping move. This would help you enjoy yourself without feeling uncomfortable standing out in the crowd.

Tips

• Try taking dance lessons [at Stardance Studio]* to start get the feel of the art of dance. This would assist greatly on the dance floor.
• Dance as though there is nobody around. Think of how you would dance if you had the music turned up in your bedroom, and you were the only one in the room. Try to visualize this concept and follow through by dancing in the way that shows your individuality.
• Avoid trying to copy the dance moves of people around you. Remember to be yourself.
• Feel the music. Make the most out of your favorite songs. Grasp the meaning of the words and allow your dancing to speak those words. Pay attention to the beat. Notice how fast or slow it is, and follow it accordingly in your movement.
• Breathe. If you truly feel anxious, try to take a minute to breathe, relax, and get a drink of water [or something stronger!]*. Calm your mind, and free it of any worries.
• Realize, that people are not going to be watching your dancing in particular. Think to yourself: "I came here to have fun! I am going to enjoy myself here no matter what, and I will dance however I wish to do so!" Avoid allowing the thoughts of others to interfere with your enjoyment.
• Feel free. Plant a smile on your face and tell yourself that it is going to be okay.
• Make the most of your moments. Look into people's eyes a little deeper, notice the beat or tune of the music more closely, and dance with all the energy and emotion you have.

Warnings

• Take breaks and drink plenty of water-your body will thank you! Dancing is one way to get dehydrated quick and you won't notice because you are having so much fun!

Courtesy of wikiHow