Thursday, September 29, 2011

My thoughts on yesterday (September 28)

Yesterday I went to the studio again.  I don't know why I have to say this, because I have already said I go to dance every weeknight, but whatever, I just feel like it.(Plus it provides more easy writing material...)

So, my partner and I had a class and practice today.  Essentially all we worked on was our frame.  It's been going well, but I have been having trouble with my right shoulder.  I am having difficulty keep it down while I dance.  I start with it down, but as I dance, it slowly rises, and it causes a very bad and broken line to our frame.  And the worst part?  For the life of me I cannot feel when I am doing this, so that makes it ten times harder to fix!

We also worked on some Waltz stuff.  On the Weave I guess I wasn't going down enough on one step, so it kind of messed up the look of the whole thing.  On the Underturn Outside Spin I have to remember not to shorten it when I am going into the turn.  On the Chasse's, I have to make the rise go through all the steps of the chasse, instead of reaching the full height on the first step.  I also have to make more shape or "sway" on the Wing.  Arg, there is so much to focus on!!!!

Lots of stuff to work on all right, at least we will have more practices soon.

This coming week though, my partner will be having family over at her house, so we won't be able to start these new practices quite yet.  The week afterward though, I believe we will finally be able to get more practice time.

Oh yeah, and yesterday was the first time I drove to the studio by myself.  I think I said so already, but I got my license on Tuesday.  So happy!  Maybe I can make it easier on my partner's family and drive her to and from the studio if they can't make it on a certain day.

Well, that is my life,

Aaron Mullen:  Ballroom Dance Instructor

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

September 27(A bit Late)

So today I got my license.  So now I can FINALLY drive myself to and from dance.  Yay!

A lady from the studio took me out for a little ice cream to celebrate with me.

At the studio there were two new students, and they were both men.  This is good because yesterday the four new students were all women!  It's always nice when there are an even number of men and women in the class, but it rarely happens, especially when my teacher has no contracts of any kind to make sure people come every week.

I myself do not know if contracts scare people away, but I DO know they make life easier.  You don't have to worry about this person coming one day, and payment, and if they paid you, or if they didn't.  It's just such a pain.  Advanced payments really make things easier.

 Well, those are my thoughts today,

Aaron Mullen:  Ballroom Dance Instructor

Monday, September 26, 2011

September 26: Another Week

Yay!  Another week of dancing has started!

Today my studio started a new session.  We started entirely from scratch today in the beginner's class.  We had four new students today, and my teacher did a good job of letting them know what they must and mustn't do on the dance floor.  Like, keeping the heads to the left, the ladies always follow, and all that good stuff.

It was a lot of fun having a completely brand new group of people to teach.  It's always nice to see them "Grow up" from a wee little dancer, to someone who has a decent idea of what they are doing.  Now I see why I want to become a Ballroom Dance teacher so much.  It's just so much fun!

I also went to the Salsa class today.  There was a lady I had never met before there, but she was a good dancer.  There were very few people there today, so we moved through the steps pretty fast and we learned a lot.

Well, this looks like it will be a good week in the studio.

Aaron Mullen:  Ballroom Dance Instuctor

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Cancelling Group Classes

Due to circumstances out of my control, I will be canceling the two group classes which I have started.  The kids class at 4 on Thursdays, and the Swing class at 7 on Thursdays are canceled until further notice.

Well, it is actually due to the lack of actual students which is why I am canceling these classes.  I did have two young girls come to my kids class the first week, but their mother decided that it wasn't a good idea at this point for them to be dancing.

I will be focusing on getting people to come for private lessons right now.  I am still offering group classes, but anyone interested will have to start a lesson on their own.

Aaron Mullen:  Ballroom Dance Instructor

Sunday September 25

Well, nothing has really happened today to do with dance.  I wish I could go to the parties which the studio throws every other Sunday, but I have no license, thus I cannot make it because my parents don't want to drive me.

My partner and I will be getting more practice time though, so that is a good thing.  We definitely need this extra time a lot.  Most good dancers will practice for like, two hours a day, seven days a week.  Hopefully we can fit in two more practices a week.  Our current two practices is definitely less than adequate.

Two hours per practice though is a bit much for me.  Physically, I can dance for a couple of hours, but I tend to forget what I worked on in the first hour during the second hour.  It's basically is overflowing my brain with information, so I end up forgetting everything.

So, that is all,

Aaron Mullen:  Ballroom Dance Instructor

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Dancer Party

So today I was at a party which many of the people at the studio attended.  The funny thing is, everyone knows my name, but I know very few of their names.  It's a little bit awkward to say the least.

I am also looking into using Google AdWords to advertise for myself.  It seems to be a very good tool, but I can't exactly figure out how I should be using it.

Aaron Mullen:  Ballroom Dance Instructor

Friday, September 23, 2011

Sway

As you may know, sway is extremely important to the beauty and flow of the smooth/standard dances.

This being said, many people will attempt to do what they THINK is sway by bending the side of their body, but fail to actually execute it properly.

Many people think that sway is the bending of one side of the body, but this is incorrect.  Why is this incorrect?   When you bend the side of your body, you are really sending yourself slightly downwards.  Ballroom is meant to be danced very, "Up," and any bit of downward motion will destroy the look of the dance.  Instead, one should focus on lifting one side of the body so the other side only looks bent.  If you sre an extremely experienced dancer though, you can take it one step further by stretching your whole body, but one side more than the rest.

It's an illusion my friends.

Aaron Mullen:  Ballroom Dance Instructor.

A Blast From my Past!

Here is a little article which was in the News Times a few years ago.  My partner and I were dancing at a fundraiser called the "May Tea Dance," at the Danbury senior center.  Check the story out at this link:

http://tinyurl.com/3s9m77f

Thursday, September 22, 2011

September 22

No one is coming to my Thursday classes, and it is very frustrating.  I am really looking for students right now.  So If you or anyone you know are interested in taking Ballroom Dance lessons in Danbury, CT, please contact me.  I am having a rough time gaining clients.  Any business will definitely be appreciated.

I'm not really in a mood to write a lot tonight.  I'm feeling kinda down under the weather.  So muggy and humid out.  Blech.  Why couldn't it have stayed cold when it got cold?

For the past two days I've been shoveling gravel to make an extension for my family's driveway.  This is so that when I get a car, we will have room for me to park it.

So, good night,(I doubt you are reading this tonigh though, but that doesn't matter.)

Aaron Mullen:  Ballroom Dance Instructor

Natural/Reverse

People use these terms all the time, but what exactly does it mean when someone says a figure is "Natural" or "Reverse"?

It turns out, what they are referring to is the direction in which the step is turning in.  Natural figures turn right, and reverse figures turn left.

That's all there is to it my friends.

Aaron Mullen:  Ballroom Dance Instructor

September 21 (A Day Late!)

At the time of writing, I currently have no internet connection.  My family is switching to a better connection, 6MB a second!  That is like, an INSANE amount of data for an internet connection if you are wondering.

So, while at the studio today (22nd) I had a private lesson and practice session with my partner.  I told my teacher that we (my partner and I) really need to practice a lot more, I'd say at least two more times a week.  He agrees with me, and he talked to my partner's mother earlier.  She is really busy, so it's difficult for her to find time to drive my partner to the studio very often.  Hopefully I will actually get my license on the 27th, then I can help drive my partner to the studio every night to practice.

At the lesson today we mostly reviewed things to help hone our technique.  Putting new steps into your brain doesn't help your dancing, it probably only makes it worse honestly.  You fill you mind up with steps, then you have no room for the actual technique.  Believe me, once you have a good understanding of technique, the time it takes to learn steps is probably halved.  Learn a few steps, perfect them and their technique, then move on to the next set of steps.  Rushing yourself is never good, it turns everything into a huge muddle in you brain.

Aaron Mullen:  Ballroom Dance Instructor

P.S.  Sorry if this is a little late to post, but, as I stated, we had no internet.  I'll probably be posting twice today though, so check back for my next post later today!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

My Views on Dance Partnerships

Dance partnerships.  Probably the most important part to Ballroom besides the actual steps themselves.

In this case, then you should be dancing with someone you really enjoy being with, or someone you are interested in becoming better friends with.  Never become partners with someone you don't enjoy being around.  Your friendship should be reflected by your dancing.  It shouldn't be "Just because" you both want to dance.  It should be because you both have a love of ballroom and can both get along.

Trust me, it's worth it to find someone who you enjoy being around.

Aaron Mullen:  Ballroom Dance Instructor

September 20

So right now I am sitting in the studio, (I probably won't be when I actually DO post this.  The internet here is really weird.  I have a connection, but it's going insanely slow), and I am waiting for the next class to start.  I come here every Tuesday at three, and I leave at nine.  I only dance three of those seven hours because I stay from the first class at three, and do something until seven when the classes start again.

There is a lady at the studio.  She always was very uncomfortable for me to be around because she is very talkative and talks too much during classes.  For some reason she got angry at me and said I dance "limp."  I appreciate her thinking that I am a God of dance, but even the best of us make mistakes, so I am kind of confused at her reasoning for getting angry at me.  At least she won't be talking to me during classes anymore!
The studio is always a very nice place to  relax.  It's actually a very quiet place most of the time, even while the music is on, and there are so many nice people here, there is almost always  someone nice to talk to.

Oh, and I learnt recently that the studio I dance in is one of the biggest in the country.  How cool is that?

I also believe that the kids who attended my kids class will not be returning anytime soon.  Their parents believe that the older girl is a little daunted by having a lesson herself, because her younger sister, who I said probably has better things to do then listen to me for an hour, will not be coming.  So, another setback in my dream to be a dance teacher.

Well, at least I'm still alive!

Aaron Mullen:  Ballroom Dance Instructor

Edit:  Turns out I was able to after all!  :)

Monday, September 19, 2011

September 19

If I haven't said already, I go to the studio every night to help my teacher with classes, and to learn how to teach ballroom from him.  Tonight I was learning some Salsa.  It's definitely not my favorite dance, but it's kinda fun.  It is very loose and relaxed, unlike the Smooth dances which my partner and I specialize in.

I'm wondering if I can get any footage of the competition my partner and I attended yesterday.  Our friend was there, and she took some footage of all the people from our studio dancing.

I also talked to my dance teacher today.  He was definitely not as unhappy about our not-so-great performance yesterday.  He said we danced fine, but it just didn't look as good as it should have because of our frame.  I guess he was just a little bit flustered in all the excitement yesterday.  I feel kinda bad though, like we let him down.  He really wants us to succeed, and I really want to give him the satisfaction of seeing us succeed soon.  At least we didn't fail!

I hope we can fix a lot of problems at our class this Wednesday!

I also hope that my partner and I can get at least one more practice in each week.  My partner's mom is very busy, and so is her dad, and they can't drive her out to the studio too often.  She is only fourteen, so she can't drive herself to the studio.  Maybe when I get my license on the 27th of September I can help drive her to the studio for extra practices.  I failed the first time because I backed into a guardrail!  All because my dumb car has a huge hump on the back which blocks my field of vision.

Ugh.  I guess that's life.  All this crazy stuff going on all the time, and I just have to deal with it.

Aaron Mullen:  Ballroom Dance Instructor

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Dance Competition!

My partner and I participated in a ballroom Dance competition today.  The competition was in Glastonbury, if you know where that is.  Not many people were there, just the regulars from my dance studio and some others whom I have seen around at other competitions.

It was fun, yet at the same time it was disappointing.  I was hoping we would do better, but at least we got first in two events out of the ten in which we participated.  Something I learnt today was that Waltz is definitely our best dance, and that my worries about our frame are well founded.  I had been asking my teacher if my posture was good, but he basically told me it was fine and started working on other things, despite my worries.  But today he got angry at me for not holding my frame properly, although I had been the one to ask him about my frame a while back.

Ah, so much drama.

So, that was my experience today.  Kind of a crazy roller coaster ride of doom.

So the moral of this story?  Remember kids, your frame is VERY important.  Make sure you have that down before you work on anything else.  It will help your balance and your connection to your partner a lot.

Aaron Mullen:  Ballroom Dance Instructor

Friday, September 16, 2011

What is a Natural Turn?

Someone with less experience in the field of Ballroom would have the question, "What is a Natural Turn?"

In one word, I would describe it as "Important."  It is almost an absolutely necessary step to get around the floor in a graceful manner.

A more detailed explanation would be as such:

Start facing a wall at an angle of 45 degrees(Diagonal Wall to those who understand these alignments).
Make fully sure that the wall is angled to your right, not your left!
First, step forward with your right foot.  The turn to the right should commence on this step.
Next, step with the left foot and turn so that your left foot is going left and in the direction you were facing when you started.
Finish by closing the right foot to the left, and finish the turn so that you end up making 135 degrees of turn.  The wall you started facing at a 45 degree angle should now be directly to your left at a right angle.
If my directions were good enough, you should have just executed a very basic Natural Turn!

I know that this probably would be a little confusing to someone who has no knowledge of Ballroom, but I thought I would at least attempt to explain it in words.

Kids Class

Yesterday I had the first session of my kids ballroom class.  I think it went pretty well.  I have two young girls taking the class, one of them is five, and the other is three.

I was wondering if a person of three years old was too young to have in the class.  I love the little ones, but I think I may have to raise the minimum age from three to maybe four or five.  She was just not very interested.  Maybe in a year or so she will be more interested.  I remember an hour being much longer when I was younger, so I fully understand why she had a hard time focusing.

The five-year-old girl was pretty well behaved.  She listened very intently most of the time, and I didn't have to call her attention very often.  She picked the steps up pretty fast as well.

Overall it was a good experience.  I gained some knowledge in how to teach younger children, and I decided that three-year-olds  have better things to do then listen to me for an hour.

I also had my Swing class which no one attended, other than my parents of course.  They don't exactly count as students though, so if anyone reading this could attend, I would greatly appreciate it.  Check the calendar at:  http://aaronballroom.webs.com/apps/calendar/ to find the time of the Swing class, as well as my kids class.

Thank you,

Aaron Mullen:  Ballroom Dance Instructor

Thursday, September 8, 2011

My New Blog

Hello, my name is Aaron Mullen,

I am a ballroom dancer of five years.  As a recent graduate I am looking for avenues to turn my passion of ballroom dancing into a lifetime career.

Why do I enjoy Ballroom Dancing so much you may ask?  Well my friend, other then the obvious benefit of exercise, there are several other major reasons why ballroom has captivated myself and so many others.

First, ballroom has a certain flow to it which makes it very enjoyable to execute, as well as a joy to watch.  Each step must flow into the next to ensure the best distance and balance.

Second, there is the social aspect.  Ballroom can be used in many social situations such as dances, weddings, and other social gatherings.  Ballroom can also be a great talking point for those who have never ballroom danced.

Third, there is the bond that forms between your partner and yourself.  If you dance frequently, (and if you can find someone who you can stand, and someone who can stand you), you will most likely become good friends with your partner, and a friendship will form which will last a lifetime.  Not only this, but you will be able to share the experience of Ballroom Dancing with another, unlike many other forms of dancing, which may require you to dance in a group, but without a partner.  In my opinion, a large part of Ballroom is the person you are dancing with; if you dislike her/him, you should find a new partner.

There are many other positive aspects to Ballroom Dancing, but these are probably the three biggest reasons why I love Ballroom Dancing.

I will be sharing my thoughts on my ballroom experiences here, so check back in regularly to see how thigs are doing.

Thank you,

Aaron Mullen:  Ballroom Dance Instructor.