2014 at TSDC was an exciting year. Lots of new bodies graced our dance floor. Hopefully, these new dancers will decide to become members of our club. Having a constant stream of new members, while retaining our “old” members, creates an exciting and lasting dance club.Even with all of the other WCS dance options available around town, TSDC continues to be the epicenter for WCS in Tucson.

If you value what TSDC has to offer, think of ways that you can help in its continued success. Volunteer or run for the board in April and help guide board decisions that affect our club. Or, simply bring a friend or two with you for some Thursday night fun. This could have a huge and positive impact on TSDC this year. The more people that are exposed to our club, the more it will grow and prosper.

We had a number of wonderful workshops given by WCS National Champs John Piper, Patty Vo, Michael Kielbasa and Ben McHenry. All were well-attended and received rave reviews. On February 5th, National WCS Champion Tara Trafzer will return to TSDC for a night of workshops. Tara hasn’t done a workshop at our club since 2012. Having her back at TSDC is sure to be a fantastic evening of learning and dancing. Workshop prices are $10 for members and $15 for non-members. Remember, whether you come to the workshops or just for the dance afterwards, these prices will be in effect for the entire evening.

Our club Christmas party was a big success. I loved seeing our crowd all fancied up! The room was beautifully decorated, the food was yummy, the music was HOT, and the dancing was fabulous! Hopefully, next year we will have some live performances to help spice up the evening. Anybody got a great WCS dance routine that you’re dying to perform? Here’s a chance to show the home crowd what you’ve got!

A small group of us performed at the 4^th Avenue Winter Street Fair in December. It would have been much more fun if we’d had more dancers. Thanks go out to those who participated. The weather was a bit cold and we weren’t real organized, but the crowd had a good time. It would be very cool to see us do more WCS performances around the city this year. With more preparation, we could put on some killer shows. What a great way to introduce TSDC and WCS to large groups of people around the city!

Please note that we will be increasing our Thursday night prices to $5 for members and $7 for non-members starting February 12^th. Due to a higher rental price that TSDC has to pay for Shall We Dance, a rate hike has been deemed necessary by our Board of Directors. These new prices are very much in line with WCS dance prices around Tucson. In fact, our member price is lower than the entry price for just about all WCS dances in Tucson and/or Phoenix. TSDC absorbs losses on many workshops and our club Christmas party. We still offer both at such a great price because we do it for our members. However, we have to be able to cover our weekly rent.

So once again, Happy 2015! Let’s all make an effort to become better WCS dancers this year. By attending Tara Trafzer’s workshop in February, you can check out some of the latest “stuff” that’s being taught around the WCS world. I know I’m looking to improve in all areas of my dancing this year and am excited to attend her workshops. Remember, a rising tide raises all boats. The better we all get at WCS, the better WCS will become in Tucson. This means a better time for all of us!

“May you laugh heartily, cry openly, sing loudly, dance wildly, love unashamedly.” – Issac David Garuda

Upcoming Events

• Speaking of December, it’s time to purchase your ticket for our fabulous Christmas party which will take place Saturday, December 6^th at Shall We Dance. Break out your fancy clothes and prepare to have a blast. This is a catered event (by Meatheads Catering) and we still keep ticket prices extremely low. Only $10 for members and $15 for non-members if tickets are purchased by November 20^th. After November 20^th, tickets will be priced at $20/$25 dollars. Take advantage of our Early Bird pricing!

• Get ready for another great TSDC workshop when we bring in National West Coast Swing Champion-Tara Trafzer on February 5, 2015. You won’t want to miss out on this event. It’s bound to be a blast!

• 2-day intensive with National West Coast Swing Champions-Myles and Tessa (Cunningham) Munroe, Friday & Saturday, April 17-18. Man I can hardly wait to attend this! Attendance will be limited to only 20 dancers (with an even number of leaders and followers). Ticket prices will probably be $100-$120 per dancer. If you want to see your dancing soar to new heights, you’ll definitely want to get in on this BIG I will let you know when tickets go on sale and any other details on this upcoming event, as those details unfold.

The coming of a new year is a great time for reflection. It gives us the opportunity to view our lives as we have lived them up until this moment. The coming of a new year is also a time when many people begin to set new goals or reset old ones. Of course, it doesn’t take the coming of a new year to do either reflection or goal setting. Some people make a habit of doing both on a daily basis which is a really cool thing to do.

If you’re addicted to WCS like I am, you think about it on a daily basis. You probably reflect on where you are in this dance and want to get better at it. If you’re like me, you may find that at times making progress can be frustrating and seemingly overwhelming. I feel your pain. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Right?

Here’s a thought. How about picking one thing you’d like to improve in your WCS during these last few days of 2014. It doesn’t matter what it is. The choice is up to you. Maybe you want to learn to do better turns, or have better foot work, or come up with a new anchor instead of doing the same old thing time and time again. Again, what you want to improve is up to you.

Next, figure out how you’ll go about improving. Will you watch WCS videos for ideas or will you hire a coach or will you simply ask a better dancer to help you out? Sometimes Mary and I will see a cool move on a video that we want to learn. We’ll usually try to figure it out by working on it in our living room. If we need more help, we’ll show the move to our dance coach (Wendy Miller), get some pointers and then perfect the move at home. How you want to go about it is up to you. Do what works for you.

Normally in goal setting, why you want to achieve something is the most important factor. It’s been said that if you have a big enough reason for wanting to do something, you will figure out the- what and the how. Why you want to do it doesn’t matter to anyone except you. Maybe you want to be a top-notch social dancer, who’s at the top of everyone’s list to dance with. Maybe you want to be that awesome competitive dancer, who tears up the competition floor and takes home trophies and envelopes full of cash. Perhaps you want to be both. Just go for it!

The power of reflection and goal setting can be a strong ally in you becoming a better WCS dancer. If you know what you want, how you’re going to achieve it, and have a strong enough reason why you want it, nothing can stop you! Now, go make it happen.

I’m posting this column much later than I had anticipated. My bad! I’m hoping to have it done before TSDC’s Halloween Party on Thursday, Oct 30th. Please, please make every effort to wear some kind of costume. The more dancers in costume, the more festive and special our party will be. Besides, you might win a prize, which will be awarded for most original/creative, scariest and funniest costumes. Here’s your opportunity to be someone/something different for one night. Members in costume will get in free. That’s a bonus!

Thanks go out to everyone who attended our workshops on Oct 16^th, featuring West Coast Swing All-Star, John Piper. Speaking for myself (and I know for many others in attendance), I had a fantastic time. John was such a treat! His love of WCS was evident. He was well-organized, clear in his teaching and managed to keep everyone moving (standing around was kept to a minimum).  His humor and warm personality helped him connect quickly with everyone.

One thing I love about workshops is that anyone, no matter what level of dancer he/she is, can gain at least one nugget of knowledge or advice  that can make a huge difference on the dance floor. John Piper threw out more than a few nuggets. In our workshops there are typically many level of dancers. Some brand spanking new – some have been dancing for years. At times, more experienced dancers can become bored or listless at workshops. Remember when you first learned to drive a car? Remember how much attention you paid to doing everything just right? How’s your driving these days? John reminded more experienced dancers that working on their basic movements is something they should do from time to time, especially when learning new moves or patterns. Workshops are a perfect time to polish up on the basics. So whether new or old, all levels of dancers can find something to perfect.

He had us play with mirroring each other’s movements. This was a way for us to be more engaged/connected with our partners. When this concept is applied while dancing, it can make for a really cool and interesting dance. I loved when he asked us to say out loud what we needed/wanted as a leader/follower from our partners. Overwhelmingly we heard things like, “smiles..acknowledgement of something done well…encouragement, and appreciation.” All of us want to feel good when we dance. Our partners can play a huge role in making this happen. Remember this!!!

John spoke about being a Dance Rock Star!! This concept will make more sense to those of us who compete in West Coast Swing. West Coast Swing is a social dance but competing in WCS is very popular, and for some dancers, competing is their primary focus. But for just about all of us, most of our time will be spent social dancing. So, doesn’t it make sense to be the best social dancer you can be?? Do you want people lined up to ask you for a dance because you’re so awesome and all?? Who cares if you compete or not, YOU’RE A DANCE ROCK STAR!!!!! That’s what I want to be (alright, a trophy now and then is ok by me as well, I’m just sayin’). How about you?

Lastly, Mr. Piper talked about looking like you came ready to dance. That’s a huge part of becoming a dance rock star, by the way. This means hanging out close to the dance floor and letting folks know you came to get down. Let your body show it. Bop to the music, smile, make eye contact and don’t be afraid to ask someone to dance. We’re all attracted to positive, energetic and fun people. These are the dancers we want to be with on the dance floor. Right?! ‘Nuff said, I’m ready to get down.

If any of you dance rock stars have any comments you’d like to leave in response, I’d love hearing from you. Until next time…….

Ciao

10/2 James Kirkman

10/3 John Ryer

10/7 Scott Menkal

10/13 Stephanie Dunn

10/15 Jaclyn Hellmann

10/15 Irma Bojazi

10/19 Susan Barrette

10/26 Coni Weatherford

Don’t forgot to grab the following new members for a dance

Mark Bojazi

Irma Bojazi

Coni Weatherford

Elizabeth Brewer

Andrea Maynard

Martin Sayles

By Matthew Loukopoulos

One of my Tango students came up to me the other night very confused. Here is the gist of our conversation.

“So, I took the West Coast Swing beginner class with Mr. Big Arms.” (No, that’s not his real name. I chose it to keep things anonymous.)

“Cool! How’s that going?” I asked.

“Well, I’m confused.” He replied.

“Really? In what way?” I asked, already know where this was going. “Maybe I can help clear up your confusion.”

“Well, I took the class and I thought I got it pretty good. Then I go to YouTube and when I look at WCS it looks nothing like what we did in class. Nothing at all!”

“I totally understand. You did learn the correct basics. I saw the classes. Mr. Big Arms is a good instructor. He really knows his stuff. In Ballroom. He’s a great Ballroom dancer. But he’s no Swing Dancer. He doesn’t have ‘the look’. He does the patterns, but doesn’t look like a Westie.”

Yes, folks, I’m going There. The look of West Coast Swing. A topic that has been debated time and time again, year after year.

Every dance has a certain look. Ballroom, Tap, Jazz, Ballet, Tango, Swing, Salsa, Country and Western. They each have a look even within the same family. Take Ballroom for instance. Waltz looks different than Fox-Trot, which looks different than Cha-Cha. In the family of Salsa dances, Salsa looks different than Bachata, which looks different than Cha-Cha. In Country, Two-Step looks different than Waltz which looks different than Cha-Cha.

Now, that makes sense, right? After all, Waltz and Cha-Cha are totally different dances. But did you notice something? Did you see a dance or two that was common to all three families I used as examples?

Cha-Cha-Cha, you’re right! Here’s an example of a dance that is rather common in more than one circle of dance communities. And if you have a good look at it, you’ll see that the Cha-Cha you do at the country bar looks different than the Cha-Cha you see at a Salsa club, and different again at a Ballroom club. The same dance. But they look different.

The same goes for Swing. Lindy-hop, Balboa, Carolina Shag, West Coast Swing. They all look different. It makes sense. They are all in the Swing Family but are different dances. Can you name a swing dance that is common in more than one dance circle?

Anchor Step, you’re right again! You’ll find West Coast Swing at Ballroom dances, Country dances, and of course, Swing dances. Double steps and triple steps. Push Breaks, Side Passes, and Whips. Have a good look at it. You’ll see that it looks different with each crowd.

West Coast Swing has a certain look. I’m not talking about Kippy belts, wide leg pants, open back tops, Affliction T’s or Toms. Look up ‘Kippy Belt’ if you don’t know what that is. No, really. Look it up. Yes, I was there.

Ballroom dancers, Ballet dancers, Tango dancers, and Swing dancers all carry themselves different in their movements on the floor. If you are approaching WCS with a Ballroom style triple step, Ballet turnout, and Salsa hips you’ll be doing something that resembles WCS. However, it won’t look anything like authentic WCS. In order for your WCS to have that authentic look you have to move like a swing dancer.

What is this look? It is fluid. Elastic. Grounded. Smooth. There’s a drive that comes from a specific part of the body, sending it into flight. The look of WCS has nothing to do with what patterns you are doing. It has everything to do with how you are doing them.

Study the dance itself. Learn how to move your body to create the look of WCS and not matter how much it changes or how you stylise it, your WCS will always look like authentic WCS.

I hope your month of September is off to a flying start, and I hope that you’re using the club’s website and Face Book page, to stay on top of what’s happening at TSDC. In this post, I wanted to share some thoughts on why you should attend WCS dance conventions like Desert City Swing, and give you a preview of upcoming events at the club. If you’re interested in becoming a better dancer, pay close attention to my discussion on efficient and effective movement. Without efficient and effective movement patterns, it will be impossible for you to obtain the skills necessary to become a top WCS dancer. Bold statement right?!

This picture is a scene from the dance floor at Desert City Swing at about 4 am. Things had thinned out a bit BUT, there were still at least 200 dancers  on the floor! It’s scenes like this that make many of us crazy about WCS dance conventions. For those of you who don’t know or who are new to WCS, Desert City Swing is a fun, fun WCS dance convention held in Phoenix the first week in September (next year it will move to Labor Day weekend). Attending dance conventions like Desert City Swing (DCS) is one of the best ways to experience the awesomeness of WCS. You get to dance all night, have tons of great dances, hang out with old friends, make new ones, compete if that’s your thing, and attend workshops that help deepen your knowledge of WCS. It’s like cramming 3-4 months of dancing into 3-4 days! A convention is similar to a party that never ends. You’ll never have as much fun getting utterly and completely worn out. Make plans to attend one as soon as possible!

If you were at DCS, you might have noticed a flock of followers lined up to dance with All-Star leader-John Piper. Mary had a huge smile on her face after having been lucky enough to snag a dance with him. The man is a sweetheart and can flat out DANCE! I’m proud to say that John will be conducting two workshops at TSDC on October 16^th. I’ve been told that he’s an excellent instructor and I’m really excited to having him at our club. Mary and I are both looking forward to having privates with him while he’s in town. Make sure you ask John for a dance and book a private if you can.

So you want to be an All-Star leader like John Piper do you? Or, a Champion caliber follower with a line of leaders anxiously awaiting the opportunity to experience a dance with you? Perhaps you just want to become a really skillful dancer. In his book Athletic Body in Balance, author Gray Cook discusses the ideas of efficient and effective movement. Mr. Cook is an orthopedic physical therapist and a sports conditioning expert who has worked with athletes in the NFL, NBA, NHL, WNBA, and Reebok.

He states that, “Efficient describes action without wasted movement or unnecessary energy expenditure.” He says it’s best described, “As the level at which a champion actually gets to enjoy being a champion. At the height of their careers, the great ones are relaxed and enjoy themselves in the midst of constant chaos and challenge.” Dancing at times can be chaotic and challenging. Being able to relax and enjoy the experience can take some getting used to, and can help minimize the chaos.

He further goes on to say that efficiency remove the fluff from exercise and disregards the gimmicks and trends. Efficiency gets to the heart of movement that creates improvement and keeps everything operating smoothly. Can you see how this relates to WCS?

Effective simply means yielding results in Mr. Cook’s opinion. No matter how efficient you are on the dance floor, if what you’re doing isn’t making you a better dancer, it’s not effective. To be effective, whatever you’re learning in WCS should lead to an improvement and refinement in your dancing. In dancing as in all movements, the goal is to achieve a balance between efficiency and effectiveness on the dance floor. Having a dance coach who can help you understand and bring these two ideas to life in your dancing is invaluable! I’m sure that you’ll get a glimpse at these concepts during John Piper’s workshops on October 16^th.

The dance between the ideas of being efficient and effective, is one that has to be mastered if you want to dance at the highest levels.

Zo Carroll

TSDC President

By Matthew Loukopoulos August 2014

Not too long ago I was teaching workshops for a weekend up in northern British Columbia. I have been up there several times now. It’s a small, but great community of Westies. As I have done in the past, I taught some group classes and set aside a full day for private lessons.

While I was there I heard that one of the dancers there wanted to take a private with me but didn’t think they were a good enough dancer for a private. This mindset that is quite far from what it should be. I thought about this for a whole half a second before I decided to write about it. By the time my plane landed back in Vancouver I had also thought of a few other things to mention about privates that often get overlooked.

Skill level. There is no such thing as ‘not good enough’ or ‘too good’ to take a private lesson. The whole point of a private lesson is to improve your dancing. Whether you have only just started yesterday and have two left feet or have been dancing all of your life on stage, a private is about improvement. An instructor is there to look at your dancing from angles you can’t see to coach you in areas that need improvement. Anybody can benefit from a private. There will always be something you can improve. Always. That is what private and group lessons are for.

Location. Almost every private lesson you will take will be in a studio of some sort. Studios can range from very small home-based with one mirror to large dance schools with full length mirrors on several walls. Regardless of the size you will have to travel to the studio. If I had a dollar for every potential student who tried to convince me to come to their place because we could use the small space they have in the hall, or kitchen, or they could move the coffee table out of the way I wouldn’t need to teach a single thing. The location they teach out of is where they work and do business. Your dentist doesn’t come to you. You go to their office. The same goes for dance lessons. Dance lessons are more fun than root canals. With either, you’ll be able to chew away at something.

Timing. Ah, the t-word you hear sooooo many times. Timing in your dancing, as part of the 3-T’s if you have ever been in a competition, etc. Timing has a role in privates too. Please be on time. People get sick, called in to work, etc. Life happens. If you have to cancel of run late for any reason, let your instructor know as early as possible. Just like you would for your doctor or hair appointment.

Privates are very different from group classes. They are tailored to your needs at that stage of your dancing. As a supplement to group classes they are extremely beneficial. There is no set of skills you need to be eligible to take one. There is no experience or ‘level’ requirement. Privates are not about how good you are. They are about getting better than you are now.

9/7 Sylvie Morel-Seytoux

9/9 Kristy Kroger

9/11 Lorna Soroko

9/14 Tom White

9/15 Sharon Eisenhower

9/17 Brian Dennis

9/21 Zo Carroll

9/23 Heather McLean

9/26 Jane Morgan

9/29 Penny Erickson

Don’t forget to ask the following new members to dance the next time you hit the club!

Mary Rodenboh

Kenneth Szeluga

Well, change is coming again. We are about to move further into the digital age. This will be the last issue of our club newsletter.  The information contained in our newsletter will now be online at our club website,www.tsdc.net.   Our two facebook pages will contain frequent updates.  When new info has been new info has been added to our website, links on facebook will let you know.  My President’s Message will still be present, but will morph into The President’s Corner on our website. Matthew Loukoupolous will still be sharing his insights on WCS in his column Beyond Patterns.  Photos, birthdays, new members and info on the latest club happenings will all be online so that you have one convenient spot to stay updated. The website gives us the ability to be more fluid and immediate. As an added bonus, it will save TSDC money which can be used for more fun things for our club. I encourage all of you to bookmark www.tsdc.net.

I want to thank Mary Carroll, our Newsletter Editor, for her incredible work the past five years. Mary dedicated countless hours each month in order to provide TSDC with a professional newsletter that was informative, as well as artistically presented. We at TSDC owe Mary a debt of gratitude for her work. I’m hoping that our Board will find another way to utilize her considerable talents. Thanks Mary, for a job well done!

Getting back to Up With People… it was a blast having twelve children of former Up With People cast members, as well as one of their parents, at our dance on July 24^th. Some of them came from as far away as Sweden! They were in town for their parents’ Up With People reunion. Although only one of the twelve knew how to do WCS, that didn’t dampen their excitement.  Several of our members had fun introducing them to the thrill of WCS. Their youthful energy reminded me of my time in Up With People when I was about their age. I regret not finding out how they found their way to our club. I asked the question, but don’t remember getting an answer. Do any of you know how they found out about TSDC?

Have you purchased your tickets to Desert City Swing yet? Remember, if you want to sit at our club tables, you have to purchase your tickets from Susan at our front desk. You can pay by check or cash. Tickets will be sold on a first pay basis. Mary and I have purchased our tickets already and we’re really excited about going! We hope to be sitting with a table full of TSDC members.  You can bet that all of our TSDC competitors hope to have an enthusiastic crowd from TSDC cheering them on while they compete. Don’t miss out on this fantastic convention and don’t miss out on the opportunity to share the good times with your friends at TSDC.

See you on the dance floor…

Zo Carroll

8/7  Hannah Hudson

8/8 Lisbeth Davis

8/11 Tom Grubaugh

8/12  Cindy Susini

8/15  Andy Bielat

8/16 Shawna Prather

8/21 Chris McLean

8/23 Colleen Kessler

8/24 Don Bennett

8/25 Edith Allan

8/30 Patrick Orzech

Don’t forget to ask the following new members to dance the next time you hit the club!

Stephanie Dunn

Michelle Pete

Mairin Hershik

Laura Jestings

John Ryer