Ballroom Newsletter, Siskiyou County & Northern California – May 8th, 2023
Dear All,
“Picken’ ‘em up and layin’ ‘em down” is an old phrase for dancing that comes to us from the 1930s. An enthusiastic and amusing (if inelegant) epithet. Certainly not applicable to the Bolero or Waltz, which are the two most elegant dances in the ballroom lexicon (or make that “pedicon” to be absolutely correct {or as absolutely correct as one can be whilst making up one’s own words}).
While “picken’ ‘em up and layin’ em down” is perfectly appropriate for dances like Swing and Samba (and possibly Tango), it is totally inappropriate for Bolero and Waltz. In fact, the elegance of both these dances comes from the fact that one neither picks “’em” up or lays “’em” down at all but slides them smoothly across the floor in a stately yet passionate manner instead.
This is one of the reasons that ballroom dance is a proven dementia-combatant; there are so many different skill-sets involved in the various dances. Last month we “picked ‘em up” and we “laid ‘em down” in both the Swing and the Tango, and this month we are elegantly and smoothly sliding them (not “’em”; the term itself is too inelegant) across the floor in the Bolero and Waltz. More skill-sets than you can shake a stick at (no, there are no dances in ballroom that actually involve “shaking a stick”, but if there were, you can be darn sure that after a few of our classes, you’d be damned good at it!).
It is still not too late to join us this week. Both classes will begin with a review of last weeks steps so you will easily be able to catch up on the material and move on with us. Come join us.
(There! A whole newsletter without mentioning the weather once! {D’oh! . . .okay, once. But only once!})
Cheers,
Rick and Peggy Nixon
530) 853-4147 / 415)215-2652 (cell)
(Weekly Class schedule listed below.)
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THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE
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The Mountain Fitness Center (South):
1630 South Mt. Shasta Blvd, Mt. Shasta, CA 96067 (back parking lot is best, as the dance studio is a mere two steps from the back door)
Wed. May 10th: BOLERO 6:45 – 7:45pm
Thur. May 11th: WALTZ 6:45 – 7:45pm
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CURRENT RATES Group Class Rates $10 Single Class ($10.00/class) $25 Four class Card ($6.25/class) $50 Eight Class Card ($6.25/class) $60 Ten Class Card ($6.00/class)
Private Lesson(s) Rates
$30 Half-hour Private Lesson ($25 at four per month or more) $60 One Hour Private Lesson (one per month or less) $50 One Hour Private Lesson (two per month or more) Hour Lessons may be divided into two ½ hour sessions at half the hourly rate each.
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