It’s party time again!! And we are inviting you for a fun Dance-filled Night-Out

AT: Enigma, JW Marriott Hotel, Juhu Tara Road, Juhu, Mumbai-49.
ON: Friday, 26th March, 2010.
TIME: 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
ENTRY: Free till 9 p.m. Everyone is welcome…so bring a friend or two along !
CLUB RULE: All entrants must be 21 years and above. Kindly carry relevant age-proof.
DRESS CODE: Smart Casual.
MUSIC: Samba, Cha Cha, Rumba, Jive, Waltz, Tango, Salsa, Paso Doble, Merengue & more !

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WHAT’S IN STORE FOR YOU:
Our socials give our students from all our levels and branches an opportunity to practice on the dance floor, where the objective is to just have a good time dancing.
It’s a great place to get an idea of the dances we teach, what you can expect to learn at our studio & hopefully join in the fun too !

See you at the social

Regards,
Nisha

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SANDIP SOPARRKAR’S BALLROOM STUDIO
Mumbai- Andheri, Juhu, Santacruz, Bandra, Prabhadevi, Worli, Chowpatty;
Pune, Surat, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Delhi, Nepal.
For further information, please contact Shirin on +91 9819361074, between 9 a.m. & 9 p.m.

March-April 2010

Learn Samba, Cha Cha, Waltz, Jive, Cuban Salsa, Rumba, Foxtrot, Merengue and lots more…..

CONTACT: sandipsoparrkar@gmail.com

Mumbai: Shirin Khoja:       +91 9819361074.

Pune: Rani Soparrkar:    +91 9975439000.

Surat: Ankur Vaidya:      +91 9879490559.

Ahmedabad: Supriya Shah:       +91 9824661166.

Hydreabad: Pramod Sanghvi:  +91 9963599992.

Delhi: Harshada Gupta:   +91 9999383039.

Nepal: Sarah Giri:            giri.sarah@gmail.com

Please note we have a new branch at Juhu as well as a new Styling Class at Bandra; details given below.

*Updated on 26/2/2010

* Enrollments for each class start 30 minutes before the class on the 1^st day itself & stay open for the first 3 classes.

**SALSA includes Cuban Salsa and Merengue. Each level has 12 x 1 hour classes. Duration: 1.5 months.

At Juhu each level has 8 x 1.5 hour classes; only on Wednesdays; Duration: 2 months.

At Prabhadevi each level has 8 x 1.5 hour classes; only on Sundays; Duration: 2 months.

At Worli each level has 6 x 2 hour classes; only on Sundays; Duration: 1.5 months.

***BALLROOM includes Rumba, Samba, Cha Cha, Jive, Waltz & Foxtrot. Each level has 16 x 1 hour classes. Duration: 2 months.

At Prabhadevi & Worli each level has 8 x 2 hour classes; only on Sundays; Duration: 2 months.

***TANGO & PASO DOBLE includes The International Style of Tango Paso Doble.

No. of sessions: 12 x 1 hour classes.

Duration: 1.5 months.

Instructor: Sandip Soparrkar

Tango & Paso Doble Level 1 is open to all. No experience required..newcomers are welcome !

*****STYLING CLASS:

This class is designed to teach you to develop your own style while dancing.

It includes arm styling, hip movements, shoulder shimmies & rolls, spins, balance and posture, leg work, body isolations & even hand styling, both while dancing with & without a partner.

No. of sessions: 12 x 1 hour classes

Duration: 1.5 months.

Instructor: Sandip Soparrkar

This class is open to all !

Hope to see you at class!

Regards,

Nisha

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SANDIP SOPARRKAR’S BALLROOM STUDIO

Mumbai- Andheri, Juhu, Santacruz, Bandra, Prabhadevi, Worli, Chowpatty;

Pune, Surat, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Delhi, Nepal.

For further information, please contact Shirin on +91 9819361074, between 9 a.m. & 9 p.m.

Or email us at sandipsoparrkar@gmail.com

The big dilemma for guys: She is a great dancer and I’m not close to her level. Do I dare ask her to dance?

It all depends on what you want in the future, whom else she is dancing with tonight, and whether or not you already have a connection with her.

Here’s the calculation I made when I was starting, and I still ask it today: If I ask her tonight, is it likely she’ll want to dance with me in the future? Will I bore her to death? Will I leave her with the impression I want, so she’ll say yes the next time?

Many excellent follows will dance with anyone who asks, even if the guy asking is a beginner, but they will avoid you or have a sudden urge for a bathroom break as you approach the next time. If you are just getting started with basic, my rule is finding some follows who are stronger than you, but temper the urge to dance with the hot superstar until you are “in the ballpark”.

If a lady has danced for five years and I’ve danced for five weeks, it’s unlikely she’ll have a great time with me, even if she says yes and gives me what I call a “pity” dance. Pity dances are not what I want; I want her to see me and know if she says yes, she will be comfortable even if she isn’t having the dance of her life with me.

Be sensitive to the fact that excellent females have paid some dues to become strong dancers. You should too before you expect them to respect you and enjoy dancing with you. If you ask them while you are still a beginner, I don’t recommend you ask them more than occasionally, because you want them to notice your improvement over time. Once they sense you are an improver, the game changes as they respect those dancers, even if you are not at their level yet.

Sometimes, you’ll see a great dancer and she is dancing with plenty of beginners. Often this is because she is also an instructor and as a rule, they will dance with everybody and have a good attitude about it. If she’s dancing with lots of other beginners, then go for it. But realize that others may already have a connection with her, and that totally changes the situation. If we have mutual friends, then she will dance with me because of the social dynamics, not because of my dancing. Don’t take that as a sign she can’t wait to dance with you too.

If I’m one of her students, take her group classes, or have seen her and said “hello” twenty times in the clubs, she is going to be much more open to dancing with me, and dance again in the future. If you really want to dance with her and she teaches, take a few of her classes, and see if she dances with students. Most do, but remember that the instructors have tons of people asking them to dance, so don’t expect her to dance with you every time.

I waited a couple years before I asked some women to dance, because I wanted them to remember me positively and I didn’t believe that would happen in the beginning. Maybe I was playing it too safe, but it really worked for me and today we always dance and have a great time. I said “hi” as we’d see each other regularly, but didn’t ask them to dance until I was comfortable they would have a decent time. I didn’t expect to be their favorite dance of the night, but I knew I would be reasonable and they would see my growth.

I would even wait and ask them immediately after they danced a pity dance with a total beginner. The contrast would be a step up from the guy with a month or two of experience, who thought he was a great dancer but just didn’t know he didn’t know. (I’m sure plenty of guys couldn’t wait to ask her after me, knowing they would look stronger after my dance.)

If they are way ahead of you and do say yes, I still don’t recommend you ask them regularly in the beginning. Enjoy your dance, take lessons, watch DVDs, continue dancing and ask them occasionally, but not so often they want to hide when they see you.

I’ve danced long enough to have a couple woman ask me to dance, then later admit they were using me to avoid someone else who they believed was about to ask them. (I suspect I was the lesser of two evils on that night.) Those women had previously danced with a guy, and while they may not turn him down if trapped like a rat, they find creative ways to be “busy” when he approaches. I still don’t want to the be the guy they dread seeing as I’m walking up to ask for a dance.

I’m not advocating you wait forever, or you should be exactly at her level, but unless you know her already, waiting and respecting that she has paid some dues is often better than asking the best when you are just starting. Invest in yourself first, and then ask her when you are confident you’ll be reasonable. In a worse case, you’ll ask her after you’ve improved more than she expects and that is always a win.

In the “life is not fair” department, note that ladies can easily dance with guys who are more advanced, and both parties can have fun. However, a weak lead with a strong follow isn’t the ideal combination. In rare occasions it can work, like if you’re Brad Pitt and/or independently wealthy and she’s looking for a date, but I wouldn’t assume that applies in most cases. If she’s in that mode, you’ll know because she’ll make it obvious she wants to dance with you–you won’t have to guess and track her down for a dance.

It’s fine to ask stronger ladies to dance, just balance it out a bit and work on improving yourself. If you’re a lead, pay your dues, grow your ability, then ask the stronger dancers. If you are improving, they’ll notice you, and when you ask they’ll happily say yes rather than faking their enjoyment. Let them fake it with others; you want to be the real deal.

Thanks Don for sharing this article : Link.

Strictly Ballroom is a romantic comedy telling the story of an Australian ballroom dancer, Scott Hastings. Scott comes from a family with a history of ballroom dancing and has been training since childhood. He has become very proficient but he encounters considerable resistance when he tries to dance his own steps in preference to the more traditional ballroom moves. Scott’s steps are not strictly ballroom. His dancing partner Liz leaves him, and he eventually finds a new dancing partner, and love, with the plain and ordinary dancing student Fran.
At the Pan-Pacific Grand Prix, it is discovered that the competition has been fixed by Barry Fife, chairman of the Australian Dancing Federation. Fife disqualifies Hastings and Fran, but they dance anyway and practically bring down the house dancing the Paso Doble, which they have learned from Fran’s father and grandmother. In the end, it is not revealed whether Scott and Fran win or lose, as in the story, that is not an important factor.
A sub-plot involves Scott’s discovery of his parents’ hidden past – they too had been ballroom dancing champions until Scott’s father (now a quiet and retiring type) had attempted to flout convention with novel dance steps.
Luhrmann sends up the peculiar rituals of ballroom dancing without making them look ridiculous. And the transformation of Fran’s ugly duckling into the beautiful swan is convincing.

Luhrmann’s inventiveness brought him prizes galore. With eight Australian Film Institute Awards, three BAFTAs and the Cannes Film Festival’s Prix de Jeunesse, he’s shown that although a story may be formulaic, it’s the way you tell it that determines success.

The best way to feel the music when you dance is to listen to that type of music as often as you can. Get a danceable CD from your instructor, the bookstore, or online, and listen to it in your car, at home, and while you work out. A great way to get the music into your body is to practice the basic steps of the dance to music at home. Walk around the room to the beat without any patterns or moves. If you practice this often enough, you will be better able to feel the music when you dance and will catch on to more complex moves, syncopations, and concepts much quicker.

Don’t look down
It is natural to want to look at your feet when you are learning a new dance. However, this is one of the biggest stumbling blocks to learning and developing muscle memory. Dancing is not about seeing, but about feeling and enjoying. It is important to be able to feel the movements in your body instead of relying on visual cues alone. In fact, advanced dancers in any social dance are able to lead and/or follow a great number of moves and patterns with their eyes closed.

So where do you place your focus, if not on your feet? First, focus on the dynamics of the steps: feel the shifting of weight that takes place, the changes of direction, the patterns that make up the dance. Second, pay attention to your relationship with your partner in the basic movements of the dance and how the man and the woman complement each other with their steps. Third, listen to the music and feel how it expresses itself in your body. And finally, it’s your dance! Let your mind wander where it will during the dance. Notice everything about how you feel, how your partner feels, how the music feels. Everyone finds something different in the dance; the most important thing is to experience it fully in whatever form it may take.

Dance with different people
If you are learning to dance with a spouse or friend, it is tempting to dance with just that person. There is a degree of safety in dancing with someone you know and feel comfortable with. However, it is best to dance with many different people, especially when you are just starting to learn the dance. Everyone leads and follows differently, and dancing with other people will show you different ways of communicating with a partner and interpreting the music. Oftentimes people get used to certain partners and begin to develop “signals” that tell the other person when to lead or follow a certain move. Dancing with different people will force you to truly feel the lead or follow and engage in a conversation.

Beginners are often concerned that they will end up dancing with someone who is either very unsure of their steps or the music, or someone who is much more advanced than they are. However, both of these situations are an opportunity for learning that you will not find if you dance with only one person. Dancing with someone that you may consider “boring” to dance with is a great opportunity to practice your technique, focus on the music, and learn how to be a sensitive leader or follower. Dancing with someone who is very advanced, on the other hand, offers a great opportunity for you to keep the rhythm regardless of the moves you are doing, focus on the technique and connection that will allow you to lead and/or follow well, and do moves that you might not be able to do with your regular partner. Focus on each dance as a conversation with your partner and the music, and make each dance an opportunity for learning.

Relax and enjoy
I once read that there are two qualities that distinguish a truly enjoyable dancer from the rest of the pack: musicality and connection. It is encouraging to know that regardless of the number of moves you have in your repertoire, you can have an enjoyable dance with anyone if you are attentive and responsive to your partner and the music. And of course you will be enjoyable to your partner if you are in the moment and absorbed in that particular dance with that particular person to that particular music. So relax, and enjoy!

For any query feel free to write to nitin@danceincity.com