Feeling limited in your styling?

Watch this 2-minute video pep talk to give you some realistic coaching and encouragement to help you discover more styling potential immediately. Transcript below.Watch the video: Feeling limited in your styling?When you dance, do you ever feel like you are colouring with a box of only primary colour crayons? In each WCS class and workshop, do

Read More
Feeling limited in your styling?

OMG, I’m WAY too intimidated to dance with THEM!

Watch this 3-minute video pep talk to give you some realistic coaching and encouragement about asking higher level dancers to dance. Transcript below. Watch the video: Do you have an “untouchables” list? You know, that imaginary list you make up of dancers in your community that are usually better than you that you don’t ask

Read More
OMG, I’m WAY too intimidated to dance with THEM!

Considering your first WCS event?

You’ve been taking West Coast Swing classes for a little while now, and you are inspired by the videos you’ve seen, so now you’re wondering if you should follow the hype to attend your first West Coast swing event?   I got you.   Here’s a brief pros-and-cons list to help you decide.   First,

Read More
Considering your first WCS event?

Drills Gone Wild: How effective are your drills? New

It’s great to see students all over the world taking the initiative to practice on their own. Practice of personal movement skills is part of a balanced diet of partner dance learning and skill development, regardless of your ambition level.   We are strong advocates of “homework”: once you learn your skills in your lesson,

Read More
Drills Gone Wild: How effective are your drills? New

Struggling with partners in class?

You love your classes and you love your teachers, but it can be challenging to build new skills when the partners you rotate to or practice with have bad habits or bad attitudes, right?   So let’s talk about how you can still manage to get meaningful learning from every partner you rotate to in

Read More
Struggling with partners in class?

10 things I wish I did to budget for dance

Relatively speaking, dance is a pretty financially accessible hobby. Most nights of dancing that include classes and a dance still cost less than a night at the movies. But it’s “pay to play”: if you want to dance more, train more, compete more, travel more, the costs will add up.. So it would be smart

Read More
10 things I wish I did to budget for dance

Tactical Social Dancing Part 3

Part 1 and Part 2 of this series have garnered a massive response – when I opened up the floor to take suggestions for more tactical questions, people really unloaded!    Well, I’m honoured, because that’s exactly what we’re here for. Not just this article series, but ALL the Swing Literacy programs: to fill a need and

Read More
Tactical Social Dancing Part 3
The sequel to last week's "What do I do if..." guide! #wcscoachscorner #techniquestacticsstrategies

Tactical Social Dancing Part 2

When it comes to social dancing, many dancers ask us questions like “How should I handle it when…?” or “What do I do if…?”   These are Tactical questions. In Part 1 of this series, I defined the difference between Techniques, Tactics, and Strategies which are important distinctions to read about to help you get

Read More
Tactical Social Dancing Part 2
Answers to all your "what do I do if..." questions! Stay tuned for Part 2 next week! #sharingiscaring #wcscoachscorner #techniquestacticsstrategies

Tactical Social Dancing: Part 1

“What should you do if…”, “What happens when…”, “How can I handle…”, “How do I deal with…”   These are all questions that students of all levels batter their teachers with. They are tactical questions – they ask for circumstantial advice, or recommendations for particular situations that have to do with not just the physical

Read More
Tactical Social Dancing: Part 1

How to deal with dance partners who hurt you

I recently had a set of privates with an older male leader (let’s call him Phil) who was a very nice man and well liked in the community but has received complaints from followers that he hurt them.    Many followers would say that they can relate – this is a common issue in many

Read More
How to deal with dance partners who hurt you

What do you WANT? Part 4: Community

This is the last article in a 4-part series. If you have read  Part 1: Social, Part 2: Skills, and Part 3: Competition, skip down to the Part 3: COMMUNITY section by clicking here. Otherwise, keep reading. It’s the new year – typically a popular time to reassess and take stock, but this year we’re a little wiser… Since the

Read More
What do you WANT? Part 4: Community

What do you WANT? Part 3: Competition

This is Part 3 in a 4-part series. If you have read  Part 1: Social, and Part 2: Skills, skip down to the Part 3: Competition section by clicking here. Otherwise, keep reading. It’s the new year – typically a popular time to reassess and take stock, but this year we’re a lot wiser than we have ever been. During

Read More
What do you WANT? Part 3: Competition