Hi, Tessa here. Since 2002, I've been writing advice articles for West Coast Swing from my perspective as a WCS Champion and 30 years as a professional teacher and coach. My mission is to help dancers #trainWCSsmarter and teachers #teachWCSsmarter, which we do thoroughly in our Swing Literacy training programs.
These articles are my way of contributing some free, bite-sized education to the community to help inspire and motivate with practical, actionable advice for your dancing & teaching.
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I highly encourage everyone to leverage these free resources by sharing them in your community groups and with friends you know who could use them. Enjoy!
Before you get all scared, let me clarify: I’m referring to a diet of dance, not a diet of nutrition. This sadly misrepresented word is technically supposed to refer to a regular balance of fuel, not a short-term restriction of it. So, using the original intention of the word, ask yourself how your “dance diet” is
Do you hear feedback from teachers and judges that you need to work on your timing? Or maybe you can feel you’re off time a lot but don’t know how to fix it? Being off time could be referring to 10 or more different issues. Whenever a teacher or judge tells you you are off time,
This is a question we get asked frequently. People are often curious to know which events we recommend, in order to create their own event bucket list. The underlying message is, “Which ones should I go to?” While we don’t mind being asked, and we are happy to talk about the merits of specific events in
Ah, the eternal competitor question… “What are the judges looking for?” Consider that judges are not necessarily “looking for” positive elements of your dance as much as they are “looking to eliminate” negative elements. We call these “red flags”: bad habits or errors that prevent judges from giving you a callback to the next round. Judges
“One day, I hope to speak Egyptian Arabic well enough to visit Egypt” This makes no sense, right? You don’t need to be fluent in Arabic in order to visit Egypt. In fact, the Egyptians would probably be pleasantly surprised if you even tried “Hello” and “Thank you”. When it comes to language,
It’s easy to get hypnotized by all the sparkly rhinestones, the splashy tricks, and the sick combinations. But after your Newcomer honeymoon phase, your senses are no longer overwhelmed and your brain has the bandwidth to appreciate different elements of the improv competitions and routines you enjoy watching. Some spectators like to analyze the
Dance event photographer, Brad Whelan (famous for his signature BW watermark) gives us the inside scoop on his photography and some hints for dancers to get their best moments captured. CC: Tell us about your photography business? BW: While I’m now based in Australia, I find myself in another country about 75% of the