Posts Tagged ‘Learn East Coast Swing’

THE STAG LINE – Where the unattached cowboys hang out together talking, planning and spinning yarn.

“The stag line hangs out by the pool tables, the popcorn machine or the video games.  The stags tote long-necked beer bottles, lean against the posts, check out the ladies and pump up their courage to actually ask someone to dance.  These cowboys equate to bachelor moose in the forest who have yet to acquire a harem.

Types commonly found on the stag line include:

• Championship Dancers - Could have won every dance contest they ever saw; planning to enter one soon.
• Don Juans - Profess to have choice of any lady in the place; know (in a Biblical sense) or know someone who has been romantically involved with anyone you point out; waiting for the “right” lady to ask out; then waiting some more.
• Great Debaters – Will argue any side of any topic; can deliver colorful, impassioned and nearly-informed oration on important matters.
• Heavyweight Champs – Weigh over 250 pounds; sincerely pledge to defend anyone whose person or honor is in jeopardy; get wet eyes from even minor expressions of gratitude; fond of calling people, “little buddy”.
• Major Leaguers – Recount sports trivia expertly; willingly review their own heroic athletic achievements; can explain precisely how to pitch no-hitters, bowl 300 games and catch fifteen pound bass; considering the Iron Man competition.
• Millionaires-In-Training - Buy drinks for buddies until the bartender delivers a pot of coffee; listen to Zig Zigler tapes; have inside tips and hot ideas; work in insurance or investment sales; will be wealthy as soon as commissions multiply.
• Race Car Drivers - Relate exciting automotive exploits; have many tickets; insurance premiums reflect their prowess; do their own mechanical work; drive Camaros with primer spots, which means any Camaro, rather than pick-up trucks.
• SBDs (Silent But Deadly) - Can flatulate on cue, with or without the finger pull; able to control smell, sound and direction, they say; journeymen can toot a reasonable facsimile of “Three Blind Mice”.

Excerpt form “Paul McClure’s Country Dance Etiquette” by Paul McClure

Why is the Stag Line important?

To be honest, that all depends on you.  If you are looking for conversation about topics other than dancing, cruising the room for your next date, or you want to try to talk someone else into buying you a drink from the bar… then the stag line is for you.  The stag line is a collection of people who enjoy the atmosphere of the dance hall, but have other social agendas – a.k.a. not there to dance.  Many of the people on the stag line have never tried to learn how to dance or have only tried briefly and had a bad experience so they quit trying to learn. 

If you have come to the dance to DANCE, then you may wish to avoid the stag line.  The stag line may offer much entertainment to you if you are taking a break to rest your feet, but no amount attention you pay them will move them closer to the dance floor.

What’s a girl to do if her partner is really on the Stag Line?

Well, part of what keeps people on the stag line is fear… fear of the unknown, fear of trying something new, fear of failure and fear of looking unattractive in front of other people.  You may have noticed that many on the stag line consider themselves “experts” in their field.  They want to be the best at something – sports trivia, reckless driving, business, or just want to be the smartest person in the room.  Well, having to admit that you do not know how to dance and going through the growing pains of beginner dancers may just be too much for their egos to handle.

If someone on the stag line is ever going to make the transition to the dance floor, they will do it only if they feel that they are in a comfortable and no-threatening place.  The ballroom party, swing dance or night club may not be the best place to get started.  Learning to dance at home may be a more suitable venue to try out those first few dance steps.

A new and innovative way to learn to dance is with ZeDiamond Dance Method – Learn the East Coast Swing two DVD set.  This DVD set lays all the basics for learning to swing dance in the comfort of your own living room, kitchen or den.  This is great for the person who is too shy to learn to dance in front of other people.  You can even close your blinds and curtains so you neighbors don’t even see you dancing for the first time.

ZeDiamond Dance Method is also great for someone who has tried to learn to dance in the past, but gave up because they became frustrated.  The DVD’s  make it easy to learn to East Coast Swing Dance, because you can rewind them as many times as you like, play them as often as you need to and review what you have learned just before heading out the door to the next dance party. 

East Coast Swing is a great first dance to learn.  Swing is a very universally known dance and danced many places – country bars, ballroom dances, swing parties and night clubs all play music that is approprate for East Coast Swing dancing.  Once you have this dance under your belt, you will have many opportunities to show off your new found dance skills.

I hope to see you off the stag line and out on the dance floor,

Amy Barnes

ZeDiamond Dance Method

Once you have been dancing awhile, you can spot dancers in a crowd. 

You look for the tell-tale swing dancer signs.  Wearing dance shoes in public, carrying a shoe bag rather than a hand bag, chewing gum in time to background music, bobbing head and making miniature leading movements… these are all things that separate swing dancers from the non-dancers in a room.

But once you are at the swing dance… That’s when the people watching really starts to get fun!

Leave it to Paul McClure to classify and organize the people you will see out on the dance floor, East Coast Swing dancing or otherwise cutting a rug.

“The following field guide to couples’ dance styles covers dancers regularly encountered on the dance floor at most large dance halls.  You may want to take this guide with you dancing, much as you might take your Audubon’s Guide on a bird watching expedition, to see how many species you can spot.

• Bobbers – Nod heads up and down in time to music; rarely out of time; have gift to avoid vertigo; vague kinship to ceramic dogs riding on rear window panels.
• Danceaholics – Drip sweat; dance every dance; never leave the floor… have repertoire of line dances for emergencies.
• Doubletimers – Takes twice as many steps per beat of music as other dancers; [They] look down at floor and don’t bother with turns…
• Flat Footers – Dance well without ever appearing to move their feet; in West Coast [they] look like traffic cops directing cars up and down the street. 
• Floor Hogs- Careen around the dance floor with feet, elbows and body parts a’flying; often add excitement with unexpected stops and sudden lurches sideways; observers develop inexplicable desire to play pinball.
• Goat Ropers – [They] proceed straight down line of dance with no change in speed or line; constantly turn ladies, who get to run over and back, up and down and side to side; guys never tire; not so for partners.
• Hand Jobbers- Overflow with fancy turns from strong-armed but ambiguous leads; view dancing as a contest to see if they can catch partners with unfollowable moves; requires a steady supply of polite partners.
• Jigglers- Move entire bodies up and down on each beat of music; have good coordination as many things seem to be happening at once; compare to Bobbers whose heads only go up on the upbeat and down on the down beat.
• Pumpers – Pump hands up and down in time with footwork; extended arms drop down on man’s left step and rise on his right step; few turns since the arms are otherwise occupied.
• Skaters- Dance smoooothly; when the dancers’ feet aren’t visible, their smoothness and constant speed make them appear to be on skates; the most riveting style for spectators to watch
• Wannabe Instructors- offer constant criticism and instruction to partners while dancing, even when total strangers, especially when total strangers; pester more advanced dancers to teach them moves while social dancing in heavy traffic; feelings not easily hurt.
• Wrestlers – Concentrate on developing moves before fundamentals; able to steer wrestle any lady into any position on any foot; boosts liniment sales.

Excerpt from “Paul McClure’s Country Dance Etiquette” by Paul McClure

Wait a minute. Could I be on that list?

Amy and Jason Barnes cutting a rug

As much fun as it is spot the above dancers and their tell-tale signs, we laugh because we see them as true… and inside each and everyone of us.  Some of the habits and signs present themselves now in a minimal fashion, but as beginners we were all brimming with them. 

It is hard to escape being a “Pumper” or a “Bobber” when you first learn the East Coast Swing.  Beginner swing dancers often resemble children acting out “I’m a little tea pot” when tipping from side to side.  Trouble with rhythm turns dancers into “Double Timers,” who speed up out of fear of falling behind or ”Flat Footers,” who have given-up on keeping in time to the music or are so worried about getting the arms right, that they stop moving their feet altogether.

Many of the these funny dance styles and habits develop because the dancer is not grounded or centered in the dance.  Other habits develop because of a lack of connection and ability to communicate with a dance partner.  There is away to learn how to dance that not only teaches you dance steps, but helps you to feel more centered, gounded and connected to your partners.  It is called ZeDiamond Dance Method.   

Learning to dance is so much more than just knowing a bunch of dance moves or dance steps. Traditional methods of teaching dance are analytical rely on teaching the mind, not the body.  With ZeDiamond Dance Method – Learn the East Coast Swing DVD’s, you learn how to feel the rhythm of East Coast Swing and the music though your body.  This frees up the mind and allows you to enjoy dancing without thinking about what you are doing.  Click here to learn about the history of ZeDiamond Dance Method and how it was developed.

Deborah-Marie Diamond and Zeki Maviyildiz created ZeDiamond Dance Method because of what they saw in thier local ballroom dance community of Asheville, NC.  They saw not only beginner ballroom dancers who struggled with rhythm, but people who had been dancing for years that still struggled with rhythm as well. 

This got them thinking.  As a result, they created a new way to teach dance that taught how to feel the rhythm of the music while teaching easy to learn East Coast Swing dance steps… And ZeDiamond Dance Method was born. 

Do you think ZeDiamond Dance Method could be for you?  Click here to see if it is right for you.  You can also read what other swing and ballroom dancers have said about ZeDiamond Dance Method by clicking here.

This reformed bobber, danceaholic and jiggler (somedays more reformed than others) looks forward to seeing you out on the dance floor.

Amy Barnes

ZeDiamond Dance Method