Samba Basic: one- uh - two

Per Ashley's request these next posts are about Samba.

Samba is not a dance that we cover very often here at UGA for a couple reasons: 1) most of our regular teaches don't feel comfortable with teaching dance 2) its really quite hard to pick up. While the moves themselves are not all that difficult there is a great deal of styling in Samba, which is crucial to making the dance look and feel like it is supposed to.

This video is Dance Vision and explains the basic. It does not go it in to how the styling for the abdominal muscles work. I'm still searching the web for a good styling video, if know of one please feel free to leave a comment.

Events - Nov 15

Friday Night Dance Party - November 16
Lesson: Rueda Salsa
Free Lesson at 7 p.m.
Dance Party from 8 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.

Ramsey Center
http://maps.uga.edu/website/htmlviewer/hyperlink/viewer.htm

Building number: 1690)
$3 for students $5 for non students

Salsa w/Grogus and Macuba (both floors) - Saturday, November 17
Tasty World
10 p.m.

Sunday Night Dance Lesson - Sunday, November 18
Lesson: East Coast Swing
One hour lesson at 7pm; Dancing till 9 pm
Memorial Hall Ballroom
$2

Rueda Lesson- Sunday, November 18
(Rueda salsa is like group salsa)
Lesson starts at 6:30 p.m. before the Sunday Night Lesson
Memorial Hall Ballroom
Free

Swing Club - Monday, November 19
Lesson: East coast, West coast, Balboa or lindy hop
Lesson at 8 p.m.
Memorial Hall Ballroom
Free

"Swing & Ladies" - Tuesday, November 20
Lesson: east coast, west coast, Lindy or Charleston
Doors open at 8:30 p.m. - Lesson at 9 p.m.
The Ritz, downtown Athens
$3 cover

Casino Salsa (aka Rueda Salsa)- Tuesday, November 20
Lessons are available
Dancing is from 8-10 p.m.
The Upstairs bar at Transmetropolitan, downtown Athens
$10 cover

"Salsa @ The Ritz" Wednesday, November 21
Lesson: Salsa by Spicy Salsa
Doors open at 8:30 - Lesson 9 p.m.
The Ritz, downtown Athens
$4 Cover

FAQs about UGA's Ballroom Dance Club

These are some of the most popular questions I get about our Ballroom Dance Club, so I'm posting them here as a reference.

• How do I join? We don't have a formal membership, you pay per event; there are no club dues.
  
• I never danced before, can I still come? Yes, absolutely. We start with the basics every week at the Sunday Night lesson, so it is completely ok that you've never stepped foot into a ballroom.
  
• Do I need to bring a partner? No, just bring yourself. We rotate partners during lessons so even if there are more girls than guys, everyone gets a chance to dance.
  
• What should I wear? For a regular lesson ie Sunday Night or Swing Club's Monday Night Lesson, dress causally in whatever makes you comfortable. The dress code is a little higher at Friday Night Dances. Most men wear button -up shirts, some with ties and the ladies generally wear skirts or nice slakes.
  
• Do I need special shoes? Yes and no. Its important in ballroom to be able to slide. Tennis shoes which have alot of grip were not designed for this kind of dancing. You should try wear shoes with soft soles like bowling shoes or ballet shoes or just wear socks. It is not necessary to buy ballroom shoes. For more info check out my shoe post.
• What do you teach? We teach the social ballroom dances:waltz, foxtrot, rumba, tango, cha cha, west coast swing, east coast swing, salsa. On occasion we teach other dances like samba, lindy hop and Argentine tango but this is highly defendant on if teachers are available for those dances. We teach in rotating pattern, meaning that every week we highlight a different dance .
  
• What is BPG and are they same as BDC? This is really kind of confusing and not to terribly important because all of the ballroom organizations try to work together in a unified fashion so you don't have to keep up but here is the break down:

The Ballroom Dance Club (BDC) is a non-audition, social dancing organization. We host the Sunday Night Lesson, Workshops, and the Ballroom Formal.
The Ballroom Performance Group (BPG) is an audition only, performance group. They host Friday Night Dances and Ballroom Magic.
There is also the Swing Club who host Monday Night Swing Lessons and Swung, the audition only Swing performance group.
Finally there is downtown, the bars do there own thing we just let you know whats up.

These are the most popular questions but if you have others please comment.

Cha Cha music

Cha cha is one of the easiest dances to find music for when building a playlist. It is written in 4/4 time, the most common time signature in today's music.

The typical tempo for cha cha is around 125 beats per minute (BPM). If your not a musician with the background in figuring out BPM, you can download this nifty tool to do it for you at MixMeister. Remember that BPM translate directly into steps per minute for your dancers, so you should be cognizant of their ability to keep up with the tempo.

Below is short list of some songs you might know, but not as cha cha songs:
(I should note that Ballroomdancers.com has a very extensive list its worth checking out)

Link disclaimer: So that you could click and actually hear some of these song I've linked to You tube. You should note all of these video have nothing to do with ballroom, they are for musical purposes only.

• Kiss the girl- The little mermaid
  
• I'll Die another Day - Madonna
  
• Smooth- Santana
  
• Can't Touch This - MC Hammer
• All I want to do -Sheryl Crow
• Rhythm is Gonna get you -Gloria Estefan
  

First Dates and Cha Cha

If Rumba is for passionate lovers and tango is for the lovers quarrel, then cha cha is for first dates. Not the awkward awful 'I can't even make conversation with him' first dates but the first dates with playful eyes, teasing giggles, and not-so-hidden winks. Cha cha is cheeky, flashy, and flirty.

This video is of Bryan Watson & Carmen Vincelj who are dancing international Cha Cha. They are professional dancers so the level of difficulty is in moves and styling in this video is very high, but you can still see some basic moves like the chase.

Change in events

Two quick changes in the weeks events

1) Swing club's Monday night lesson has moved to the Tate Gallery. It is still at 8 p.m.

2) Swing at the Ritz is canceled this week but should be back to normal next week.