DAKOTA TERRITORY
DANCE CLUB
NEWSLETTER
april
2003
Volume 10, Edition No 7
April 2003
Our Primary Goal is to Promote Dance!
Officers
President Elect – Jim Bob Stephenson 342-2245
Vice President – Not currently filled
Vice President – Not currently filled
Treasurer - Gary Willmes 343-3309
Secretary – Not currently filled
Past Co- Presidents- Elaine Reed & Henry
Olivier
Committees
Cards: Kathy Goodrich 343-3309
Clean up: Need Volunteers
Telephone/E-mail: Dennis & Arlene
Wilkerson 255-4383
dawkrson@enetis.net
Jackets: Paul
and Mary Arthur 341-5682
Host:
Henry Olivier 343-3235
Membership:
Elaine Reed 343-8929
Newsletter:
Donald Reed reed_de@hotmail.com 343-8929
Practice:
Linda Splittstoesser 399-9813
Public Relations: Terry & Colleen
Marvin 341-1285
Tickets: Need a volunteer!
Workshops: Linda Splittstoesser 399-9813
Area
Representatives
Belle Fourche / Deadwood / Lead /
Spearfish
Sturgis / Whitewood / Vale
Patrica Hofer 644-1649
Rapid City
Arlene and Dennis Wilkerson 255-4383
Linda Splittstoesser 399-9813
The Board of Trustees
includes all elected positions at large, area representatives, and the last
past president. If your area appoints a
new representative contact the president so he/she can be included.
Advertising
Rates
Business card ad (card only, no larger
than 2 inches)
Non-member $45/12 or $25/6
Business card (member) $1 per issue
Full page ad $15.00 per issue
Half page ad $7.50 per issue
Per column inch $1.50 per issue
Fliers $.03 (150 flier minimum)
Send payment
with a brief worksheet explaining your figures to Dakota Territory Dance Club,
ATTN: Treasurer, PO Box 9583, Rapid City, SD
57709.
Newsletter
article deadline is the 20th of the month previous to publication. Contact a
board member or send information to Dakota Territory Dance Club % Newsletter
Chairman, PO Box 9583, Rapid City, SD 57701
http://rap.midco.net/reedde/www
Notes
From the PRESIDENT
Dakota
Territory Dance Club
Invites
you to:
A
Graduation Dance
To
honor all beginning and returning dancers!
Saturday,
April 12, 2003,
7:30 – 11:30 p.m.
Civic
Center, Room H
Music
by Wandave, D.J.’s
J. R. Stephenson
FEB.
Meeting Minutes
Dakota Territory Dance
Club
Tuesday Mar. 11, 2003,
6:30 PM Canyon Lake Senior Citizen Center (CLSCC)
Minutes
of previous meeting were approved as written in the newsletter.
Treasurer's
Report: Gary Willmes reported total expenses for February at
$646.84, with a net loss of $320.81.
Year to date expenses are $3,024.10, with a net income of $7.96. The ending balance in the treasury is $1,716.61.
Old Business:
Kathy
Willmes reported for the nominating committee the following slate of
nominations for office:
Gary Willmes – President
Henry Olivier – Vice President
Jerry McMartin – Vice President
Dennis Wilkerson – Treasurer
The annual election of officers will be held at
the upcoming DTDC meeting, April 8th , 6:30 p.m. CLSCC.
Wanda and Dave Pakalski reported on final plans
for the Graduation Dance. This dance is
sponsored by DTDC to encourage beginning level dancers to attend our dances and
join our organization if they wish. It
is also an opportunity to invite all students who have taken lessons this year
with the following instructors: Deb Ellerton, Ritchie Nordstrom and Judy Jones,
Wanda and Dave Pakalski, Les Harrington and Naomi Johnson, and Henry Olivier
and Linda Splittstoesser.
Expenses for hall rental, chairs and tables will
run approximately $250. D.J. fees will
be a percentage of any profit made.
Admission at the door will be $5 per person. Music will be especially designed for beginning dancers,
including line dancers.
New
Business:
Members present voted to discontinue sponsoring monthly dances in
conjunction with the Moose Lodge due to low DTDC member attendance at these
dances. Losses in excess of $200 per month for co-sponsoring the band at the
Moose Lodge have been incurred for the past two months.
PRACTICE
THE DANCE CLUB NEEDS YOU & YOU & YOU! We can’t have too many people!
Our lessons
are held at the Canyon Lake Senior Citizen’s Center, and are usually located in
the Main Hall. Beginner level lessons,
emphasizing basic footwork, are at 7:00 p.m.
Intermediate level lessons, emphasizing patterns and moves, begin at
8:00 p.m. The charge is $2 per person.
[We need single men, men, men!]
April lessons will feature Henry and
Linda, teaching
beginner Two Step and Jitterbug. Otherwise
intermediates will review previous lessons
and work
on techniques.
Instructors; if there is something you
would like to
teach, give me a call.
Again, all of you dancers remember these
instructors
volunteer their time for the lessons;
that’s one reason
the price stays so reasonable. Please,
thank them for
their efforts and patience.
See You on the Dance Floor!!
Linda Splittstoesser,
Practice
Chairman
Card Corner
Get well card was sent to Dennis Wilkerson.
Kathy
Goodrich-Willmes,
Cards Chairman, 343-3309
Email
Those who serve on the telephone committee appreciate all of the E-mail addresses we have now. It has saved many hours on the phone when notifying members of club activities. More addresses can save more time. We encourage those of you who have not shared your E-mail address with us to do so.
Send your E-mail address to:
dawkrson@enetis.net or reed_de@hotmail.com
jackets
The
new style jacket is available and can be purchased individually but at a
savings if several are ordered at one time.
Call Elaine Reed @ 343-8929 or reed_de@hotmail.com for more information.
Annual
Membership Meeting
Tuesday,
April 8th
6:30 p.m.
Main
Hall, CLSCC
All DTDC members are encouraged to attend the
annual membership meeting for election of new officers. Please come out and vote, and participate in
planning for the coming dance year. Dance lessons will begin promptly after the meeting,
at 7:00 p.m.
Member Profile
Dave & Wanda Pakalski have lived in the Rapid City area for about 20 years. Dave works for the U.S. Forest Service and Wanda is a dance instructor, although for 12 years she was also a claims representative for a local insurance company. They have been dancing for about 10-12 years. Neither of them remember exactly when they joined Dakota Territory Dance Club; but they have both been members for a long time They can dance to most types of music and enjoy a wide variety of both music and dance from country to Latin, from 2-Step to Line dance. Their favorite dances are probably the Night Club 2-Step, Cha-Cha and West Coast Swing, although it’s really hard to choose a favorite. What they like best about dance is that it is not only so much fun; but it has so many benefits as well:
1) It’s a wonderful exercise, but it doesn’t feel like work.
2) It keeps you both mentally and physically challenged and young.
3) It relieves stress.
4) It allows you to socialize.
Their favorite dance events are, of course the “Black Hills Dance Festival” (coming up April 25, 26, 2003), The “Fall Fest” in Sioux Falls, SD. The “Rocky Mountain Regional Dance Festival”, in Casper, WY and the “Colorado Country Classic” in Denver, CO. One of their most special moments in dance together was a couple of years ago when they successfully executed a difficult high lift at the end of their East Coast Swing performance at the Black Hills Dance Festival. They worked hard to achieve it and they had the bruises to prove it! Dance has been and will continue to be an important part of their lives.
Membership
News
Thank
you to
those who have renewed their memberships:
Craig
Steinley
Jo
Carlson
Debbie
Ellerton
Welcome
to our
new members:
Membership Due Dates are printed on the
newsletter-mailing label “Membership Due” is stamped on
newsletters the month previous to and the month of your membership due date. “Last
Newsletter” is used the month after your due date. Please use the
membership registration form enclosed to send your renewal ($15/ person.)
Happy Birthday to the following members:
April:
02 Vern Erickson
06 Rita Patterson
18 Bonita Ley
19 Lu Olson
23 Ronald Kazmierczak
24 Darla Reddick
May:
07 David Gwinn
08 Dennis De Smet &
Charlene Smith
14 Dan Driscoll
17 Judy Boysen
24 Susan Sullivan
29 Marty Delp
30 Russ Ochsner
31 Elaine Reed
Anniversary’s:
May:
26
Jane
& Dennis De Smet
27
Debbie
Ellerton
Encourage
your friends to join us.
See
you on the dance floor!
Elaine Reed,
Membership Chairman
UPCOMING
DANCE EVENTS:
April 19 “Dance-A-Lot”
workshops
Kenosh, WI. Workshops & evening dance.
Debi Erskine, 262-554-6547, E-mail: gale@dancalot.com.
April 24, 25 & 26 6th
Annual “Black Hills Dance Festival” begins with dance workshops
on Thursday evening at the Canyon Lake Senior Citizen’s Center and continues on
Friday afternoon and evening, and all day Saturday at the Civic Center. There
will be dances on Friday and Saturday evening, with two dance floors to
accommodate line dance, swing and country/western progressive dancing. Instructors include: Barry & Darianne
Amato, Joe & Linda Fabian, Machelle Cook-Holloway, Jerry & Kathy Nusz,
Tim& Donna Pattison, Dick Mortenson & Renae Whalen, and Judy
Yamakishi.
Rushmore Plaza Civic Center, Rapid City, SD.
Sponsored by: Black Hills Dance Company 605-341-1285 (Terry Marvin).
E-mail: Stephenson@rushmore.com
May (DTBD) “Magic City Dance Festival”
Billings,
MT 406-259-0610;
May 21 – 27 “Memorial Day Tango-fest”
Denver, CO www.tango.org/dance/memday2003.html
June 10 – 22 “Colorado Star Ball”
Denver, CO 303-412-1213; www.coloradostarball.com
June 19-23, 12th annual “Colorado
Country Classic” Denver, CO Starts
with a club crawl at 6:00 PM Thursday the 19th; ending with a golf
tournament on Monday the 23rd. In between are hourly dance lessons,
competitions, a pizza party and a dinner dance show.
http://www.coloradocountryclassic.net
July 10-13 7th
Annual “Rocky Mountain Regional Dance Festival”, Casper, Wyoming. Club
Dance West (Machelle Cook-Holloway, Director).
This workshop begins with a “Kick-off Dance Party” at Club Dance West on
Thursday evening. Dance workshops are
held on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
There is a dinner show on Saturday evening. This event will feature the
following instructors: John Robinson,
Barry & Darianne Amato, Martin Moser, Joe & Linda Fabian, Machelle
Cook-Holloway, Dave & Jodi Crandell.
For more information or registration packet,
contact Machelle Holloway at 307-234-8811; email: clubdancew@aol.com or; www.centralwyoming.com.
Aug 8 – 10 “Swing-time in the Rockies”
Denver,
CO 303-480-1655;
DANCE BASIC'S
Hearing the Beat
Not
everyone can hear the beat. The problem is very seldom a rhythmic thing. There
is a psychological thing called entrainment that is innate in all normal humans
and enables them to naturally fall in sync with repetitive musical patterns. It
doesn't work well when you don't listen carefully because you're focusing on
other things like dancing properly. It also won't work if you listen to the
wrong things, like the cymbal instead of the instruments that are holding the
beat your feet are supposed to be moving to. You don't have great rhythmic
sense in order to dance. All you have to do is learn the leads and footwork
well enough so that you can listen to the music while you dance. Turning up the
bass and turning down the treble is a good training tool. This helps them to
learn just what they should be listening to. There is so much going on in that
set of drums, that some people just aren't aware of what we are dancing to. Try
clapping it out along with the student. Use straight 4's first, not quick’s and
slows. If he can't keep the beat, let him practice by himself for a few days
until he can. Some people are more tactile than auditory, and for those you may
find it helpful to tap their body or shoulder in time to the music, and let
them tap feet or clap hands or tap on a table. This gets them started with an
extra physical cue reinforcing the auditory cue. I ask folks to listen to the
radio as much as possible, and to routinely tap the beat with their feet, or
tap on the steering wheel, or clap the beat, or whatever... to try to practice
hearing the beat. 15 minutes alone can often be equivalent to an hour while
being watched. When they can hear the beat, then have them tap out the dance
rhythm (quick-quick-slow-slow, etc.) Once he can clap quick’s and slows
consistently, let him try walking it. Walk it continuously, the living room
will be too small, have him try it outside on his daily stroll (don't laugh,
this is how I learned three against two, other people might laugh, but if your
determined enough...) Then you can move to the living room, don't worry about
the space. Go in circles, back and forth, in place, and combinations of all of
them. You might want to replace the words quick-quick-slow-slow with
quick-quick-slow-lead occasionally, have him do the arm movements as best as
possible at the same time. In class, the best way to get students to dance on
time is to count the rhythm properly while the music is playing. The
overwhelming majority of beginners, in my experience, want desperately to dance
on the instructor's count. When practicing, 1) KISS! If the newbie is a
follower, be restrained in what you lead. And if the newbie is a leader, accept
that you will be following a very simple dance. Dancing very simple basic patterns
is much more enjoyable than struggling with complicated wraps, ducks, and whips
when one partner can hardly hear the beat. 2) Select slower music to dance to.
It may not be as exciting, but it will be far more comfortable for your newbie
partner, and they will be far more likely to develop good dancing habits.
Some
followers have trouble with timing in C/W Two-step, especially when doing the
basic step, even though they have no trouble with waltz, cha-cha and west coast
swing. Here is some insight as to why.
In
Waltz you can hear when you should be stepping with your lead foot because it
is a 6 count basic over 6 count phrases.
Two-step
is a 6 count basic over 8 count phrases, so you can't tell what foot you should
be stepping on by listening.
Cha-Cha
you can tell whether it's a front break or back break by the direction he's
moving.
In
Two-step, he's always moving the same direction.
In WCS
you can always use the anchor-in-place as a reference point to which foot you
need to step with next.
In Two-step
you generally have no reference point. This is why I like doing a lot of Texas
whip patterns and variations of it; changing tracks every 6 counts provides a
good reference point. Keeping turning while you're in closed provides a good
reference point too.
Just in
case any Followers wondered why, sometimes we Leaders get off the beat to save
you from some hazard of which you're unaware. Sometimes such actions cause a
slight loss of balance. The combination of getting off the beat and balance can
make us seem like clods for a bar or two 'til we get it back together. We
Leaders very much appreciate the skill of you Followers who will follow our
momentary clodishness without back-leading or complaint. Things happen. Worse
things could happen.
I will
always be grateful for the men that have asked me to dance. They lead to the
best of their abilities. I follow to the best of my abilities. I realize that
the ultimate, perfect follower should be able to follow ANYTHING he leads...
even if it's off-time, but I must admit, I'm not that good. If he's off, and
the music is screaming cha-cha-cha at me (for example) I purposely fumble,
apologize, and expect him to smooth things over. I laughingly accept the blame,
and then make sure he starts up again on time. Sort of a subservient maneuver
but polite. Evil? Maybe. But I freely admit I'm not good enough to follow
off-time indefinitely anyway. I'm sure to mess up, so why not get back on track
as soon as possible and go back to concentrating on having fun and doing everything
as well as I can. I can appreciate that some men seem to get stuck in warp
patterns. The only way that these men seem to accept that change is needed is
in self-discovery. Sometimes you need to just keep following until he realizes
something is not right. After all, he has the lead.
This
file is part of the lead/follow FAQ list. These are articles compiled from the
newsgroup rec.arts.dance
by Mark Balzer. Html-isation by Victor Eijkhout, victor at eijkhout dot net.
See also the Rec
Arts Dance FAQ list Copyright 1996/7/8/9 lies with the compiler, the
maintainer and the contributors of various parts.
