West Coast Swing classes in the evening

Jane Gromelski

West Coast Swing is a unique dance. It’s pattern is one, two, three and four, five and six. That’s pretty dry. It is actually a more intricate dance, since the different patterns can have six counts, eight, ten, up to 18. It is danced in a slot, the woman goes forward and backward, the man crosses the slot. The steps also involve an elastic connection between partners, or compression and expansion between the partners. I like it because it is unique, but Stan might have a different opinion. It can be danced to Cha Cha music or typical West Coast Swing music.

We will offer beginning West Coast Swing lessons at 5:00 p.m. in the Mariposa Room at DesertView on Thursday evenings, starting March 8. They will continue on March 15 ,22, and April 5 and 12. Classes will be one-hour long. You don’t have to be Fred and Ginger to have a great time dancing. If you have five patterns you are comfortable doing, it gives you enough diversity to have fun. The tuition for the five-week series will be $40 per couple.

We will be teaching social dancing, by that we mean non–competitive and relaxed. You don’t have to be perfect dancers to have fun. We think that concentrating on one dance for five classes will reinforce the dance steps and enable students to actually do the West Coast Swing by the end of the set of classes. To help you retain the steps, we have an optional free coached practice on Mondays at 5:00 p.m. Dancing is fun! What other sport allows you to hold your partner in your arms? (Ok, the Luge, but it’s in the cold, and dangerous). I won’t even mention how good dancing is for our minds and cardiovascular systems. It is fun! Learning and class can be part of the fun.

Please email me that you would like to enroll in the class. Stan and I are SaddleBrooke residents and have been teaching the Partners Western Dance Classes, Swing, and various other Ballroom Dance Classes here since 2006. We want to encourage dancing here in SaddleBrooke by sharing our knowledge, so you can share in the fun.

There are always dance opportunities; don’t miss out on the chance to participate because you can’t dance! Questions? Email me, Jane Gromelski at [email protected].