Summer 2011 FESTIVAL is Here!

Last Friday we kicked off our Summer 2011 Festival with a fun Pizza party! Here’s what’s coming up this month:

Friday, June 10: Jeans and Jerseys Party. Show support for your favorite sports team and come dressed for comfort in your favorite pair of Saturday jeans. 7:30-9pm.

Friday, June 17:  Boot Scoot Boogie Bash. Break out your big hats, boot cut jeans, and giant belt buckles. This Friday we’re gonna have a right and proper barn burner. 7:30-9pm. Get to the studio by 6:45 and learn all the best country line dances before party time!

Friday, June 24: Victory Party! This is the big Festival event cap-off party. There will be special lesson packages and event sign-ups, an hour and a half of fantastic dancing, AND the grand prize Festival giveaways! 7:30-9pm. Grand prizes to be awarded: 3 privates and 3 groups for third place, 5 privates and 5 groups for second place, and 10 private lessons for the first place drawing winner!*

Don’t miss out on all the fun that’s going to be going on this month! Call (205) 979-4777 for further event details. See you around the dance floor soon!

 

*eligible contestants must be present at the Victory party to win lessons. Lesson drawing is for Festival sponsors only. Ask your teacher for details.  

Birmingham Magic City Invitational Results!

Amberlee Nichols and Roger Howell entertain the crowd in the American Rhythm Division

Hey everybody, if you weren’t there this past Sunday for the Magic City Invitational, you really missed one heckuva Ballroom and Latin dance event! All of our students danced wonderfully, getting high scores and placements, and basically showing the rest of the South Central region what good dancing is supposed to look like. This year’s event was the biggest one-day event in the history of our region, made so by the all the enthusiastic support of our wonderful dancers. Here’s some of the honors that our students took home:

Deanna Miranda- Top Bronze Level Female

Mary Milton- Top Silver Level Female

Larry Angst- Top Male Newcomer

Harold Riley- Top Bronze Level Male

Brian Chauvin- Top Silver Level Male

Kaylee Klien- Top Junior

Our hard-working instructors also came away with some awards:

Renee Guichard- Top Female Instructor

Roger Howell- Top Male Instructor

Christopher Busbin- 2nd Place Male Instructor

Brandon Barranco- 3rd Place Male Instructor

Rozalynn May, Christopher Busbin, Amberlee Nichols, and Roger Howell dazzle the crowd in the American Smooth Division

 In addition to the honors that they received for dancing with their students, our instructors took home some hardware in the pro competition as well:

Roger Howell and Amberlee Nichols- 1st Place American Rhythm

Christopher Busbin and Rozalynn May- 2nd Place American Smooth

Be sure to congratulate all of our representatives from the Magic City Invitational when you see them around the studio! Everybody worked really hard in the lead-up to this competition, and we couldn’t be more proud of all our dancers. Thank you guys so much as always for allowing us to have the coolest job in the world doing something that we are all very passionate about…Ballroom Dancing.

CCDC Las Vegas 2011

Our crew relaxing at the "Hollywood/Paparazzi/Justdressupfancy" afterparty...

This year’s CCDC (Cross Country Dance Championships) Ballroom Competition was an absolute blast! This year’s event was attended by Deanna Miranda and Cynthia Gravlee, partnered by Christopher Busbin and Brandon Barranco. The ladies danced brilliantly and represented our studio well, making appearances in the National FINALS in several events. Cynthia also came home with first places in Samba, Mambo, Paso Doble, and Merengue. During the event, the crew were able to visit some landmarks of the Vegas strip, including the luxurious Wynn hotel and casino, the stunning new Aria hotel and casino. Our dancers also got to check out the fabulous Viva Elvis Cirque du Soleil show, and Brandon and Cynthia almost highjacked a few of the performers in the show opener with some dancing showmanship of their own (you’ll have to ask them about that one).

Cynthia and Chris ready for action.

Deanna and Brandon hit the red carpet in style...

Brandon getting his award for being the nation's top Guest Getter in our division!

Cynthia and Chris on the red carpet with DWTS's Tony Dovolani

Deanna and Brandon in some elegant Ballroom action!

Las Vegas CCDC is always one of our favorite events of the year! The only thing that could make it better is if you join us next year!

The next Fred Astaire national event is Puerto Rico! Ask your instructor about coming with us and having a dance adventure of your own!

What to Bring to Your Next Ballroom Dance Competition

Hopefully this list will help you figure out what you need to bring to your next competition. Some things might not apply.

Dance Clothing

• Whatever dance clothes that you are going to wear (more detail below)
• Shoes (1 broken in pair and one extra pair is a good idea)

Dance Accessories

• Towel – to wipe off sweat
• Safety pins – always come in handy
• Breath Mints – a generally good idea for dancers (especially after that second cup of coffee)
• Pen & paper – to write down all the awards you are going to win to get a new friends phone number
• Water bottle – might come in handy
• Dance shoe brush
• Small bag to carry it all in

Remaining clothes

• Normal clothes for a trip
• You will want comfy driving clothes
• You will want clothes to just hang out in – like to wear in the morning on the way to the comp
• A jacket/shawl/sweater is a good idea for when you’re not dancing-it’s usually cold in the ballroom

Men

• Dark Socks
• Belt(s)
• Vest/Dance Jacket
• Tie
• Pants
• Shirts (Ballroom and Latin)
• Dance Shoes (Ballroom and Latin)
• Hair Spray
• Dark Underwear (in case you have a rip)
• Vaseline (if you have patent leather shoes)
• If you wear any make-up, see below.

Women

Outfit

• Smooth dress
• Latin dress (or outfit)
• Pantyhose/Fishnets (if applicable)
• Dance Trunks (muy importante)
• Dance shoes (Ballroom and Latin)
• Jewelry

Make-up

• Foundation
• Blush
• Face Powder
• Lipstick
• Eyeliner
• Eye Shadow
• Mascara
• Nail Polish
• Fake Eye Lashes (if applicable)
• If you are wearing fake nails: nail glue

Hair

• Bobby pins
• Hairspray
• Gel/Glue

Misc

• Hand Cream – this sounds silly but if you put it on your legs it keeps your dress from sticking to you
• Baby Powder
• Aspirin/Ibuprofen/Naproxen is always a good idea
• Something to wash your face off with at the end of the day especially if you are leaving right after the comp
• Safety pins – you never know what may happen
• A button down shirt for the morning of the comp – you don’t want to ruin your hair after you spent so much time putting it up.
• A razor

Friday Night Practice Party to Benefit Tornado Victims

Hey everybody, we have all been affected by the recent rampage of storms and tornadoes that tore through our beautiful state, leaving homes and businesses in rubble in their wake. As part of our efforts to help out our neighbors and friends in this tough time, all the proceeds of our practice party this Friday will be donated to the tornado victims. Also, if you would like to bring any additional donations we will be accepting them through this week and during the party Friday. All proceeds and donations will be given to the Highway 280 fire station in Inverness at the donation drop-off station. If you wish to donate additional items, needed supplies include  blankets, diapers and wipes, baby food/formula, bottled water, juice (individual), packaged food, packages of new underwear, socks, children’s shoes, lightly worn shoes/clothes, tarps, generators and gift cards to Walmart, Lowes, etc. and of course money. Click Here for other places where you can drop off supplies and donations. Our hearts go out to everyone who was affected by the storms. Thanks in advance for your support!

How to Perform Your Best at the Next Ballroom Dance Competition

I figured that this might be a timely post since the next Birmingham competition is on it’s way. Are you a ballroom dance competitor or looking to become one? Follow these suggestions and make the next ballroom competition you attend be your best one!

• Warm up before you compete, but don’t “practice”. This is a very important distinction that a lot of competitors miss. “Warming up” means getting a sweat going, loosening up your muscles, (or maybe even pre-fatiguing them) but not practicing. In practice, the objective is to make things better by working out trouble spots and generally improving technique. Trying to do this while at a competition is the worst thing you can do. There simply isn’t enough time to make things better 5 minutes before the next heat. Have confidence in what you’re doing. If something isn’t working, make a note of it and resolve to fix/change it when you get back to the studio.
• Dance at 70%. This one is highly counter-intuitive. One of the things I found out about myself by seriously competing was that I danced a lot harder on the competition floor than I did at the studio. I find that most novice competitors do the same thing instinctively. In theory, dancing harder and putting in more effort when competing seems like the right thing to do; after all, we are conditioned from a young age to hold the axiom: more effort=better result. In dancing, however, this hardly ever proves to be true. The reality of this approach is that the extra power that you put into your movements feels strange, making you less likely to remember choreography and more likely to lose your balance. After several heats dancing too hard like this, you’ll also get more tired than usual and your performance will suffer further. Since the adrenaline rush that you get from dancing in front of a crowd (or judges, or both) will naturally cause you to dance harder, think about dancing at only 70%, and you might just end up dancing with about the same energy that you do in the studio.*
• Get into the ballroom one hour before the time printed on your heat sheet. Most competitions run ahead of schedule once they get going (30 minutes ahead of time is pretty much the norm). By getting there an hour ahead, you ensure that you don’t miss your heat, and you give yourself ample time to warm up and mentally prepare.
• If you get a chance to eat, EAT. Forget about whether it’s your regular mealtime or not, and don’t worry if the food that’s available doesn’t fit into your regular diet. If you don’t give your body ample fuel, your energy level will crash and your performance will suffer. Also, “I’m too nervous to eat” isn’t an excuse to fast during competition. Force yourself to have a few bites and you just might feel a bit better.
• Take naps. Ballroom Competitions are notorious for getting you up at the crack of dawn to glue on eyelashes and apply mountains of makeup, then keep you up until the wee hours waiting to get your scores at the end of the night (not to mention after parties, and pro-show rehearsals if you’re a professional). When you’re forced to operate on less than 5-6 hours of shut-eye, adopting a temporary polyphasic sleep schedule can help you to push through. Any time I get more than 2 hours off during the day, I try to spend at least one of them hitting  the sack. Worried about messing up your hair? Try sleeping on your stomach, head turned to the side, with no pillow.
• Don’t ride the rollercoaster. You win some, you lose some; and everybody loses sometimes in ballroom dance competitions. Everybody. Don’t let a few low scores or placements drag your mood down. If you let a bad placement or score negatively effect your mood, you’re more likely to continue scoring poorly because your bad mood will show itself in your body language and dancing. Have consistent problems with this one? Get this book and keep it in your dance bag at all times.

Everybody likes to talk about the 15 years when we won everything, but nobody ever talks about the 20 years before that that I didn’t win anything.- 15 time American Rhythm champ Bob Powers

• Just say NO. A lot of people think they dance better after having a glass of wine. The key word there is “think”. A glass of wine or two may indeed dampen your inhibitions, but that ‘s not necessarily a good thing. Remember that there’s a very fine line between “uninhibited” and “wild”. Dancing under the influence (DUI) can cause your reaction time to slow, putting you out of sync with your partner, and throw off your balance. Save it for the after party, kids.
• Breathe and Smile. You might think that remembering to breathe is a dumb suggestion, but quite often, competitors get more tired than usual on the competition floor because they take short, shallow breaths. Focus on your breathing to get deep, calming breaths and you’ll keep your stamina longer and feel much more relaxed. Also, don’t forget to smile! Smiling not only helps you to look your best, but it actually produces a chemical response in your brain’s pleasure center which makes you feel good too.

Got any competition tips or tricks of your own that you would like to share? Be a pal and leave them in the comments section below. Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you out there on the dance floor soon!

*Also, don’t get frustrated if this skill takes time to develop. It takes years for most competitors to learn to relax on the competition floor. Experience counts for a lot. This is one of the reasons that your instructors will suggest dancing as many heats as possible.

Freddy Ball Results!

 

 

This past weekend, dancers from our studio participated in the 2011 South Central Dance Championships and Freddy Awards Ball.  Our students Hedy Salazaar, Luci Colee, Mary Milton, and Regine Smith competed, and represented our studio very well indeed, partnered by Fred Astaire Hoover pros Roger Howell and Christopher Busbin.

Here’s the rundown of what happened: Hedy Salazaar got 1st places in all of her Rhythm Championships and won the top newcomer student award, Luci Colee finished in the top 2 in all of her championships, and got very high scores in her Open Rhythm heats. Mary Milton finished in the top 2 in all of her Rhythm championships and recieved Honors recognition for her scored heats. Regine also scored at the honors level and got first places in all of her championship rounds in Ballroom and Rhythm. Overall, team Birmingham turned in a powerful performance.

Brandon Barranco and Christopher Busbin won Silver and Gold Freddy Awards respectively for their being in the very top percentage of dance teachers in the region, and Jackie and Fabian won a Freddy Award for having one of the top studios!

Hedy Salazaar with her Top Newcomer Student award!

See all our pics from this event on our Facebook Page!

Check out our Freddy Ball videos on our YouTube Channel!

New Facebook Fan Page Promotion!

Hey everybody, we’re doing a promotion with Facebook using a new Facebook Fan Page. We’re trying to get this promo off to a running start, so we really need everybody to click the “Like” button on our new page and help us get this thing off the ground. It’s kind of like “friending” us all over again, so it may seem a bit silly, but since the Fan Page is more of a business listing for us, this really helps us out!

What’s in it for you: from right now until the end of April, any of our current or former students who click the “Like” button on our Fan Page will be eligible to win a free private lesson and a free group class. The drawing for these prizes will be held at the end of April.

What’s in it for us: we get a little social recognition on Facebook, and increase our studio’s visibility on the internet.

Here’s what you do: find our new Fan Page by going on Facebook and typing Fred Astaire Hoover into the searchbar. The new Fan Page will be the result that comes up with the white FADS logo and the address underneath. Click on that, and when you get to the new page, click the “Like” button as indicated below.

And that’s it! You will have helped your studio stay in business, and you will have helped yourself get a chance to win free dance lessons. Well done you! Free lesson drawing will be held at the end of April! Good luck you all! And thanks in advance for always supporting your studio. We love ya.

Fred Astaire Hoover Presents: Sexy For Summer

[Update: Promotion Ended 5/27/11! See our Lesson Information Page for details on our current group class schedule!]

Still reeling from all the food and drink of the holiday season? Ready to follow through on your new year’s resolution to take better care of yourself in 2011? We’ve got just the thing for you! Fred Astaire Dance Studio Hoover presents Sexy For Summer! For the next two months, we’re gonna be turning up the heat and getting in shape with no less than 11 group classes per week (!) aimed at toning, shaping, and conditioning your body to be ready for the hot summer months ahead. Here’s what’s in store:

• Mondays 9am: Dance Conditioning Class taught by Roger Howell
• Mondays 7:30pm: Latin Cardio taught by Christopher Busbin
• Tuesdays 10:30am: Burlesque Class taught by Roz May
• Tuesdays 7:30pm: Body Jamz taught by Brandon Barranco
• Tuesdays 8:15pm: Body Stretch by Brandon Barranco
• Wednesdays 9am: Dancing with Dumbells taught by Roger Howell
• Wednesdays 6pm: Burlesque with Roz May
• Thursdays 10:30am: Latin Cardio with Fabian Sanchez
• Thursdays 6pm: Body Jamz with Brandon Barranco
• Thursdays 6:45pm: Body Stretch with Brandon Barranco
• Fridays 10:30am: Latin Cardio with Fabian Sanchez
• Fridays 7:30pm Line Dancing with Renee Guichard

Sexy for Summer is only on for a limited time, so ask your teacher or more details today! The Sexy for Summer Classes start 4.4.11 and go through 5.27.11. Come on down to Fred Astaire Hoover and get your bod toned and beach ready with Sexy for Summer! Contact Us or call 205-979-4777 for more details.

Reasons to do Dance Competitions…Even If You’re Just a “Social Dancer”!

 

“I didn’t come to learn competitive ballroom dancing!” Sound familiar?It’s our number one objection when we announce we have a competition coming up. Let me take you on a little journey, one that begins with you deciding you want to be a better dancer.
Once upon a time, you saw an ad in the newspaper, or you watched Tony and Jane dancing a foxtrot on ABC-TV’s hit show “Dancing with the Stars,” and you thought – “that looks like fun. I think I’d like to learn how to dance.” So you Googled “ballroom dancing lessons in Birmingham” and you came up with 5 choices near you. Hooray for you – you chose the Fred Astaire Dance Studio. You took the 3-lesson special, then the 6 lesson special, and you decided to continue on to learn how to social dance with your goal to become a good bronze dancer. You learned that a good bronze dancer is someone who could lead or follow anyone on the dance floor with confidence, and maybe a little grace, and that is why you started.
You remember when your teacher explained the “Trophy System.” She mentioned the Gold Dancer. She pointed out that lady on the dance floor who is awesome. That lady goes to competitions every month and won the U.S. Pro-Am, blah, blah, blah, and you thought, “No, I never want to do that”. Then your teacher mentioned the Silver Program and said “Silver dancers compete a few times a year, but live for dance. They come to lessons every day, they attend every “Practice Party”, they go to every event, and they even practice on their own.” Still, you said, “nope, I’m not that ambitious.” So you decided you wanted to be a Bronze Dancer, because a Bronze dancer is better than what you are, but not as fancy as a Silver or a Gold dancer. Now, all of the sudden, your teacher is talking about competitions!! What happened??? “I swore I said I didn’t want to compete,” and you did say that.
However, you have also entrusted your teacher with your dancing education, and you said your goal is to become the best physical dancer you can possibly be. One way to become the best dancer you can be is to dive into a dance competition. Not because we want you to win, but because once you have made the commitment to compete with a deadline to perform, the entire experience of learning and practice changes.
Practice parties will suddenly afford you an opportunity to build your stamina. You’ll begin to think about your posture and your poise, you’ll begin to reach your arms farther, or watch a better dancer twirl her fingers in that sexy way. You’ll begin to watch your wife’s teacher move his hips, wondering if you’ll ever be ever to do that. You’ll begin to plan your lessons with your teacher, and study your chart after your lesson. You’ll learn that you had better get that babysitter committed to every Tuesday and Thursday night for the next month, and have a back-up plan, because your practice time is limited and needs to be scheduled. You’ll start to take more group classes, because they’re less expensive. You’ll become goal oriented, whether during practice parties, in a class, or with an instructor, or yes, even when you practice on your own. 
In essence, you will push yourself to achieve more. And isn’t that really why you came to discover dancing in the first place? All the money you invest in your dancing isn’t going into your teacher’s pocket, or your studio owner or competition organizer. It is going into your dance education, your self-improvement, your confidence, your happiness, your poise, posture, time spent with your spouse, your personal relationships. It is going into your fantasy of wearing rhinestones and being swept off your feet, your weight-loss goals, your health, and your relaxation. When you have successfully completed a competition, you will have improved your dancing more than if you took ten lessons in one day.
We seriously doubt that you decided to pursue ballroom dancing because you needed another activity to fill your dull and boring life. Most of us barely have time to watch DANCING WITH THE STARS that we TIVO’d. Competitive dancing is a bonus – an extracurricular activity that will help us enjoy our dancing, try hard, practice, study and become the kind of dancer we dreamed of being when we started out. If we happen to pick up a gold metal in the process, to quote a valuable trainer and coach of ours “that’s very exciting.”

• Benefits of Competitive Ballroom Dancing
• Having a vision
• Setting goals makes work more productive
• A little competition inspires you to work harder
• Find practice more productive
• Build stamina
• Increase opportunities to go out dancing
• Improve your poise, posture
• Improved self-confidence
• Use your competitive routines to social dance at parties and practice parties
• Focus your training
• Working with accomplished coaches and trainers helps you improve faster
• Having a deadline makes you work now
• You’ll probably stick to your diet or exercise program, knowing you have a competition coming up
• Earn respect from your peers
• Turn dancing into a passion
• Because you love to dance
• Improve your self-esteem
• Develop memories that will last a lifetime
• Give your grandchildren, neighbors, friends a great story
• Improve muscle tone
• Meet people who love what you love
• Reduce stress
• Increase energy
• Stimulate your mind, like sudoku or cross-word puzzles
• Develop circulatory system
• Reduce heart rate
• Teaches you to be the best possible dancer you can be
• Competitive dancers make the best partners – they are the easiest people to lead and follow on the dance floor, making them the person everyone wants to ask “could I have this dance?”

The most common response that we get when we ask someone to compete for the first time is trepidation and reluctancy. The most common response after the competition? “I am so glad that I did it”. We hope you’ll join us for the next regional or national Fred Astaire event!

Have a competition story or testimonial that you’d like to share? Leave it in the comments below!

Check out the National Fred Astaire Events for 2011!

Click Here to check out video from a Fred Astaire National Competition!