Go Dance

I used to go dancing several times a week, then I stopped going out as much because of my partner and family stuff. My son was out of state for a while and when he came back to Texas, I started going out dancing again with him. I wanted to become a better dancer and follower. I found it to be difficult because I didn’t get a chance to dance enough to learn how the others were dancing. The current style is very different than I was use to. My son always dances with me several times in the evening. We had a favorite place we went because it was closest to where we lived. It recently closed its doors because the place got sold to someone else that is going to make it a different business. There was a big after party and a Jack and Jill Competition on the last night it was open for country western dancing. I participated and had so much fun.

I started attending Go Dance for dance lessons on August 2, 2018. I was amazed that there were so many styles of dances to try and I wanted to try them all. I started with 12 classes at Level 1: One Step, Two Step, Country Swing, Country Waltz, Waltz/Foxtrot, Cha Cha, Bachatta, Salsa, Swing, Lindy, West Coast Swing and Argentine Tango. Ready or not I moved up to Level 2 in all the classes on August 27, 2018. I was attending classes daily to be able to do that. I found that the classes that were the most difficult were the ones that I only had once a week. There were several classes that I was able to take more than once a week which allowed for repetition and practice. All I know is I was having the time of my life. I had great instructors and it was fun learning the different styles. I had to adjust my schedule a few times to allow some of those lessons to be more than once a week. In the process of this I decided to discontinue Argentine Tango at a different time but I was still attending 11 different styles. I started with 22 lessons a week, then 21. Then I decided to increase the number of times I went to West Coast Swing classes. West Coast Swing has become the dance that I want to learn the most. I felt that way from the start but now I feel like I’m in a place to make that commitment. With that adjustment my classes went down to 18 classes a week. Go Dance has two schools, North and South Austin. I go to both schools to get my classes in.

Go Dance has socials where you can dance the different styles of dances with a partner or with others from the school. I’ve gone to a few of the socials which was a little hard at first because all I knew was my basics in all the dances except for the country dances. I’ve danced two step, polka, country swing and country waltz since I was a teenager so that wasn’t difficult for me. Go Dance teaches the formal style of all dances so there are many things I’m learning that I would just follow in the country dance establishments without thinking about it. I sometimes feel that the formal style is a little more difficult for me because I’m thinking about the move more. I’m hoping that gets easier. I’m trying to attend 2 nights of socials a week primarily for the West Coast Swing. I still go out country dancing elsewhere, mostly with my son and friends. I thought learning dancing at the school would help me follow better out country dancing. I find it difficult because dancing outside the school is very different.

There is a total of 4 sessions in Level 2. I have completed 2 so 2 more to go. I feel after the 4 sessions are completed. I will move up to level 3 in most of the classes but there are a few I am reluctant because I struggle. I struggle for a couple of reasons: the class is only once a week and I don’t get the opportunity to practice that style as much as the others.

I’m also attending Austin City Dance Club for West Coast Swing. I’m wanting to learn all I can and perfect my technique.

My Go Dance Poem:

I came to Go Dance to learn how to dance.
Didn’t realize that there were so many ways to prance.
I couldn’t settle on one class, so ended up taking a dozen.
I couldn’t take the chance of missing out on One Step, Two Step, Country Swing, Country Waltz, Waltz/Foxtrot, Cha Cha,
Bachatta, Salsa, and Swing…
Lindy, West Coast Swing and of course Argentine Tango.
What a way to go! What a way to dance!
That is how I did it at Go Dance. Go Dance. Go Dance