OUR EXPERIENCE AS BALLROOM DANCERS

ARTHUR MURRAY DANCE CLASSES

 Fernando and I have had the pleasure of taking six free ballroom lessons from Arthur Murray Dance Studios.  We decided to take our classes at the studio in Boston for two reasons, one was because I previously met one of the instructors named Chadler and loved him, I knew right away that was who I wanted for us to have for our lessons. We love you Chadler!  The other reason is because we both love the city of Boston and what a better way to spend an evening in town after class.  However we thought that we would make a night of it after our classes but as usual our schedule is so tight that we could not fit it in and had to head home after class every week. Oh well will enjoy the city at another time.  Our experience has been exciting, funny, uplifting, and all around wonderful.  We both have enjoyed the lessons and have been trying to get the most out of every one of them.  The time fly’s by so quickly we feel like we need to stay longer every time.  When the bell goes off we both are disappointed.  Chadler is a lot of fun to have as an instructor.  Not only is he professional but he has a great sense of humor and he made both of us feel extremely comfortable.  He taught us well but he also listened to our suggestions and he was so easy and comfortable to work with.  Fernando and I loved his choreography and his ideas and the way that he teaches.  We definitely loved every minute of it and it was so fun to do something like that together.

 Are we ready for a show?  Probably not, we need more practice. However no fault to Chadler we newbie’s just need more time. However we have come a long way since the beginning and feel that we have learned a lot.  There definitely is a difference from when we first started classes.  We not only learned the names of the dances but the steps to each dance how they differ and how each one goes with the music.  Of course the hardest thing for me was to learn to let Fernando lead me and not the other way around.  This was a tough habit to break for me.  I have danced for years but by myself.  I did not have to wait or rely on a partner before I made my next move I just went when I was ready.  In ballroom dancing it is all about the man leading the woman and I just wanted to take off and do it, so this was tough for me.  It definitely brings you closer to your partner and as woman in ballroom dancing you have to trust and wait on your man! Hey does that sound familiar girls? Ha Ha No seriously we have definitely improved since our first lesson but we still have a long way to go.

We would recommend every couple to at least try some classes.  It is fun and it is exciting to do with your partner.  It gives you a great understanding of each other and it is fun to see how you both respond to the moves together.  You have an excuse to get real close and choose the kind of dance that you like, sexy and hot, or soft and romantic.  It’s your choice and if you can continue then you can learn them all and then stick with your favorite or hay some of you might just be cut out for professional dancers!  Trust me you will get some good laughs out of it, we sure did and you will have a lot of fun.  We also would highly highly recommend Chadler for an instructor no offense to anyone else we are just partial.  We also have to give big credits to Kia for her advice she’s also wonderful to work with. 

Fernando and I both wish that we could continue our classes but they are very expensive and we of course are saving for the wedding.  I believe that we will continue one day when we can save a little because both of us have enjoyed it so much and we both want to learn more.  I would like to become very good at it and I have to say Fernando may not admit it but I think that he would like to too.  He got pretty excited about some of the moves that Chadler showed us and he had a few spontaneous moves of his own that he pulled out and Chadler got a good laugh out of that.  So yes we would love to continue!

As far as how intense did I think that the program was going to be, well I was not sure, I thought that it was going to be challenging and I wanted us to look like those folks on dancing with the stars.  Well ok that thinking changed really quickly for both of us when we started.  When the bell rang for class to be over we both looked at each other like OH NO! We Need More Time!  We felt like this every week and after the first two classes we both were like oh my GOD there is no way we can pull anything off in six classes.  Sure we can learn a lot, but look like we know what we are doing was another story.  So let me tell you it is not as easy as it looks it takes a lot of practice.  Especially since there is two of you learning it and working together.  So I definitely believe that it is a lot more intense than I originally thought.  We can hold our own so far but we are no Ginger Rogers or Fred Astaire out there.

 All in all I really enjoyed every minute of it and I know Fernando did too.  We both just wish that it could have lasted longer.  Hopefully we will look ok with what we learned in the time we had to learn it.  We both want to Thank Arthur Murray Dance Studios and Chadler for giving us such a wonderful opportunity and experience on Iron Brides, and I want to Thank You Fernando for taking this opportunity with me I Love You.