About a year ago, we were getting ready for our wedding day. With about 6 weeks to go until the big day, a terrifying realization dawned on us: we were expected to perform a romantic dance in front of everyone we knew and cared for. Alone. With all of these people watching. And we had almost zero knowledge of dance between us. That’s when bride-to-be Gwen found Anna at Lake Shore Dance Academy. Turns out, all you need to go from zero to wedding day performance ready in under 6 weeks is 2 double lessons per week with Anna and a handful of late nights of practice at home with a metronome! Though early steps in our now long and illustrious dance career, our fun little rumba we did on our wedding day turned out great, and it was amazing to see all of the surprised looks from friends and family, almost none of whom had any idea we had been working on this at all.
Apparently, the chaos, challenge, blood, sweat, tears, etc. of our wedding dance was insufficient to deter us from continuing to dance in the ballroom. Before we knew it, a new song had come out and taken the charts by storm: Die With a Smile by none other than Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga. Immediately we knew that this would have to be our next dance project. Anna of course did not shy away from this daunting project, but to the contrary, did a great job encouraging us to push ourselves.Before we could fully comprehend what we’d signed up for, Anna had already whipped up an open bronze level routine and snagged us a spot in the Holiday Showcase. So, we got to work, attempting to gracefully glide through our very first Viennese Waltz while simultaneously trying to remember the new routine. But that wasn’t all, of course. Anna of course insisted that we absolutely must dress up as the singers themselves. Hours of internet searches and shopping led to wigs, hats, dresses, vintage jackets, bell bottom pants, accessories, and an inflatable guitar, all to complete the effect of Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars Viennese Waltzing across the dance floor. Admittedly, once we were all done up and ready to go, we actually felt and looked pretty good, and we even managed to perform it almost perfectly, if not for a slight wardrobe malfunction; turns out, vintage jacket buttons tend to get hung up on dance fishnet stockings during the big lift in the finale…
While the showcase was just for fun, not to be outdone (by herself), Anna then deemed us ready for an actual competition next. No more fun allowed, we were going to a serious competition to be judged by real humans with clipboards. We would have a number and a time slot and a serious expression at all times. All jokes aside, this was probably the most challenging and rewarding undertaking we have done with dance yet. Differently from the showcase, we would be competing in a series of heatswith other couples dancing at the same time as us, some of whom would be competing at a higher level than us, or with an instructor. We put together a routine for each of the American Rhythm dances, being Cha Cha, Rumba, and Swing. We had at this point already known the basics (at least) for each of these, but competition-ready meant a whole new level of polish. We drilled every single step of our routines, every hand movement, and even facial expression until we could do them in our sleep. In the end, even though we mostly just competed against ourselves, and even though our competition slot started at a truly unfortunate 7 AM on a random weekday, it was still the most fun we’ve had with dance thus far. We even stuck around until the end of the competition to witness the professionals, which was an experience worth its own blog post.
A year of dance lessons has added so much to our lives. It has given us an opportunity to be more physically active as lessons and practicing at home gets our heart rates up and it has overall improved our posture, coordination, and flexibility. Going to weekly lessons and frequent academy dance parties, we have been able to enjoy the in-person social interaction that we lacked during COVID. Dance lessons have given opportunities for us to leave our outside stressors at the door and solely focus on the present moment which is so important in the fast paced and stressful world that we all live in. And with Anna’s and Alex’s wonderful personalities, it makes it that much easier to take that break. These aspects have been especially important for Jake as he works from home as a busy full-time computer software developer. These opportunities to get out of the house and be physically active, sociable, and relax from outside stressors have been so important to him and his mental health! From performing our first dance in front of the studio after only 5 weeks of dance lessons feeling so awkward and unsure, to walking into a dance party feeling so comfortable and able, we have found a new confidence and method for self expression on the dance floor literally and in life. Because of our performances, we have really branched out on their clothing aesthetic and Gwen has begun to experiment with using makeup and hair styling as another form of self-expression. The aspects of confidence, self-expression, and moving outside of one’s comfort zone have been the most important aspects for Gwen as these are the cornerstones of a positive self-image. As a music therapist, Gwen’s primary passion has always been to help her clients’ improve their self-image because the state of someone’s self-image heavily impacts other aspects of life. Gwen has always tried to walk the walk with this idea for her clients and dance has certainly given an opportunity to further that.
Lastly, dance lessons have definitely enhanced our relationship! Committing to learning new dance routines and participating in performances has allowed for mutual goals that we can strive towards together and use to help grow our relationship through problem solving, hard work, and accomplishments. More than anything else though, it’s just fun to get out and do something like this together, and even that on its own makes it worthwhile. We are looking forward to continuing our dance journey for years to come.
