Arthur Murray Dance Studios - 100 Years of Ballroom Dancing

Things are heating up in NYC this weekend with our World Dance-O-Rama! The fine teachers of Arthur Murray Franchised Dance Studios in NYC have put together a quick resource for those attending and those who wish to attend via proxy!

Arthur Murray NYC’s Social Media Resource can be found here: http://arthurmurraynyc.com/ballroom-dancing-blog-nyc/arthur-murray-world-dance-o-rama-social-media-resource-center/

Join in the fun from twitter using the OFFICIAL Arthur Murray Event Hashtag for 2012 #AMDANCE12 ! Not familiar with hashtags or twitter? Visit this link: http://support.twitter.com/articles/49309-what-are-hashtags-symbols

Want an easier way to engage the Official Chat? Use this handy Tweet-Chat link: http://tweetchat.com/room/AMDance12

Good luck to all our dancers and everyone have a GREAT weekend!

Imagine if a newly wed husband and wife walked into their reception and promptly stood still for several minutes while their wedding song played before going to greet their guests.

Imagine a world in which high school seniors spent thousands on tuxedos, gowns and transportation only to practice their posture at prom!

Imagine getting a promotion and going out with your friends to celebrate with a good night of standing!

When you stand you observe life go by, but never take an active part in it. When you dance you are part of life! So, as the picture says: No standing! Only dancing!

A dedicated dance teacher can give lessons to anyone- or anything! Arthur Murray Franchised Dance Studios in Redlands California shared this picture last week on their Facebook Page. This dancing elephant was trained to do gravity defying dance moves. If this elephant can beat the odds- so can any student who walks in the doors of an Arthur Murray Franchised Dance Studio and meets with our specially trained dance instructors.

While its clear that our studio in Redlands, CA likes to have a bit of fun- they also are currently running a very special program, we’ll let them say it in their own words:

Our Waltzing Warriors Program is starting off with a big bang. Our new Veterans are saying, “never knew I’d love dancing so much” and “I’m dancing with my wife for the first time in 44 years”

Why is Redlands offering special ballroom dancing lessons to our Military Veterans? First as a gesture of gratitude for the sacrifices they made by their service. The second reason may have to do with a post from January that Redlands put on their Facebook Page:

We humans are pack animals that need others in our lives. We humans need to keep our minds and bodies active. Sooo LEARN TO DANCE.

The gift of dance is not just lessons- this is social dancing, after all! Which means that dance is a way for people to come together and that is a powerful idea.

There’s a certain grammar our ballroom dance students use after they’ve begun their dance lessons.

“I am a dancer.”

Rarely do you hear anyone say, “Once I became a dancer…” And there’s a very good reason for that.

Our students, and students worldwide, have always been dancers. Even if they didn’t step into a pair of dance shoes until long after their kids graduated college they were always dancers, they just didn’t start dancing until later.

“The greatest artist does not have any concept which a single piece of marble does not itself contain within its excess, though only a hand that obeys the intellect can discover it.” – Michelangelo Buonarroti, Genius.

Whether you’re from the iPod generation…

You were always a dancer.

Last week they shared a great photo that we had to bring to the rest of you!

The song is by Matthew Fisher and is called “Ballroom For Ghosts”, at first we were expecting something perhaps a little more Disney than Debussy? But we were surprised- this is an elegant and moving bit of music that would be perfect for a riveting showcase should anyone take up the challenge! I’m sure Matthew Fisher would love to see it! So please take a listen- you won’t regret it.

Also, when Coral Gables announced their Valentine’s Party they dropped a good reminder of two major events coming up very soon!

Upcoming Arthur Murray Events!

Don’t forget about…

Fun-O-Rama – Orlando

Fun-O-Rama dance competition is just around the corner! This year’s Fun-O-Rama will be in Orlando, FL and will be hosted at the Hilton Orlando Hotel on February 24-25. If you’d like to find out more information on signing-up please call 305-444-6136!

And

World Dance-O-Rama NYC

Next Month is The World Dance-O-Rama and will be hosted in New York City at The Sheraton Manhattan! This is one of the largest competitions of the year and it will be between March 21-25.

We found a very charming blog written by Daniel J. Hogan, a writer, wine drinker, collector of old typewriters, adventurer and man who wears a very stylish eyepatch. It seems Mr. Hogan stepped into his ballroom dance class, expecting the usual assortment of samba, swing, jazz and what have you- but was instead greeted with a (perfectly dance-able!) big band version of both Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit and Van Halen’s classic cut JUMP from 1984.

Read his (hilarious) reaction here:  http://danieljhogan.com/home/2012/02/16/lets-dance-ii-the-dancening/

While there are a number of great Jazz versions of modern songs- we think Daneil’s melting-reaction might have been caused by the uncanny Paul Anka cover!