The DanceSmith, LLC

Due to minor teacher injury no group class tonight. Back next week with Rumba!

Reminder that there is no group class this week. Back next week for Samba!

Hello Dancers, I still have a spot left for this evening's Tony Santos Dance at Beardall. PM me if you're interested.

Hello dancers! My schedule has opened up and I am able to attend Tony Santos' dance this Saturday at Beardall Sr. Center AND Babette Punz' Sunday Tea Dance and have Hosting spots available. Message me if you are interested!

Hello dancers. I've had one hosting spot come open for this event. Please message me if you would like to take the spot!

Playing DJ tonight

Reminder that there is NO beginner class this Tuesday. (For some reason I can't delete the event without deleting the entire rest of my group classes) See you next week!

Loved this and had to share.

Let’s talk about something that gets thrown around a lot in dance: “the correct way.”

If you’ve been around long enough, you’ve probably heard that phrase from a dance teacher or seen it in a comment thread where someone insists their way is the right way.

It’s funny how confident people can be when they’re repeating something they were told instead of something they actually understand.

Here’s the truth...
There is no such thing as "correct" in dance. There’s only what works better or worse depending on what you’re trying to create.

A lot of ballroom studios still teach from official dance manuals. They treat those books like law. Someone, somewhere, decided that this is how a waltz or a tango must be done.

But those manuals weren’t written by nature or gravity. They were written by people. Normal dancers who happened to move a certain way and decided to make it the standard. It was never truth. It was preference.

In Country Dance and West Coast Swing, we don’t have official manuals. Not yet, anyway. But there are some people trying to create them. They call it "standardization".

It sounds good on paper, but it’s a trap. The moment you start locking things into rules, creativity dies. Innovation slows down. Everyone starts worrying about whether they’re “doing it right” instead of whether it feels right. That’s exactly what happened to ballroom.

Dance should evolve. It always has.

Look at how West Coast Swing has changed over the years. Music changed. Fashion changed. The way we connect changed.

Back in the 80s and 90s, ladies danced in high heels and skirts. A heel lead on count one made no sense then.

Now, styles and shoes have changed, and so have the mechanics of the dance. That’s growth. That’s real progress.

When I teach, you’ve probably heard me say things like,
“I do it this way, and here’s why.” Or, “Some other great dancers do it differently. They’re not wrong. They’re just creating a different result.”

That’s how it should be.

Every choice you make in dance creates a different look and a different feel. You should always know why you’re doing something and how it affects everything else.

If your instructor can’t explain the “why,” you’re not learning. You’re memorizing.

So next time someone says, “That’s not correct,” ask yourself who decided that. Because every time dancing has evolved and grown started with someone brave enough to do it “wrong” first.

See you on the floor,
Anthony Lewis
X Dance

Reminder that there is no Ballroom Dance for Beginners class this evening. It will return to our regularly scheduled programming next week. Hustle all October long!