Improving posture and body awareness can be a life changing experience…

Recently, a young girl name Marina came to visit our dance studio from Japan to learn and improve her body awareness since she has been experiencing a lot of pain and problem with her body lately. During her stay, she was at the studio every day, training how to walk, improve her posture, learn correct body alignment, and exercise how to engage and use her muscles in different movements. She was determined to improve and reduce her pain naturally, so she can be pain free and also improve her overall quality of life.

Marina found her passion in life and fell in love with acting and theatrical performances when she was in high school. She majored in Arts and Theater Performance in college and moved on to pursue her dream in that field. Currently, she works full-time to support her passion for theater arts, plus take lessons, audition and perform on stage whenever she has a chance. However, recently she’s been experiencing strong pressure on her lower back and foot and now it has accumulated into severe pain which started to affect her daily life as well as her performances. Then, she found out that her mother is a friend of our studio owner/instructor who specializes in Pilates and natural ways to heal body to decrease pain or pressure.

Here’s a little bit of background information about how this Pilates class started at our dance studio. One of our instructors started this Pilates mat exercise class for the general public and for dancers. The reason is because she constantly saw people with pain or problem with their body when teaching dance. During her dance lessons, she noticed that there are many people who are struggling from pain caused by previous injuries, exercising too much, unknown causes, pressure from incorrect body alignment etc. Those experiences lead her to want to help others achieve a pain free life. In addition, she thought her own experience of recovering from a traumatic injury and naturally healing post-traumatic injuries can help others to continue their life style without surgery or medication.

During the 1st week of Marina’s stay, she learned how to correct her posture and learned how to walk without putting any pressure on her foot, ankle, or knees. She learned how to place her foot and transfer her weight evenly when she walked. It may sound so simple and some people might think “why do you need to learn how to walk?” but sometimes, these small adjustments can have significant impact on your body in the long run. For example, did you know that you can have sexy, nicely shaped calf by changing how you transfer your weight to your foot when you walk? I know that some people will say “wear high-heels and it’ll shape your calf!” And it might work, but the problem with that is, you can easily break your posture when you walk in high-heels. But if you learn and understand how to place your weight properly on your foot, then you can start to use your weight to develop certain muscles on your legs. Hence, you can soon develop that nice looking legs 🙂

And now Marina’s 2nd week has begun. She has much more to learn in this short period of time, but the amazing thing is that I already started to notice a difference in her walk. It looks more natural and balanced!! When she first came to the studio and took her first lesson, there was something unnatural about the way she swung her leg under her body. Also, her tracking of her foot didn’t have exactly 2 tracks (one track for her left foot and another for her right foot), meaning her legs kind of criss-crossed each other when she walked. Plus, her hips moved in an unnatural way when she walked. But now after 1 week of training and consistent practice, she is walking on our studio floor with great posture, confidence, and most importantly with no pain!!

It is truly amazing to see how someone’s motivation to learn can change their most natural habits of their body. It takes hard work, focus and determination to make such change, and watching someone go through that experience can be very inspirational. I am really glad to have met a young lady with such positive attitude and energy. Can’t wait to see how her 2nd week turns out!

To improve sense of rhythm for any Latin dances

Astoria Ballroom Dance Studio of Costa Mesa, CA is known for its unique method of teaching that focuses on improvement of body movement and coordination. Yes, we can all learn steps and technique, but establishing an understanding of how to use our body will take your dancing to a whole new level by adding richness and quality. Since 2013, Astoria Ballroom Dance Studio started a new type of class where students can improve their sense of rhythm and coordination of body in any Latin dances. The class is called Latin Rhythm exercise class and it is held at Astoria Ballroom Dance Studio (369 E. 17^th St. #10 Costa Mesa, CA 92627), on every Monday nights at 7:00PM.

In our Latin Rhythm exercise class, an instructor will lead participants through simple dance steps of Salsa, Mambo, Samba, Rumba, and Chacha. Moving to Latin music will get you comfortable moving to any Latin dances in no time. This class was put together because we see so many people take lessons to learn steps, but the common problem with that is, the quality of movement and the character of the dance is being forgotten. Yes, there are many people who have great rhythm in their body, but not everyone is born that way. Especially the popularity of the hit TV show “Dancing with the Stars” has introduced many different dances and Latin dances always look very flashy and fun J But if you don’t learn how to use your body, then you won’t look as good, lol! Repetition and practice does help, but from our experience, we suggest students to take a short-cut by learning these movements, so they don’t waste time practicing incorrect movement, and at the end of the day, they can actually look like dancers!

Latin Rhythm exercise class doesn’t require any dance experience or partner. Just bring water, a towel, wear workout clothes and comfortable shoes. If you’re interested in more exercise classes based on dance, Astoria Ballroom Dance Studio offers Zumba® Fitness, Pilates mat exercise, and Dance Fitness classes. More information on these additional classes can be found on Astoria Ballroom Dance Studio’s website: Dance Exercise Programs.

Relationship Series (Part 1): Developing Partnership Through Dancing

Are you trying to find someone who you can connect with, communicate with, share similar passion, and enjoy being with that person as a life long partner? I’ve been there and I believe many people (unless they like to be alone… :)) has thought about it, too. Well, dancing is THE activity that requires a partner. With another person, you need to learn how to move, make your dance look beautiful, practice together, and spend a loooooot of time with that person to develop the quality of dancing you are trying to achieve. Yes, it is very very difficult, lol! So how can we develop partnership in dancing as well as regular life? What do Dancers go through to improve their relationship with their partner to make their dancing look so beautiful? Here is my first introductory story for the relationship series called “Developing Partnership through Dancing”.

Topic #1: Get to know yourself and be responsible for your own part

Typically in dancing, teachers tends to teach the men more steps, how to lead, and most of the time, women are taught to just follow the men. It could work if all men are so quick at learning the steps, timing, how to lead, what type of lead to give the lady, how to avoid traffic on the dance floor, stay on beat with the music etc. all at once. And, if the women doesn’t complain a thing and be patient with whatever the men does. But, seriously, where does that kind of perfect situation exist? How can a women just follow along everything what a men does in the world of dancing, when women are encouraged to be more independent at work or in real life? It could work for some couples and there’s nothing wrong with it, but I believe in a relationship where both people contributes their share to the relationship.

So, in dancing, I believe the man needs to learn his steps, timing, how to lead. And the lady needs to learn her own steps, timing, what lead to expect from the man, and what the lady can do to support the man when they dance together. After both people know their own part and is comfortable with their own part, then we can join 2 people together to create 1 unit. Yes, it might sound like more work to do for you ladies, but won’t you feel happier if you can contribute something to the relationship and the unity of dancing with someone important to you? The result will be much more rewarding and your relationship with your partner will dramatically improve for sure. Trust me, your man will feel so much easier to dance with you and feel more support and encouragement from you if you know what you’re doing!!

In summary, all relationships has their own dynamic between 2 people, and it’s the same in dancing. So whether you are looking to dance with your significant other, or just starting to learn to dance, or you might be an advanced dancer already, keep an open mind when learning how to dance. There is no one way to learn how to dance and the traditional approach of men learning everything and ladies following does not necessarily work for everyone. At the end of the day, Dancing is art. It’s created by 2 people dancing together in harmony. So why not both men and women contribute our own share to the partnership?

Stay tuned for the next topic!