Monday Night Chapelwood
Dance Program with Rick Archer
INTERMEDIATE WEST COAST SWING
FOR JUNE (ADVANCED IN JULY, SUPER-ADV IN AUGUST)
Rick Archer’s Note:
On Monday, June 5, we will start the second month
of West Coast Swing.
Class will run from 7 pm till 8:45 with a 12 minute break in
between. The cost will be $30 a person for the
4-week course. Dates will be
June 5, 12, 19, 26.
The next level will resume Monday, July 10.
Please note
our class has been moved to Fellowship Hall
for the summer.
That is because our group has out-grown the friendly
confines of Room YB100 (see
map
of Chapelwood's layout below)
One more thing. If you would like to join the
June Intermediate class
in progress, please be aware you will need to know the
fundamentals of West Coast Swing dancing in advance.
Considering the June class is Intermediate level,
there is no way we can help someone who is a total
beginner catch up. That
said, I hold a tutorial class every Monday from 6-7
pm. If you come, either I or one of my
assistants can work with you and show you what we
covered in May.
If
you have any questions. Please
email Harriet Daniel,
hhdan5@hotmail.com or Rick Archer,
rick@ssqq.com
If you do not know where Chapelwood is or how to
find our class, click here:
Chapelwood Methodist Church Dance Class
AT A
GLANCE:
JUNE DATES: 4 Mondays (June
5, 12, 19, 26)
TIME: 7:00-8:45 pm (plus special free catch-up class
6-7 pm). 12 minute Break in the middle.
LOCATION: Chapelwood Methodist Church is located in
the Memorial area at 11140 Green Bay, 77024.
Classes
in June will be held in Fellowship Hall
located in the central part of the church.
PRICE: $30 per person is a
monthly charge which includes all 4
Monday classes
(cash or check, please).
REGISTRATION: Plenty of room, just show up and sign
up at the door.
PARTNERS: Partners are welcome, but not necessary.
We switch partners frequently to allow the staff to
check on leads and following principles. We ask
politely that everyone respect our policy.
STAFF: Instruction provided by Rick Archer with
much-appreciated help from assistants Harriet, Rey,
Tim, Jan, Larry and Phyllis.
QUESTIONS: Rick Archer,
rick@ssqq.com or Harriet Daniel,
hhdan5@hotmail.com
Rick Archer's Note about Chapelwood: I have been teaching
dance classes on Monday evenings at Chapelwood since
October 2010. Chapelwood is a lovely church with a
beautiful room for us to hold our classes. I am
grateful to Chapelwood for allowing me to conduct
classes here. Over time we have developed community
of dance friends and have room for more. It is the
perfect place to share friendship and enjoy learning
to dance together.
MAP TO
CHAPELWOOD:
Click Here
MAP TO FIND DANCE ROOM 100: Click Here
Rick's Note about Chapelwood: I have
been teaching dance classes on Monday evenings at
Chapelwood since October 2010. Chapelwood is a
lovely church with a beautiful room for us to hold
our classes. I am grateful to Chapelwood for
allowing me to conduct classes here. Over time we
have developed community of dance friends and have room for more. It is the perfect place to
share friendship and enjoy learning to dance
together.
..........
For questions,
please email Rick Archer,
rick@ssqq.com
To participate,
simply come by Chapelwood on the night of the class and start.
Partners are not necessary. We ask that all
students be willing to switch.
Wear a mask if you wish, but masks are not required.
For more
background on Rick's class, click here or
scroll down past the two maps.
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PRICE: $30 per person for
a month of lessons
(cash or check, please)
To Register, just show up and sign up at the door.
Partners are not necessary.
Instruction provided by Rick Archer
with help from assistants
Harriet, Rey, Tim, Jan, Larry and Phyllis.
Classes
are held in Chapelwood's YB 100-101... great wooden
floor, complete privacy
(see map below).
Chapelwood is located in the Memorial area at 11140
Green Bay, 77024.
(Please see street map below.)
Rick's
Note about Chapelwood: I have been teaching
dance classes on Monday evenings at
Chapelwood Methodist Church since October 2010. Chapelwood
is a lovely church with a beautiful room for us to hold our classes.
I am grateful to Chapelwood for allowing me to conduct classes
here
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Dance the Night Away
with Rick Archer's Social Dance Lessons at
Chapelwood
A variety of
Country Western/Ballroom Lessons taught by
Rick Archer, former owner of SSQQ Dance
Studio
At a Glance:
7:00-8:30 p.m. on Monday nights
Room YB 100-101 at Chapelwood
Cost: $30 per person per month
Under the gracious sponsorship of Chapelwood
Methodist Church, Rick Archer has been
teaching here since 2010. Over the
years, our class has
taught people how to partner dance
in social situations such as weddings, rodeo
events, visits to nightclubs
and dancing on cruise trips. During
the instruction, we emphasize enjoying
friendship in a relaxed, laughter-filled
atmosphere.
Starting at 7:00
p.m. every Monday, the class is taught by
Rick Archer, former owner of Houston's SSQQ
Dance Studio. In its day, SSQQ was
the largest independent dance
studio in Houston as well
as the United States.
In its heyday each week 1,400 students walked
through its doors in search of dance
training, exercise, fun and friendship.
Following his
retirement from full-time teaching in 2010,
Rick brought a similar magic to Chapelwood.
Thanks to the assistance of Harriet Daniel
and a team of experienced assistants, this
ongoing class covers a wide range of
different dances. With the featured dance
changing from month to month, the class
covers Western, Ballroom, Swing and Latin
dance patterns. Past topics include Two
Step, Polka, Western Swing, East Coast
Swing/Jitterbug, West Coast Swing, Night
Club Two Step, Western Waltz,
Ballroom Waltz, Rumba,
Foxtrot, Cha-Cha, and Salsa. If a
particular dance is popular with the current
group, typically an Intermediate level is
added in the following month.
Rather than dictate what's next, Rick
prefers to let his students tell him what
they want him to cover from month to month.
While on the surface the class is about
learning the art of partner dancing,
the class is secretly more about Community.
It does not matter whether someone is single
or married. Come one, come all.
This ongoing class
consists of veteran dancers and newcomers.
There are students in this class who have
been taking non-stop for many years due to
the camaraderie and mutual love of dance.
To accommodate the newcomers, we offer
Beginning-level classes four to six times a
year, then advance the class over the next
few months. We encourage our students to
rotate partners. This allows the Volunteer
Staff to offer suggestions along the way.
In addition, changing partners gives the
students a chance to get to know each other
and make friends.
Rick's class runs
till 8:30, sometimes later, with a break in
between. The age range starts with college
students and extends to Seniors. As long as
a person wishes to learn, age does not
matter. Class size varies from month to
month, but over the years it has stayed
within the 20-40 range. In this time, the
boy-girl ratio has remained remarkably
close. Thanks to our volunteer staff to
even things up, it is rare for someone to
stand out for more than one rotation.
The dance class
typically meets in Room YB 100-101.
However, Chapelwood is a busy church, so
periodically the class may meet in another
room on a temporary basis. If there is a
last-minute change, Rick and Harriet will
use email to offer updates. We also use
email to inform past and present students of
our upcoming classes.
If you have
questions or need more information, please
contact Rick Archer, rick@ssqq.com
or Harriet, hhdan5@hotmail.com
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Rick Archer's Note: The section below
is where I put old material that I intend to re-use
at a later date. You are welcome to read it if
you wish.
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What is "Sweethearts
of the Rodeo"?
This is a course in Country-Western dancing. It is
not a Beginner course nor is an Advanced course. I
suppose that leaves Intermediate, but a Beginner can
take it. More about that later.
I last offered this class three years ago. Since I
know the people who take my classes pretty well, I
predict no one remembers anything. My students cannot
even remember their name which is why we wear name
tags. For that matter, we encourage married couples
to add a last name. That way we can match people
with spouses at the end of the night. As for
boyfriends and girls, hmm, not quite as easy.
Wear matching socks. However I digress. You want to know what this
course covers.
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In Western dancing, there are three looks:
Closed Position in each other's
arms, Open Position for Western Swing, and
Sweetheart position for those who are
romantically inclined. In
Sweetheart position, partners start side by
side, lady on the right. The lady is the
Sweetheart, the man is the one lucky to be
dancing with her. Please reflect your
pleasure at being next to one another by
smiling. The Sweetheart position in Western
dancing is very popular because the girls
face forward and rarely find themselves
dancing backwards. It is a nice feature
not to be forced to dance backwards all the
time.
The Sweetheart position includes all sorts
of fancy turns and clever moves such as
Crossovers, Harriet the Lariat, and the
infamous Wild West Shuffle. The hit of the
class will be a popular combination known as
'Book of Love'
which combines three positions known as
Sweetheart, Cuddles, and Skaters. For those
serious about romance (watches one Hallmark
Rom-Com per month), we have an incredible
ending to the Book of Love known as the
Scintillating Slither. Women have been
known to faint.
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Anyone
with a smattering knowledge of Twostep
and some Polka will do just fine in this class.
That said, I have heard there are a few people from
California who have not yet learned how to dance
Texas-style. When in Rome, dance as the Texans do,
the sooner the better. For these people (and other
states are welcome as well), we will have an
emergency beginner Twostep class from 6-7 pm. There
will be no charge, just show up. If you survive the
emergency tutorial, you will have learned enough
stay for the main event, Sweethearts of the Rodeo.
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The April Jitterbug class will be more difficult
than the March Swing class. That is because I will
be teaching the more difficult version of Swing
known as “Jitterbug”.
Jitterbug uses more complicated footwork: “1 and 2,
3 and 4, 5-6 (back step)” as opposed to Swing: “Slow
Slow Quick Quick”. Although both systems use 6
beats, Jitterbug is used to Slower tempo music while
Swing is used to faster tempo music. It is
important for a Swing dancer to know both systems.
“Happy Just to Dance with you”, Beatles, 135 beats
per minute. This is a Jitterbug.
“Take it Easy”, Eagles, 138 beats per minute. This
is a Jitterbug.
“Jailhouse Rock”, Elvis, 168 beats per minute. This
is a Swing.
“Rock Around the Clock”, Bill Haley, 180 beats per
minute. This is a Swing.
In general, the faster the music, you prefer to use
Swing with fewer steps. The slower the music,
Jitterbug uses the extra steps to travel more,
thereby speeding things up. The same thing holds
true for other types of music.
Western Dancing: Twostep handles one speed, Polka
handles the other.
Salsa Dancing: Salsa handles one speed, Merengue
handles the other.
East Coast Swing Dancing: Swing handles one speed,
Jitterbug handles the other.
Another purpose of the April East Coast Swing
“Jitterbug” class is to prepare for our May West
Coast Swing class. As it turns out, Jitterbug and
West Coast Swing use the same 6-beat timing and the
same 8 steps: “1 and 2, 3 and 4, 5-6”
East Coast Swing: Triple Step, Triple Step,
Back-step. (six beats, 8 steps)
West Coast Swing: walk-walk, Triple Step, Triple
Step. (six beats, 8 steps)
I happen to like West Coast Swing a lot. But I will
be the first to say it is a tricky dance to learn.
In my opinion, West Coast Swing is not worth
learning unless the footwork is precise. So one
feature of the April Jitterbug class will be to help
people become more comfortable using 8 steps to 6
beats of music.
For further information, you are
invited to read Rick Archer’s History of Swing,
https://www.ssqq.com/stories/swnghist.htm
In addition, there is a third form
of Swing dancing. Some call it ‘Street Swing’, some
call it ‘High School Swing’ or ‘Teenager Swing’ and
some call it ‘Aggie Jitterbug’. For the time being,
let’s call it ‘High School Swing’. What exactly is
it?
High School Swing is Swing dancing
without any attention to footwork or the speed of
the music. As long as a boy can lead, he can use
any footwork he wishes and move at whatever speed he
wishes. Obviously this simpler form of Swing
Dancing is popular because it is easier to learn
than the more disciplined East Coast Swing. So why
bother learning East Coast Swing?
High School Swing is pretty brutal
on the girls. It is a rough dance that involves a
lot of being pulled and pushed around. It also
ignores the music which is a nuisance as well.
Getting thrown around might be okay in high school
and college, but as the young lady ages, she
typically prefers to be treated more gently.
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