Re-igniting the Passion to Dance
“Great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their passion.”
—Martha Graham
What better way to re-ignite the passion inside of you than to spend a couple days with your lovely coach and mentor, who just happens to also be a multiple-time World Champion and one of the best lady dancers ever?! Joel and I were so fortunate to have Loraine come for a short visit to Vancouver this April. After having 2 full days packed with lessons, lectures and workshops, we are re-inspired again to dance from within, to search for the truth and to pass it on to our beloved students!
Our teacher, mentor and good friend Loraine is not only very detailed technically, but she is also an inspiration to all. She is extremely musical, expressive and simply ‘delightful’! Many of our students remarked that she makes the information incredibly clear and simple to understand… and that’s precisely how I’ve always remembered her teachings back when we were living in Italy.
In her lectures, Loraine covered so many essential topics that were easily digested and understood by dancers of all levels (ranging from Bronze to Championship). Some of the things she touched upon included: usage of the tailbone, figure 8 hip action, foot pressure and foot propulsion, circling energy flow, backwards energy and space in Promenade Position, ladies poise, different mental approaches to lessons, practices and competitions, not ‘lowering’, timing versus musicality, and how to avoid chasing the music in the faster dancers, such as the Quickstep.
Thanks to all of you who attended her lectures. In actual fact, I want to say, ‘Good on you for seizing the opportunity!’ Honestly, I was a little disappointed that more dancers did not come out to listen to Loraine speak and demonstrate. It is not every day that someone of Loraine’s caliber comes to Vancouver; people travel far and wide to listen to her teachings all over the world. In fact, Loraine is about to embark on a journey to Italy to teach at both Mirko Gozzoli’s and Massimo Giorgianni’s dance camps.
In my opinion, it is really quite sad when people don’t take advantage of great opportunities that are right on their doorsteps. As many business people will tell you, there are key opportunities in life that will lead you to achieve success. Whether it be in dancing or in life, you need to learn to seize these opportunities as they are presented to you!
Oh well. I can only influence the small circle of people around me… and I’m happy to say that pretty much all of our JC Dance Co. students who could make it, made it out. Regardless of what level of dancing they were at (from Bronze all the way to Championship, and from Junior all the way to Senior III), each and every one of them had a great experience and took something away from Loraine’s teachings.
Like I said, I , for one, am fully inspired again, and ready to become the best dancer and the best teacher that I can possibly be. We look forward to Loraine’s next visit, hopefully sometime soon!
