Phil Seyer has been teaching dance for more than 10 years and formally studied to be a dance teacher with Diane Jarmolow of the Dance Teachers College in San Francisco.
He and his associates currently offer private dance lessons in San Francisco, Emeryville, Sacramento, and Roseville, California. You can reach Phil at 925-888-4392 or 916-772-7555. You may write to him at:
ProfessionalsGuild-at-Gmail.com (Please change "-at-" to "@" to make a properly formed email address.
Sacramento
Dance Lesson Singles
Featuring Salsa
Every Thursday in Sacramento
(Couples welcome, but singles especially invited.)
Have fun, stay in shape, get good exercise and have fun doing it!
Meet others interested in learning to dance salsa in Sacramento. Learn a new social
skill! Please arrive at 8:10pm. Beginning Salsa Lesson at 8:15 PM. Jon
is one of Sacramento's top salsa dancers and teachers. Let John's easy
manner put you at ease in learning this popular dance.
Singles are especially invited, but couples are also
welcome. No partner is required for the lesson!
Open dancing after lesson to closing (around 11:30 or 12 midnight)..
Cover: for a limited time there
is no cover or fee for this salsa dance lesson and party. It is FREE. Please buy a drink or 2 from the bar to help support this venue and the free dance lessons.
Nothing beats a private lesson. Next comes group dance lessons.
But an instructional dance video can help you jump start learning to dance.
There are several advantages to using a DVD or VHS tape to learn to dance.
Rewind. A clear advantage is that you can stop the
video at any time and practice what the teacher has just shown you. You
can rewind and replay the video as many times as you need to.
Taking Notes. Taking notes at a live class is possible,
but tough to do. With a video, it's easy; just pause the video and make
some notes about the steps. It's a good idea to write your notes on a
small card or piece of paper that you can review when you are out dancing.
A helpful approach is give a name to each dance pattern that you are learning.
Sometimes that is enough. Sometimes videos don't do a good job of naming
patterns. But you can be creative and make up your own names. Later, by
just glancing at a list of pattern names, you can do a good review of
what you have learned. Of course, this is much more important for leaders
than for followers. Folowers, you must learn your steps really well and
then forget them and just follow the lead!
Leaders, to really improve, you might consider looking over your list
of steps at a dance and checking off the ones that you have used during
the night.
Bookmarks. With many DVD players you can make and
name bookmarks. You can then later quickly return to a specific place
in the lesson to review a difficult step.
Stretch Time. Some DVD players have something called
"stretch time" With stretch time, you can go into a kind of
slow motion video with the added advantage that you also get the audio
part of the video. With normal slow motion, there is no sound. In "stretch
time" the sound is distorted slightly but quite intelligible
-- much better than just music played at the wrong speed. Stretch time
is very helpful when the steps shown on the video are somewhat difficult.
Freeze Frame. A good dance teacher will often take
a dance pattern up to a certain beat of music and then have his students
freeze and check their position. With a video you can do this yourself
at any time. Just hit the pause button.
Thanks for your interest in:
Sacramento Salsa
Group and Private Salsa Dance Lessons
Salsa Dance Contest
Here's an interesting video of a couple participating
in a salsa dance contest. Beginners: don't be intimidated
by this video. In our beginning class, we will take you step-by-step
through the basics of salsa. You'll have fun! After a few weeks, you'll
be an experienced salsa dancer!
Free Salsa Lesson Online
Because Attending a
Group Class Can be Scary.
"You've got an F for the day!" shouted
my well-meaning, skinny sunburned gym teacher when he caught me skipping
a dance class. I used to dread group dance lessons. I was a jock and excelled
in baseball, but hated dance class. I didn't want to look stupid in front
of the girls. Now, (for the last 10+ years) I've been teaching dance myself
and helping others overcome their fear of dancing. One thing that can
help a lot is instructional
dance videos. Using instructional videos, you can study dance in the
privacy of your own home. Then when you go to a group class you will beel
much more relaxed and confident..
Advice for Singles
Find a Practice Partner. I suggest you study a dance
video yourself first. Then find a person you can practice with. Remember,
this doesn't have to be a boyfriend or girlfriend. Although dancing can
be quite provocative and sexy, it is best to enjoy dancing for itself
and not use it as a way of hooking up with someone. There is nothing
wrong with wanting to find a dance partner that you can enjoy an intimate
relationships with. Most couples who dance together stay together.
But it is best to let a relationship come slowly and naturally.
If a relationship does not develop, at least you will have a friend and
you will have worked on yourself and improved your social skills by learning
to dance well.
Guys, avoid being too cute with a new partner. Don't explain
that you have a nice house and lots of money or say things like "You
brought the rain and I brought the thunder." Most ladies won't like
it.
Take your time. Learn to dance well. Leaders, remember your
purpose: to pleasure the follower. That means that you lead dance steps
that make her look good and it means leading her well and
not throwing scary steps at her that she is not ready for.
Here's to your success!
-- Phil Seyer, DJ, Dance Instructor, Musician and Software
Engineer.