Can a Dress Help You Dance Better?

By Maria Chitul


If you are like me, you don’t pose too many requirements on a normal evening gown. The only important thing is that it has to look good on you and shouldn’t fall off while you’re walking from your car to the party and back. You’re happy as long as the dress survives past one or two special occasions. You won’t wear it more often than that, anyway.

With competition dress it’s completely different. You spend a large sum of money on the dress to start with. You will be taking it to every competition, putting it on and taking it off hastily, jumping, sweating and wiping your make up with it. And you will still expect to use it at least for one season and to look gorgeous in it whenever you get on the dance floor. Buying a ballroom dress is an important step and you don’t want to make mistakes here.

The problem finding the right ballroom dress is that not only does it have to look good on you while you are standing in front of the mirror, but it should also help you look great while you are actually dancing. It means that:

a) The dress shouldn’t impede your movements during the dance
b) it should emphasize all your good sides: your dancing technique, your beautiful figure, and, whenever possible:
c) it should conceal your bad sides, (if any) such as weak techniques or figure flaws.

Of course no dress in the world can substitute hard training. However, by knowing your technique flaws you can get a dress that will partly disguise them. As a result – you will improve the overall impression of your dancing performance. Try choosing the dress that does the opposite – and you’ll see the difference.

In this article I tried to summarize common technique flaws and my suggestions on how to conceal them with the help of a gown:


Weak hip movements
Weak hip movements is one of the usual problems among the dancers. This flaw can be easily solved by choosing an appropriate skirt. All you have to do is to say "no" to slinky skirts and choose fringe or flounce decorated skirts instead. An A-shaped skirt would create a nice waving impression around your hips/knees, improving the look of your hip movements. Another suggestion is to use some bright decorations on top, and thus drawing the audience’s attention from your bottom, however I’m not sure you can fool the judges with that!





Slouched spine
This is mostly the problem of standard dances, as you constantly have to keep your spine right. If this is your problem then try to hide your spine with chiffon scarves attached to your neck or shoulder. You may even use several of those, so that instead of frowning at your slouched spine, the judges would see nice “wings” floating behind you.

For Latin dresses simply try to avoid gowns that expose mainly your back. In this case the attention is drawn to your spine automatically and this is not what you wish to do.


Weak frame
Do you keep letting the hands and elbows down in standard? Again, the trick is the same. Try to conceal this lack of technique by getting your hands covered with layers of flimsy/floating fabric or wide sleeves.


Protruding bottom
Another flaw that happens rather often in standard dances. In the effort of balancing your upper posture, smiling at the judges, and keeping in mind the dance steps, you forget about the need to strain the bottom muscles and end up with your buttocks stuck out backwards. If you are still working on this - don’t choose the mermaid-like silhouettes, or any skirts made from one heavy layer of fabric (like satin). Such skirts will bring attention to your bottom automatically so even a small mistake gets visible. Instead opt for multi-layered floating skirts that would smooth your curves and conceal the problem.





And the last piece of advice for today: If this is your first performance and your first dress – don’t leave it in the box until the day of the competition. Even if you felt great when trying the dress on and you are now afraid to stain it – test it together with your partner. You might discover that dancing feels different now that you are wearing the dress and that some steps or movements need adjustment.

For your first time – don’t choose skirts that are too long. If you don’t have enough experience you risk stepping on the hem during the competition. My suggestion is to choose a dress with the skirt a bit above your ankles. For latin dresses – make sure you don’t wear long fringed or ripped skirts where you could get your heel entangled during the dance.

Summary: I believe that every girl can and should look her best on competition day. It’s a great experience and a huge incentive to move on. Even if you are not interested in a professional dancing career, you should take competitions seriously - you will see the results for yourself. I hope that using the above suggestions, you can make the most of your assets and do your absolute best on this important day of your dancing life.



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So You Think You Can Dance

I hope you've seen the TV show "So You Think You Can Dance". If you haven't, you're missing a real treat. While it doesn't focus exclusively on ballroom dancing, there's certainly enough included to entertain ballroom dancing fans, and I found a new appreciation for other styles of dancing, some I'd never even heard of before watching the show. (Anybody out there know how to 'crump'?)

It's currently in it's third season and I wouldn't be surprised to see it run for many years. The premise is much like 'Dancing With The Stars' and 'American Idol', people audition, there's a panel of three judges, and in the end, America votes for their favorite dancer.

Last season's favorite was a young man named Benji Schwimmer. He auditioned with his cousin Heidi Groskreutz and it was apparent even to the most untrained eye that these two were exceptionally talented dancers. As well they should be. Benji's dad is Buddy Schwimmer, known as the 'King of Swing', and according to Benji, everyone in his family dances.

This season, his sister Lacey is competing. Benji partnered with her for her audition. I find him to be not only an amazing dancer, but a genuinely likable young man. I expect Lacey will do well in the show. Their cousin Heidi remained in competition a long time last season, but it was Benji who won the most hearts of the voters.

I say all that to say this. The other day I was looking through some YouTube videos on a completely unrelated topic and ran across some videos of Benji that I just had to share. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did, and if you haven't seen 'So You Think You Can Dance', I hope now you'll make it a point to watch.


This is the earliest video I found of Benji and Heidi. It's from 1989.
Benji was 5 and Heidi was 8.




Sixteen years later, in 2005, at the US Open Swing Championship.
Not surprisingly, they took first place.


This should serve to prove two points:
1. It's never too early to introduce someone to ballroom dancing.
2. Practice does indeed make perfect.

I Need Your Help

This little ol' blog about ballroom dancing gets a decent amount of traffic every week. I'm sure it would probably get more if posts were made on a more regular basis....but I do what I can. What I need to know from my visitors is this: What are you looking for when you come here? Are you finding it? What would you like to see...or see more of? I'd like to be able to provide whatever information you're looking for, and it would help a great deal to know in what area your interests lie.

I have begun compiling an online ballroom dance directory which I hope to offer for sale in the not-too-distant future. Would that be an item you would be interested in? I'm thinking it could save you a great deal of time if you have one source that you can look to that would direct you to specific websites that specialize in whatever you're looking for....music, shoes, attire, studio locations, lessons, etc. I'd love to hear feedback.

What I'm asking you to do is to take less than two minutes of your time and leave a comment, answering the questions I've posted here. I want to take this blog to another level. I want it to be as informative as possible.
In order to do that, I really need your help...and I thank you in advance.

Happy New Year!

The rush of Christmas is behind us, and I hope everyone had a great time over the holidays. We have a new year facing us, a time for new beginnings, fresh starts, and unknown adventures. As always, I insist there is never a better time than right now to start ballroom dancing if you've never had the pleasure.

If you're a seasoned dancer, when was the last time you were on a dance floor? If you've been neglecting your passion, the new year is a perfect time to re-dedicate yourself. Commit to learning a new dance, or a different style of a old favorite.

Make a resolution to introduce someone new to the magical world of ballroom dancing. A friend who's been dragging their feet, a co-worker you'd like to get to know better, your spouse, brother or sister, parents or in-laws....commit to sharing this gift with someone you care about in the coming year. A year from now, you can dance in the new year together!

Ballroom Dancing--An Easy Way to Fitness

Our column has been receiving queries about the health benefits of ballroom dancing and we are more than pleased to share with our dear readers that, indeed, even just 20 minutes of nonstop dancing increases the heart rate and produces benefits equal to low-impact aerobics.

There are actually two types of ballroom dancing: standard like the quick step, and waltz and the Latin like cha-cha, salsa and meringue. Therefore, whether you shimmy to the pulsating salsa beat or fall gracefully into a foxtrot, you are likely to burn 200-400 calories an hour. The better dancer you become and the longer you enjoy dancing, the more calories you burn.

Who can speak about the benefits of ballroom dancing better than a star athlete of the US Jerry Rice? "I lost 14 pounds dancing for eight weeks - and at 212 pounds, I was in good shape to begin with," he said. But I like the way my body changed. I stayed strong and yet became leaner, more flexible and fluid," he added. The three-time Super Bowl champ wished he had danced while playing for the San Francisco 49ers. "That added flexibility and awareness of my body would have helped prevent injuries," he explained.

An added bonus is the speed that comes with learning all that fancy footwork.
Of course, the pay-off is not purely physical. A 25-year study of nearly 500 senior citizens found that those who cut the rug regularly lowered their risk of mental decline related to aging. The researchers surmised that dancing increases blood flow to the brain, curbs feelings of loneliness and challenges the brain through learning new steps and routines.

Although women prefer dancing to traditional exercise, more guys are giving ballroom a fair shake. "Listen, I was out of my football uniform and definitely out of my comfort zone," stressed Rice. "But if I could do this, anyone can." And that's what makes hoofing it the perfect couples' workout. You don't have to be super-coordinated or even in tip-top shape. Both come with time and practice. And don't forget, it could be a lot of fun.

Like any workout, it is highly recommended that you need the proper gear. For men, that means no tight belts or ties. For women, heels and open-toed sandals are a no-no, unless you are a professional dancer. Flat comfortable shoes with leather soles and loose-fitting clothes are the way to go.

The following dance forms promise a head-to-toe workout. Swing is fast, furious and filled with flips, kicks and twirls that can burn 370 calories per hour. Tap offers the possibility of stomping away stress while slimming your thighs and improving circulation to the lower extremities. Hip-hop is at par with any step-aerobics class in terms of difficulty and the calories you will work through - about 400 an hour. And how about the more exotic belly dancing, which is all about thighs, abdomen and the buttocks - and of course, a women-only affair for now? The pace is slower and repetitive but you'll burn 300-400 calories an hour.

Whatever your choice, put on your dancing shoes and see you in the dance floor!

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