Archive for the ‘Adelaide Studio’ Category
April 19th, 2012 | 
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Students at Arthur Murray’s Adelaide dance school got in to the true spirit of the holiday with fancy dress costumes, all the guys and goals had a great night of dancing and partying.
Since writing about my first experiences I have continued to practice and become more confident on the dance floor each week. I decided to perform in the Arthur Murray Show Case. This is where students show off with their instructors with a 3 minute choreographed by the instructor a dance of their choice infront of a huge audience.
I decided to do the Cha Cha as I wanted to push myself. My instructor put together a fancy routine and had loads of bling, pizzazz and more bling. I did steps that were at a much higher level which was fantastic.
Show cases can take upto 6 months to prepare. So we practised and practised again, as they say practise makes perfect. Each time when I thought I had finished learning new things, my instructor would highlight another area to focus on. One night she said to me “Tonight we are going to talk about facial expressions” ….What the !!!!!!!
Then we organised our costumes for the big night, more bling to match the bling steps.
One week before the actual night, we all had a dress rehearsal at the venue. There were 18 showcases in all, so after a few social champagnes (to calm the nervous) we started to run through all the routines. When it came to my turn, I was already so nervous and unfortunately the rehearsal was a total sham, it was awful. So much so that I wanted to pull out and not perform at all.
But after a week of soul searching, we went ahead.
On the night, everyone was dressed to the ‘nines’ as it was a formal occasion with loads of social dancing as well as the Show Cases and also a 3 course meal.
After my performance I was SO happy that it was over, but also I was happy with my performance. I was so glad that I did the show case and would totally recommend it to anyone learning to dance. It is different to classes and gives you another level of confidence when on the dance floor.
Russell Dawes
Adelaide’s showcase was held on Friday the 25th of February at Donato Reception Centre. The evening was a great success with 18 performances in total. The nerves were high and you could feel the excitement in the air and at the end of the evening we were all over come with pride and joy. Performances ranged in expertise from first timers to some true experts performing for the 15th year. We had cheeky Cha Cha’s, elegant Waltz’s, romantic Rumba’s and fiery Tango’s. The music was pumping the costumes were grand and the night was finished with a scrumptious three course meal and social dancing that took us in to the very late hours of the night. Our next performance is South Australian Dance Tournament to be held in September of 2011. We hope to see you there. These pictures are a few snap shots of our fun evening.
Tara Johnston Franchisee Arthur Murray Adelaide.
Tara Johnston, David Eaton, Simonette Giddins, Simon Noble
Arthur Murray Adelaide at the Showcase Adelaide 2011
I have always enjoyed dancing but never had any lessons, so after watching several series of Dancing with the Stars and always thinking “I wish I could dance like that….” I decided to take the plunge and look around for a dance studio. I tried several different studios all offering a free introductory lesson and after a couple of ‘hard pressure sells to join up”, I walked into Arthur Murray Adelaide and I was instantly struck by the friendly staff and the warm environment of the studio. Different classes all happening in different parts of the studio, this gave me a chance to see all different people all learning different dances.
After my free lesson I signed up instantly and so my journey began and the self doubt set in straight away…Am I going to look silly, everyone is going to be better than me, I don’t have anyone to dance with.
One of the reasons that I signed with Arthur Murray was the chance to attend as many group classes that I wanted to, as well the benefit that I can go into the studio at anytime (as long as its open) and practise.
So I started my one of one classes with a bubbly instructor that made each lesson fun and she was teaching me at my pace. Then I went to the groups classes and I soon realised everyone is so friendly. Even when I attend the socials on Friday night the really good dancers would ask me to dance (I didn’t feel too intimidated….not). The ages of the students vary considerably, it doesn’t matter what age anyone is, it is never too late to start dancing and it doesn’t matter if you don’t have a partner. There always someone around wanting to have a dance.
All the teachers are great, they are so friendly and professional. They have so much knowledge to share.
After several months of practice practice and more practice, dancing had such a positive impact in my life. When I danced I didn’t think of anything else so it helped me to ‘forget stressful things in my life” When I walked through the Arthur Murray doors, I only think dance. So if I was in a grumpy mood at the beginning I would be walking out the door with a spring in my step and a big smile on my face (must be all the endorphins in my system). My posture improved dramatically, its amazing how ‘lazy’ you become over years and that has helped strengthen my back.
It’s been a year since starting and now when I dance it’s like playing golf (for those golfers out there) when you get the tee off swing right, it’s an amazing feeling when it all comes together. To me dancing is like that, but you get so many of those feelings when it works. No wonder after completing a routine on Dancing with the Stars, the contestants would be beaming with confidence with a feeling of ‘exhilaration’, they cant take the smiles off their faces.
Russell Dawes