Riot and Frolic

a mostly ballroom dance, but also a bunch of other stuff, blog

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about

I own and rock people’s faces off teaching ballroom dancing at Dancers Studio in St. Paul, MN. My husband and I compete professionally in American style and wrangle eight children in our spare time. I’ve been teaching and competing in ballroom dancing for over 25 years and have lots of opinions on it. I am an expert by any means, but there are quite a few dancers who are better than me and I have a solid knowledge of basic technique, so suck it.

Month: September 2015

  • The Coffee Recipe

    Recently, I made a large claim that I make better coffee than you. Yes, YOU. Well, it's true.  But I'm generous and therefore I will share the recipe with you. I am so nice, in fact, that I even experimented with an uncouth French Press recipe instead of my completely refined Chemex coffee maker.  I…

  • The French Press Method

    The Coffee Recipe (French Press Edition) You’re basically making coffee as usual, but BETTER.  It will be iced (because that’s what you do until it’s 10°F), and flavorful (because it shouldn’t taste like water and it should kick you in the pants a little), and smooth (because coffee should be like good whiskey) , and…

  • Dancing “Down” in a Group Class

    You're going to a group class.  It's a beginning group class, way below your level of expertise.  I mean, you've been to at least a dozen beginner classes and you've got the material nailed. Let's, for example, just for kicks, AS A CRAZY METAPHOR, call you an "upperclassman".   And let's, just for funzies, use a…

  • GAWAL’s Not Dead [AKA Here’s to Happy Hour]

    A good cocktail should be like your antisocial best friend: a little bitter, keeps you honest, and takes some getting used to.   I mean, we're talking adult beverages here, people.  As much as I enjoy my alcohol fruity, slushy, and accessorized every now and then… when we invoke the word "cocktail", I have something more…

  • Allergic to Practice

    For the third consecutive time, I have broken out in a rash during practice.  At first, I attributed it to … I don't know… something logical.  The second time I was too stressed out about my Viennese timing to really notice.  But the third time? YOU GUYS. I'm allergic to practice. Okay, let's be realistic.  …

  • The Mistakes Everyone Makes

    Talking to students, teaching a lot, and always taking lessons myself, there's some common problems you shouldn't feel alone in making: Everyone has the wrong foot ready.  "Start with your left foot," we say.  "Yep," you say.  "Your other left foot," we say.  "Oh," you say.   Everyone thinks they are doing that.  You know, that…

  • September Mixed Tape

    The best way to start something is just begin doing it, without making any excuses for why you haven't been doing it or had been wanting to do it but didn't, and acting like it's no big deal that you're doing it.   So here:   This month's playlist starts with the very lovely second…