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.

Category: Dancetastic

  • List of Last Week’s Labors of Love

    – "Mama, your nails are beige and black…" [me: how does she know the word for "beige"?] "… like Gramma and Grampa's bathroom." … Not what I was going for, but, totally spot on.   i was going for #3   – got my nails did again.  For some reason, I decided it would be…

  • Why I Love Dancing With The Stars

    Lest you thought I had LOST MY MIND last week, I'm here to assure that I have not.  Like I attested in my post "Why I Hate Dancing With The Stars", I do believe the show has done many good things for the industry of ballroom dancing (as well as made some aspects of teaching more… challenging).…

  • Why I Hate Dancing With The Stars

    While Dancing With The Stars has bought unprecedented exposure to ballroom dancing, I must argue that it sucks for the industry.  In the land of trying to set realistic expectations for students, Hollywood has put the glitter in everyone's eyes. Here's why: I have had several students lament that they're not as good as [Jerry…

  • This Will Make You a Better Ballroom Dancer

    If not a better person.   Stand with your heels, rear, shoulder blades, and back of your head against a wall.  Put your elbows and forearms against the wall with your hands at your eye level (like you're making a "W" with your arms).  Slide your arms up (to make the "Y" of "YMCA") and…

  • Not Negative Nelly

    With all my complaining and whining about the state of ballroom dancing the last few weeks, one might think I've lost my love of shiny things and pretty music.   NAY! Nay, I tell you.   I DO have a desparate need to inform people how the choices they have consciously or unconsciously made appear…

  • Blue Eyeshadow and the Showdown

    I wasn't going to write this post for fear of offending someone, but it's my blog and I'll cry if I want to.  And truly, if you haven't been offended by now, I'm in the clear. Blue eyeshadow.  I get it.  Blue is a pretty color.  Blue eyeshadow looks good on every skintone.   But…

  • Quest for the Best – Hairspray

    My name is Kate and I use a lot of hairspray.   Not on a day to day basis.   I'm more of a social hairsprayer.   I don't neeeeeeed it. … Okay.  I need it.   NEEEEEEEED IT! Unlike DWTS, real Ballroom Hair needs to be pretty, interesting, and still.  Like, unmoveable.  That requires a good…

  • Dinner For Seven – Beyond Ballroom Dance Company 2013

    Last weekend, I had the pleasure of seeing BBDC perform their 10th year anniversary show at the amazing Cowles Center in Minneapolis.  They happened to reprise their original production from year one, Dinner For Seven, which has always been my favorite.  With a several change-ups to the cast and the remaining original cast being 10…

  • Timing: It’s What’s For Dinner

    Dinner is, ever since the industrial revolution or so, the main meal in most households. For dancers, particularly ballroom dancers, timing needs to be dinner.  Unfortunately, many ballroomers' timing is more like happy hour cocktails.  It looks like this:   Just like alcohol beverages don't count as a meal, your lack of discernible timing does…

  • Dance and The Snow Emergency

    I live in MN.  Land of humidity, mosquitoes, 10,000 lakes, and heavy snowfalls. Minnesotans complaining about snow emergencies (the city declares these after snowfalls over 3" and then a bunch of confusing parking rules go into effect so that streets can get plowed) is like dancesport competitors complaining about conditions at a dance competition.  …