Riot and Frolic

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

recent posts

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

  • Play the Game

    PLAY THE GAME! Not that I haven't learned that lesson before, but each time I go to a ballroom dance competition, I'm reminded of the obvious fact that you should play the freakin' game.   [This is a ridiculous picture.  Ballroom competitions don't look like this.  This is what Hollywood wants them to look like.…

  • What Not to Wear

    You've tuned in for a long-awaited dance post.  Not for these guys…   Let's say you are going to do some ballroom dancing in front of people.  Like, perform.  Maybe it's a showcase, or a demonstration at a mall, or a competition.  Whatever the event is, I'd like you to keep this in mind… a…

  • Slacker

    I'm still alive, Auntie! It's been forever and a day (okay, a week) since I last wrote a post. I know you've been waiting on the edge of your seats for the latest and greatest news from the Brattiest. After my last note to y'all, the G, ladies, and I drove out to The Cleve…

  • Sweet Martha’s Revenge

    I sat down last night to indulge in some Sweet Martha's cookies because I needed a little hair-of-the-dog (the fat and calorie kind) after a big day at the fair.  And of course, we bought the pail o' cookies.  Not that measly cup business.  I think we got an extra big heap of cookies since I…

  • Ear Candy

    I teach people how to dance.  I'm pretty good at it.  I've been doing it awhile.  There are some things I love hearing while I'm teaching… – "So, that's it?"  I've gotten this a couple times from people on their first or second lesson.  Clearly, these people haven't been watching Dancing with the Stars.  It's…

  • Dance Me to the End of Love

    Are you getting married?  Do you want to dance at your wedding?  I hope your wedding is in 2012.   *Warning!  Unsolicited advice to follow!* If you would like to dance (I mean, like Dance with a capital "D") at your wedding, you should do this: plan way ahead.  No one learns to dance the week…

  • Dictionary of Dance

    Here's some lingo of the dance world and what each term means, or doesn't mean…   American Style– the style of ballroom dancing that evolved from social dancing and is now a recognized style of dancing for competitive and social use (not internationally, though) which is divided into two groups: Rhythm and Smooth; what Len…

  • The Pants of Dance

    Dance pants.   Let's say there are two kinds- man pants and lady pants.  As you might expect, they perform two very different functions.   I co-taught a seminar a while back on "looking good" on the dance floor and my partner-in-prettiness and I had the hardest time explaining lady dance pants.  Think: bloomers.  Without…

  • List of Last Week’s Labors of Love

    – a overly-helpful, hilarious V (carrying a suitcase that was twice her size.) – many caffeinated beverages. (I don't usually do b&w photos, but how awesome is this?) – so many hours of work.   (This looks like work, right?) – I said "caffeinated beverages," right?   (I like that me and G's combined names…

  • Enter the Madness

    I work a lot on Tuesdays, hence the lack o' post.  Yesterday was more than the usual marathon since we have the local ballroom dance competition starting tomorrow. You haven't been to a ballroom dance competition?  You've probably seen Dancing With the Stars.  It's nothing like that.  Let me paint you a picture… Starting around…