(My salads usually include greens, a hard-boiled egg, tomatoes, cheese, cucumbers, avocado, and some kind of meat such as fish or ground beef.)

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. fresh-squeezed lemon juice
• 1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 c. maple syrup
• 1/2 c. light olive oil
• Salt & pepper to taste

Method

Combine all ingredients in a mason jar and shake well. Keep refrigerated between uses.

“The dancer ‘type,’ says Ebstein, clearly demonstrates qualities that are not necessarily lacking but are not expressed as strongly in other people: a heightened sense of communication, often of a symbolic and ceremonial nature, and a strong spiritual personality trait.”

Read the article on Science 2.0 >>

Ingredients

• 3 mashed ripe bananas
• 1/2 c. apple sauce
• 2 c. oats
• 1/4 c. almond milk
• 1/2 c. raisins
• 1/2 c. peanut butter
• 1/4 c. unsweetened dessicated coconut
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1 t. cinnamon

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mash bananas and combine with all other ingredients. Mix well.

Drop onto parchment-lined cookie sheet. You can put the drops close together because these cookies do not expand.

Bake in pre-heated oven for 15-20 minutes. Cool and serve.

Keep well in a sealed bag or rubber container in the fridge.

• New twice-monthly WCS & Hustle lessons + practice (Wednesday nights), including lessons & practice. Starts September 11, 2013. Get more info >>
• New monthly dance parties (Saturday nights). Starts September 21, 2013. Get more info >>
• New monthly WCS “Master Classes” (Saturday evenings) to help you master a specific concept, skill, or technique. These classes precede the monthly dances, so you can start practicing right away! Get more info >>

We’re offering a taster WCS Master Class on Thursday, June 27th. If you have about a year of WCS training and practice, come out and master the WCS Anchor! More info >>

Ingredients

• 2 ripe avocados, peeled, seeded and mashed (I like mine quite smooth)
• juice of 1 lime
• 1/4 c. chopped or diced red onion
• 1/2 c. chopped tomato
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• salt & fresh-ground pepper to taste
• 10-15 shakes of Tobasco sauce (I use red)

Method

Blend all ingredients and serve with corn chips, on salad, on sandwiches, etc.

Sweet potato cornbread wedges.

This is a delicious cornbread that makes a great treat with breakfast or afternoon tea! I am grateful to Karina, the Gluten-Free Goddess, for this and many other recipes that have made living gluten-free a joy.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup extra light olive oil
• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup sweet potato puree (I make my own by roasting whole sweet potatoes, then peeling and mashing them)
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 t. bourbon vanilla extract
• 1 cup stone-ground (fine) cornmeal
• 1 cup gluten-free baking mix (or your own flour mix with 1/2 t. baking soda, 1 t. baking powder, and pinch of sea salt added)
• 1/2 t. gluten-free baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 t. pumpkin pie spice blend (I make my own: 2T. ground cinnamon + 2t. nutmeg + 2t. ginger + 1.5t. allspice)
• Sea salt, to taste

Method

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottom of an 8-inch cake pan and dust it with cornmeal. (Try a square or round pan, for wedges).

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs until foamy; add the oil; whisk again to combine. Add in the sweet potato puree and mix well. Add the brown sugar and vanilla and mix to combine.

In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: cornmeal, flour mix, baking powder and spices. Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, add the dry ingredients into the wet and stir by hand just enough to make a smooth batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.

Bake on centre rack of preheated oven for about 45 minutes, until the cornbread is firm to the touch and golden. Check with a wooden toothpick if necessary; if it emerges clean, the cornbread is ready!

Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and continue to cool before slicing.

Freezes well. Great with butter or peanut butter.

Energy has been on my mind lately! Energy as it applies to dance, and energy flow in particular as it applies to “double axis” partner dances like West Coast Swing, Hustle, Lindy Hop, Salsa, etc.

Energy is often defined as the ability of an object, body, person, etc. to do work. All action requires work/effort/energy. In the dances I listed above, each dancer/body in the partnership contains its own potential energy. In addition, the partnership functions through a constant flow of kinetic energy between the bodies.

• Potential energy is stored for later use. It describes the work required to be done on an object to change its position.
• Kinetic energy is used to describe energy that is in motion. Put another way, it’s the work required to accelerate an object.

Energy is transferred between objects and bodies and matter. In fact, that is the reason why dancers raise room temperatures! Our movement (kinetic energy) creates motion in molecules in the air and causes them to heat up (thermal energy).

Energy and Partner Dances

It’s my belief that a number of common problems in partner dancing can be resolved and avoided by better understanding and becoming in tune with the flow of energy between partners. For example:

• When one or the other partner stops the flow of energy, this causes extra work to have to occur (i.e. energy to be generated) to not only restart the energy but also for the two bodies to come to an agreement about where that new energy will be initiated. Dancers often don’t realize that they have stopped the flow of energy. Even when deliberately stopping–say to hit a break in the music–it’s each partner’s responsibility to maintain the flow of energy. The “stop” is an illusion.
• If there is an unequal balance of energy between partners, this causes one or the other to arrive in an unintended position, such as unbalanced, too far away, too close, off the slot, etc.
• Leaders often “over-lead”, not realizing that the other half of the partnership has an equal responsibility (and ABILITY) to resolve, maintain, and even initiate energy.
• Followers often under-participate, not realizing what energy the leader requires to suggest, guide, and create figures and patterns.
• Dancers often expend too much energy and tire quickly, rather than focusing on the minimum energy required–and the most efficient means of manipulating the energy–to get the job done.
• Many struggles between dance partners are also related to having differing opinions about what “lead” and “follow” roles are, about what those terms mean practically within the dance. I’ll be publishing another article in the near future about this topic alone, but for now, I’ll say that turning the focus to energy rather than roles (who is right, who is wrong; who is dominant, who is submissive) can change the conversation–and the dance–for the best.

Coaching to Energy

For the last number of monthsI have been coaching to energy, helping students to become more aware of their potential energy as well as the kinetic energy created and transferred between partners. I enjoy helping leaders and followers to become aware of their own energy and how they transmit it, and of the type/intent of energy being communicated (linear, angular, rotational, propulsive, quiet, accelerating, decelerating, etc.). It’s also fun to work on skills that allow partners to listen to each other in the sense of sending and receiving cues about energy change or transfer.

I’ll close with one last thought, which is that even our INTENTION creates energy that is transferred to our partner (as well as to those around us). If that sounds a bit mystical to you, consider neuroscience. Thinking a thought activates chemical energy in the brain, which is transformed into electrical energy. SO: the way you think about dance (or the song playing, or the dance you’re attending, or the partner you have, or yourself) actually has a real and scientifically measurable impact on the partnership and the dance. And on your life … think about it!

Today, I just wanted to share my thoughts about what teaching is all about.

For me, there is only one measure of a teacher’s (or coach’s) success, and it is this: are you helping the student ACHIEVE the goal or result (“the thing”)?

• It doesn’t matter how well you can do the thing yourself (although you should be able to demonstrate it).
• It doesn’t matter how excellent you are at communicating the thing (although you must have a language for it).
• It doesn’t matter if you’re certified to teach it (although training as a teacher, as well as in the subject you are teaching, is essential).

The only thing that really matters is the student’s own achievement. That’s what makes teaching (successful teaching) a process of constant innovation, problem-solving, and learning. As a dance teacher, I am known to go to nearly any length to help a student achieve a movement or concept. I invent tools on the fly, I physically manipulate bodies, I will lie on the floor, I will make a complete fool of myself if I think it will help a student achieve a breakthrough in thinking and/or movement.

Teaching is achieving. Nothing more and nothing less.

Dictionary of dance terminology for & by social dancers*:

Ambidancetrous (also bi-dancterous) – adj.: the ability to both lead and follow. – WDODT & Maria Ford

Buying Her a Drink – (for leaders) the act of creating trust and connection with a few basic patterns before breaking out your big moves. - Julie Epplett

Dance Crush – n.:  [A crush that you have on a favourite leader/follower that is] all about the dance connection, [with] little to no regard or relation to availability/interest off the dance floor. – Kay Newhouse

Dance Heaven – Attending regular dance events with your Dance Crush. - Don McIntosh

Dance Husband/Wife – n.: A dance partner with whom you have a married-like relationship (without the sex or shared assets) at dances or dance events only (see also: Dance-Married). – Maria Ford 

Dance-Married – adj.: Being in possession of a Dance Husband/Wife. – Daria Mikloukhina

Dan-singer – n. A dancer who sings the lyrics to every single song as they dance. – Taha A.

Danceaholic – n.: A person suffering from compulsive and uncontrollable consumption of dancing. – Maria Ford

Danceibitionist – n., a.k.a. The Poser: A dancer who poses for invisible judges in the middle of late night dancing. – Lee Anne Bradford

Dancenesia – When you can’t remember any of those cool moves you just learned in the workshop. - Stephen Capara

Danceturbation – The act of dancing for your own pleasure, with complete disregard for your partner (if you remember that you have one). - Randolph Peters

Dancetastic – That moment when it all comes together in a single dancing moment. – Marcus Dismas

Dancetasy – That feeling where dream and reality merge on the dance floor. - Marcus Dismas

Dancybody – n. Dancer + busybody: someone who doesn’t know how to mind their own business on or off the dance floor and proceeds to tell you everything you are doing wrong and how to do it right both on and off the floor. – Anne Roher

Drape – v.: The act of forcing someone to dance with you without their consent, typically achieved through dogged persistence, constant harassment, or borderline stalking behavior. E.g.: Samantha: “OMG Rachel’s getting draped!! Someone steal her off  Ian!!” – Ian Lee

Hot Mess - n. that person’s who’s new to a dance, has tons of great movement and potential, and no idea how to harness it. – Maria Ford

Sorrywart – n. Someone who apologizes to you before the dance about how much his/her dancing is about to suck. – Taha A.

Swingcheese: (verb) When your partner breaks dance frame and rhythm to make cheesy poses for the photographer DURING the comp. – Bob Hackney & CJ Henry (WDotD, 03/08/13)

Swung Over -That feeling you have when you have danced to excess and every cell of your body knows it the next day. – Pamela Marshall

Unicorn – n.: An awesome dancer rarely/never seen on the social floor. If discovered on the social floor, unicorns are only around for one song and mysteriously disappear from the floor before the song is over making it impossible to ask them to dance. - Rochelle Hoffler

The Last 6 Inches: Refers to full extension to the end of the slot. – Robin, via Marsha

Triple Klutz: (adj) 1) The all around klutziness dancers have when they aren’t gracefully dancing. (verb) 2) The act of a dancer walking into doors, door frames, walls, all types of furniture, or even tripping over absolutely nothing. CJ Henry & Fabio Beltramini (WDotD, 03/08/13)

Unpaid Teacher’s Aide – n.  A dancer who, when in class, schools his/her partners on what they’re doing wrong. Ummm, no. – Melanie Sturdivant

 Westiebomb: When a large group of swing dancers all plan to go to a random bar/club and take over the dance area. – Kim

Do you have others? Please leave your terms & definitions in the Comments area below — I’ll publish the best…like the section below!

West Coast Swing Safari

This fantastic section  was contributed by Jonathan Balmaceda! He says, “Here is an overview of all of the wildlife I observed:”

Barracuda (Sweet Talkera)
A predatory species, their goal is to get their partners alone so they can get a series of apparently random numbers written on scraps of paper. They spend a lot of time talking as opposed to dancing.

Chameleon (Multitalentous)
Proficient in many different types of dance – Hustle, lindy Hop, West Coast Swing. Can look like a completely different dancer depending on the style being used for that song.

Clam (Concentratae Reallyhardae)
This species appears to be mute. They never talk and rarely smile while dancing, very serious.

Deer (Juststarted Todanceous)
Appear really anxious when dancing. They are definitely prey to many of the species in this habitat. They seem to be afraid of intricate patterns and often look like they’re caught in the headlights of a vehicle.

Eel (Slipperee Whenwet)
This species seems to sweat a lot but doesn’t take the time to dry off or change their ‘skin’ every now and then as all the other species seem to do.

Gazelle (Ideale partnera)

A beautiful species to observe. They are graceful and light on their feet. They have very sharp reflexes and quick response times. They are very desirable to all the other species and are almost always engaged in dance throughout the night.

Gorilla (Breakus Armus)
Fairly large population; I only observed males of this species. Appears to strong-arm his way through moves and turn-patterns. The goal seems to be trying to wrench off the arms of their partners.

Leech (Stickus Likegluetus)
The leech tries to cling onto their partner for the entire night. They don’t leave their partners after one set of dancing. If their partner is dancing with someone else they will stand very close to them instead of finding another partner to dance with.

Lion/Lioness (Getout Yourcamerae)
King or queen of the dance floor. This seems to be a rare species. They are great dancers who are exciting to watch and usually have circles formed around them while dancing. Not to be confused with Peacock, this highly skilled animal dances with all species.

Lovebirds (Kisee Faceous)
Seem to have a designated partner for the whole evening. Arrive and leave together. They dance very close to each other; but be careful not to confuse with the Python, this is an altogether different species.

Millipede (Tenleft Feetus)
This animal has a unique skill that makes it falsely appear to have more than two feet. It can simultaneously dance on every beat, completely ignoring the rhythms and beats of the music. It is very easy to spot as it is moving completely out of sync with everyone else on the floor.

Octopus (Tryto Gropeus)
Another species in which I only observed male examples. They seem to have many hands, as many as eight it seems, though when observed in a resting position it appeared they only had two. Their hands are usually all over their partner and they consistently place them in inappropriate places. They differ from most of the other species as they often try other physical contact while not on the dance floor.

Peacock (Showoffious)
This animal always needs to be the center of attention. They prefer to only dance with other peacocks or animals which will enhance their image while on the dance floor. Their desired partners are either good-looking or good dancers.

Penguin (Robotulatus)
This animal seems to be lacking fully developed knee joints, as they have trouble bending their legs. They are very stiff and seem to have problems transferring their weight properly.

Python (Tooclose Forcomfortus)
This is a predatory species; they hold their dance partner really tight. It appears they are trying to either asphyxiate their partner or actually meld together with them. It will take further research to determine which hypothesis is correct.

Rabbit (Bopto Thebeatus)
Prefers to move vertically to the music, hops around while dancing. Appears to be emulating the movement of a bouncing ball.

Skunk (Horriblus Smella)
These animals have a very pungent odor; they appear to be part of a very strict sect which bans showers or the use of deodorant or perfume.

Tasmanian Devil (Outof controla)
This animal must have a very large natural habitat. They are all over the dance floor, constantly doing lots of spins and intricate patterns without proper execution, and are still able to crash into other dancers and step on toes even when the club was near empty near the end of the night.

Vulture (Wantyour Partnerous)
Vultures have a distinct attack. They circle the dance floor looking for someone they want to dance with and they will hover around while their prey is dancing with others, patiently waiting to seize them once the song is over. If their desired partner ignores them and dances with someone else, they will continue hovering and circling until their prey succumbs.

Wolf (Stalkercitae)
This animal is  a hunter, always searching the club for prey. This is a predominantly male species. Their prey usually consists of beginner dancers especially the ones alluringly attired.

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* This post is inspired by a discussion thread on Facebook’s Westie Discussion of the Day group. I have attributed these to whomever posted them on that discussion thread. I have also added some of my own and have edited some for grammar etc. Enjoy!