Yes, the Holiday Season is anything but a holiday.  With having to wait seemingly hours for an elusive parking spot at the mall, rushing across town in rush-hour to attend a festive dinner or pulling week long cram sessions to prep for your final exams there just never seems to be enough time to devote to the most important part of your life, ballroom dancing.

It happens to the best of us, so don’t feel guilty.  Instead of wallowing in self pity because you don’t have time to go to the ballroom and practice, take this uber streamlined yet productive approach by asking yourself these 3 essential questions before 2015 becomes a reality.

1.  Did you achieve your dancing goals of 2014?  If ‘No’ go to question 2(a).  If ‘Yes’ go to question 2(b).

2. (a) Why didn’t you?  (Now be 100% honest with yourself, and don’t even start pointing the finger to anyone else besides yourself!)

2. (b) Now that you’ve finished the year and achieved your goal, in hindsight would you have set a different goal for yourself this past year?  (Maybe your goal was too easy to achieve, or maybe once you achieved your goal you realized that it wasn’t a worthwhile goal in the first place.)

3. Based on your previous 2 answers what is your ballroom dancing goal for 2015?

As you can tell, these are superficially simple questions, yet intrinsically very thought provoking.  We dancers spend so much time, money & energy in our ballroom dancing that we owe it to ourselves to be more thoughtful about what we are truly wanting to achieve.

Keep in mind a goal doesn’t have to be competitive or results specific at all.  It could be something like being more confident with your footwork, or being less stressed when performing, or remembering more what was taught to me in my lessons, or fighting less with my dance partner.

Bonus Tip:

If your 2015 ballroom dancing goal has anything to do with remembering better your technique, your routines, what your teacher has taught you or something that you figured out on your own, then consider downloading the myDanceCoach app for FREE from iTunes.  You can create unlimited descriptor “Tags” on all your notes, videos and pictures so that you can quickly and easily find the information you are needing this moment.

With the myDanceCoach app Tag & Find technology you’ll never ever say to yourself again, “I know I learned that before in a lesson, but I’ve forgotten what it was and I can’t seem to find the video I took of it!”.

Bonus Insider Information:

Santa and his elves are tirelessly working on new features for the myDanceCoach app, and will be unveiling a new update in early 2015.  Download the free version today, and keep your eyes open for our next update!

Happy “Holidays”!

Joel

With Black Friday now behind us, and Christmas carols being broadcasted over the radio airwaves we can officially say the Holiday Season is now upon us.  Apart from the usual obligatory socks and underwear on everyone’s Christmas list, here are five inexpensive yet essential gifts every ballroom dancer would love to receive this year.

Ho Ho Ho, and happy shopping!

• Yoga Mat.  If the dancer in your life is serious about working on their balance, flexibility and core strength, then a yoga mat is an essential training tool.  This way hands, knees, elbows and backs are saved from bruising on a hard studio floor while doing Rolling like a Ball, Cobra or any other number of Pilates or yoga exercises and poses.  Keep in mind that yoga mats come in many different lengths and thicknesses.  A 5mm thick mat should work for most people, but if you’re unsure what thickness to get, pop into your local yoga or Pilates shop.  I’m sure a spandex wearing zen-master would be more than happy to help you out!
• Yamuna Body Ball.  Dancers get sore, all the time.  Massages are great, but can get expensive very quickly.  Yamuna body balls are a super alternative to alleviate a lot of muscle soreness and tightness due to the stress and strain of everyday dance training.  Keep in mind that the first couple times will hurt!!!  But that’s a good thing, because soon after your body will start to love rolling on these balls.  Your legs, hips, butt, back, ribs, shoulders, arms and even neck will feel so much better using one of these.  I suggest getting two different balls with that are different densities, because some muscle groups will be more sensitive and need a softer ball while others will need a stronger one.  If you travel a lot or don’t have much space in your dance bag, consider getting the little hand pump to inflate and deflate your ball to make it more compact during transit.
• Headphone Splitter.  This one is more specifically for the Standard couples out there (only because they stay in hold the whole time while dancing, and not because I like them more!).  Sometimes at practice dancers want to use their own music and not have to listen to what is being played on the studio’s main sound system.  Use this cool looking headphone splitter by Urbanears, or any other one for that matter, to share your iPhone’s music with your partner, and only your partner.  This is great too when warming up at a competition and getting into the zone with your partner while blocking out all the crazy backstage distractions.
• Dryer Sheets.   Just as hockey pads and soccer boots need quarantine due to their  “unique” aromas, so too do dance shoes.  A quick and easy life hack to tame those noxious fumes is to put dryer sheets aka fabric softeners into dance shoes after dancing.  No recommendations on specific types or fragrances here.  I figure anything is better than what would otherwise be lurking in that dance shoe bag.
• Used Golf Ball.  Ballroom dancers are notorious for loving golf more than dance, but that’s not why a used golf ball is on this essential Christmas list for ballroom dancers.  More than any other body part, a dancer’s feet get the most abuse.  Put a golf ball on the floor and gently roll your foot over the hard orb.  Once you get the hang of it, (and increase your pain threshold) you can start putting more pressure onto the ball by either sitting down on a chair and pushing down on your knee with your hands or standing directly on the ball.  If you want to look good in front of your golf playing buddies, get a bag of Pro-V1′s and share a few with them.  But really, any brand and any colour will do just fine for good old fashioned foot therapy.

Here’s one extra bonus idea!

• iTunes Gift Card.  Although the myDanceCoach app is free to download we’re sure that all dancers would love to unlock the Silver and Gold levels in the app so that they can choreograph unlimited Bronze, Silver and Gold Ballroom and Latin routines.  Just think of how much a single private lesson costs, versus unlocking the full myDanceCoach pro version for less than $30.  Not only will your dancer be able to choreograph their own routines, but also have access to basic technique notes such as timing, footwork and sway to keep them dancing correctly.  An iTunes gift card would be a gift that just keeps on giving for years and years!

- Joel

Just quit/close the app and then re-open it.  If you’re not sure how, here’s a link to a short video to show you how.  The video shows how to do it on an iPad, but it is exactly the same way on an iPhone and iTouch.

http://www.imore.com/how-to-quit-kill-multiple-apps-iphone-ipad

Happy Shopping!!!

In anticipation of the Holiday Season, all Silver, Gold and Pro myDanceCoach app packages will be on sale on Friday, November 28th.  Save up to 50% on these packages and give yourself a Holiday treat of new ballroom routines and syllabus technique.

If you haven’t done so already, download the myDanceCoach app for FREE in iTunes.  With the free app you can already Scroll & Tap to choreograph Bronze level routines, plus Tag & Find all your dance notes, vids and pics.

Getting these savings inside the myDanceCoach app will be the easiest Black Friday shopping you’ll do all day!  No line-ups, no crowds, no stress.

Happy dancing!

-Joel

Our full website will be online shortly, so come back soon to access more information about the myDanceCoach app.

Happy dancing!