from Phil e DanZnewZ, May 21, 2021
You're Afraid of WHAT?
... being bored. Last year, I kept kind of busy; did gardening, sewing, painting, cleaning...lots of stuff I usually do in dribs and drabs I did in full force.
Most people can find a way to pass their time. Probably 100 or 200 years ago there was too much to do to survive or flourish for people to delve into pastimes.
Now we call pastimes 'recreation.' And now we know that time spent doing any kind of recreation is a good break from the normal work and family requirements.
My friend, Burt, used to question the amount of fiction I would read. He said, "You waste your time reading fantasy. Why not read history and try to learn something and make your reading time valuable and productive?" He had a point, but his advice didn't sway me much.
If anyone is choosing a 'recreation.' they should avoid wasting their time. They should do something that is valuable to their sense of well-being--like dancing. It's a good low-impact physical activity; it's social enough to add another attractive benefit; it is proven to help your brain health. One more thing: When you tell people you do ballroom dancing, they are immediately impressed and interested in you and your dancing. No one ever said, "Yick, why would you do that?"
Here's how I see it: partner dancing is the most effective way to stay engaged, happy, coordinated, interactive. To live is to dance or maybe to dance is to be really alive.
from Phill e DanZnewZ, May 14, 2021
It's About Feelings
Sometimes I try to do the right thing. Actually, I think I do the right thing most of the time. For example, I wear a mask inside, even though my vaccinations were done Feb. 10. I don't believe I need a mask. I don't believe you need me to wear a mask. I don't believe I will pass the virus on if I don't have it. I don't believe I would get this virus. But, I am a person who doesn't take chances or gamble. I don't want to take a chance on getting fined, getting in trouble, having an issue.
BUT
Mostly, I don't want you to feel afraid of me and afraid you might catch covd from me not wearing a mask. The most important thing to me is how we feel.
Some dancers don't want to be in our building if there are other people also here. I will switch my regular schedule or/and the room in which we dance to accommodate those dancers. Just ask. We can even dance in the ballet studio with the doors open and the building's huge super-duper exhaust fan running. Just ask. Some people don't want to switch partners. That's OK. Didn't used to be, but it is now. One couple came in for lessons and only wanted to dance with each other and wanted me to keep a distance. It's not normal; it's not easy, but it is doable. It's important for you to FEEL comfortable and unafraid so just ask.
Here's how I see it: I am so unbelievably relieved to have some dancers coming to Universal to dance, my beliefs don't count. The only thing that really matters is that the students feel comfortable and that I can enjoy feeling happy that they are here to dance.
from Phil e DanZnewZ, May 7, 2021
Reflections
A dancer who I have known for many years is now a contributor to a revived dance magazine, American Dancer. She wanted to interview me about my dance life for the first issue. After the interview, I thought of one thing and then another that I found interesting and extremely meaningful about my dance life and the things I've done with and around dancing. Many of those things are not in the article because she didn't ask. Good thing she didn't because the whole magazine would have been the......Sandra Fortuna Story.
What is interesting to some people, is just worthless to others. When I ride in my neighborhood on Sunday nights, there are so many things other people are discarding. My imagination tells me these pieces of trash could become the perfect object. It's hard to tell what is worth mentioning when it comes to one's personal history with dancing. I think anything at all to do with dancing is captivating, but not everyone thinks that way. Evidently, that must be very true since the story didn't appear as I expected. It's OK because I had a stimulus to review my memories and many were very sweet.
How does one stop the feeling that she wants to dance? Well, one way is to stop cold turkey, which we all did last March. That didn't last. Another is to have everyone who comes to dancing school just stop. Thankfully, one of the dancers hinted that another school was open more or less in a normal fashion, so we followed suit and a few people came in to dance. Another is to have injuries that restrict movement. That doesn't necessarily last either. Thank heavens for that!
So how will we revive the studio? We'll offer ballroom and Latin classes, private lessons. We can add theater dance and acting, run parties, maybe rent the space for events. And we produce the BEST dances for weddings. Recently two couples finished beautiful memories by having their First Dance designed at Universal. There are two more couples working on Father/Daughter and First Dance for a May 29, wedding.
And then we can run specials. Recently, we offered a private lesson special for a specific time. The lessons were $99 for 3. I will ask that dancer how it worked out for him and get a testimonial.
We also should have more teachers. Daniel is teaching the area kids involved in Quincianera; Paul is teaching Social Dancing; Valarie will be continuing Ballet. Don should be recovered from his injury and starting up his teaching again. Donna is still doing hustle class.
Let me know if you like our party and the music. I would love to have a dance party every Saturday night.
You're Afraid of WHAT?
... being bored. Last year, I kept kind of busy; did gardening, sewing, painting, cleaning...lots of stuff I usually do in dribs and drabs I did in full force.
Most people can find a way to pass their time. Probably 100 or 200 years ago there was too much to do to survive or flourish for people to delve into pastimes.
Now we call pastimes 'recreation.' And now we know that time spent doing any kind of recreation is a good break from the normal work and family requirements.
My friend, Burt, used to question the amount of fiction I would read. He said, "You waste your time reading fantasy. Why not read history and try to learn something and make your reading time valuable and productive?" He had a point, but his advice didn't sway me much.
If anyone is choosing a 'recreation.' they should avoid wasting their time. They should do something that is valuable to their sense of well-being--like dancing. It's a good low-impact physical activity; it's social enough to add another attractive benefit; it is proven to help your brain health. One more thing: When you tell people you do ballroom dancing, they are immediately impressed and interested in you and your dancing. No one ever said, "Yick, why would you do that?"
Here's how I see it: partner dancing is the most effective way to stay engaged, happy, coordinated, interactive. To live is to dance or maybe to dance is to be really alive.
from Phill e DanZnewZ, May 14, 2021
It's About Feelings
Sometimes I try to do the right thing. Actually, I think I do the right thing most of the time. For example, I wear a mask inside, even though my vaccinations were done Feb. 10. I don't believe I need a mask. I don't believe you need me to wear a mask. I don't believe I will pass the virus on if I don't have it. I don't believe I would get this virus. But, I am a person who doesn't take chances or gamble. I don't want to take a chance on getting fined, getting in trouble, having an issue.
BUT
Mostly, I don't want you to feel afraid of me and afraid you might catch covd from me not wearing a mask. The most important thing to me is how we feel.
Some dancers don't want to be in our building if there are other people also here. I will switch my regular schedule or/and the room in which we dance to accommodate those dancers. Just ask. We can even dance in the ballet studio with the doors open and the building's huge super-duper exhaust fan running. Just ask. Some people don't want to switch partners. That's OK. Didn't used to be, but it is now. One couple came in for lessons and only wanted to dance with each other and wanted me to keep a distance. It's not normal; it's not easy, but it is doable. It's important for you to FEEL comfortable and unafraid so just ask.
Here's how I see it: I am so unbelievably relieved to have some dancers coming to Universal to dance, my beliefs don't count. The only thing that really matters is that the students feel comfortable and that I can enjoy feeling happy that they are here to dance.
from Phil e DanZnewZ, May 7, 2021
Reflections
A dancer who I have known for many years is now a contributor to a revived dance magazine, American Dancer. She wanted to interview me about my dance life for the first issue. After the interview, I thought of one thing and then another that I found interesting and extremely meaningful about my dance life and the things I've done with and around dancing. Many of those things are not in the article because she didn't ask. Good thing she didn't because the whole magazine would have been the......Sandra Fortuna Story.
What is interesting to some people, is just worthless to others. When I ride in my neighborhood on Sunday nights, there are so many things other people are discarding. My imagination tells me these pieces of trash could become the perfect object. It's hard to tell what is worth mentioning when it comes to one's personal history with dancing. I think anything at all to do with dancing is captivating, but not everyone thinks that way. Evidently, that must be very true since the story didn't appear as I expected. It's OK because I had a stimulus to review my memories and many were very sweet.
How does one stop the feeling that she wants to dance? Well, one way is to stop cold turkey, which we all did last March. That didn't last. Another is to have everyone who comes to dancing school just stop. Thankfully, one of the dancers hinted that another school was open more or less in a normal fashion, so we followed suit and a few people came in to dance. Another is to have injuries that restrict movement. That doesn't necessarily last either. Thank heavens for that!
So how will we revive the studio? We'll offer ballroom and Latin classes, private lessons. We can add theater dance and acting, run parties, maybe rent the space for events. And we produce the BEST dances for weddings. Recently two couples finished beautiful memories by having their First Dance designed at Universal. There are two more couples working on Father/Daughter and First Dance for a May 29, wedding.
And then we can run specials. Recently, we offered a private lesson special for a specific time. The lessons were $99 for 3. I will ask that dancer how it worked out for him and get a testimonial.
We also should have more teachers. Daniel is teaching the area kids involved in Quincianera; Paul is teaching Social Dancing; Valarie will be continuing Ballet. Don should be recovered from his injury and starting up his teaching again. Donna is still doing hustle class.
Let me know if you like our party and the music. I would love to have a dance party every Saturday night.