Ballroom Dancing, Spirituality, and...

Blackpool 2015 Under 21 Standard

by Laura Fan on 05/27/15

Blackpool is here. Thanks to DSI London, there has been free live stream of 2nd round of most events. I watched the Under 21 Standard early round (click on the image and you should be able to view the entire round with many heats) and was very impressed. China consistently produced quality couples. It's hard to believe what I was seeing as many couples exhibited maturity of the Amateurs. This was most evident in the Waltz & Foxtrot. Lots of nice swing with dynamic fluid dancing. Some young couples have good musicality. Movement is beautiful & especially smooth in the Slow Foxtrot. The future is looking very good for International Standard. I was originally concerned as most amateurs competed only in WDSF events. But watching Blackpool restored my faith that no matter what politics are at play, the dancing continues to develop. Talented couples are being developed properly. Very good news :)

Comments (0)

Happy 2015 Secrets of Natural Walking Modality & Workshops

by Laura Fan on 01/15/15

I would like to share with you on a very beautiful work called "Secrets of Natural Walking" (SONW).

We've spent probably more than 25% of our lives in walking. Do you know that every step we take has a significant impact on our whole physical being?

We have many meridians & reflexology zones on our feet and throughout of our body. Most of us probably have visited Chiropractor, Massage Therapist or "Body Worker' at least once in our lifetime, if not on a regular basis. That price ain't cheap! :)

We endure a lot of stress at work or at home, etc. This would cause tension in our body and create blockages. Then we wondered why we'd wake up in the morning in pain! The way we currently walk, if not proper, will also create blockages and may result in illnesses. SONW will help remove blockages by stimulating the meridians, reflexology zones, etc. in our body to allow the natural healing process to take place.

I am very excited to share with you that, since Secrets of Natural Walking has been launched, in the shortest amount of time, we've gathered amazing if not miraculous testimonials. We have people who suffered hunchback for decades now have straight spine after only few weeks or months of practice, people who suffered arthritis to have the symptoms completely disappear, Diabetic patients who went from 4 insulin shots to 1 per day, and the most pleasant & unexpected one is probably the 'beautifying'/body sculpting and anti-aging effects SONW has on the body. Many have reported body shape change to be more proportional or even lose weight. Almost all have reported in looking more radiant and youthful.

The list of testimonials juts goes on & on & you can visit our website to view more:

http://www.natural-walking.com/#!testimonials/cgpq

My own success story would be the healing of my digestive system which I have severe symptoms for years and had been put through Ultra Sound, Endoscopy and many blood tests. I went through major diet change and I've been a very fit person to begin with, but attained very minimal results. I started to practice SONW diligently for a period of time and am now very happy to share that my symptoms have disappeared! My recent blood tests showed everything went back to normal range. Between October and December timeframe - that's how fast my blood test results went from out of normal range to normal and the symptoms eradicated.

I am now a certified SONW instructor and there're 2 upcoming workshops I will be co-teaching with another instructor, one on January 24 in Greenville NC and another one on February 15 in Berkeley, CA.

The workshop is normally 1 full day or 2 half days. Cost of the workshop is only $150.

In this workshop, we'll discuss the Keys of Natural Walking. Each step has several keys. With each key, if executed properly, the natural adjustments can happen on your body. Meridians & Reflexology zones will be stimulated and activated. The Natural Healing system can be reactivated and will improve, if not restore your health to the optimum.

When muscles are engaged naturally and properly in each of the key of every step, it will tone your muscles & sculpt your body.

Since I'm a Ballroom Dance instructor, I have to put a plug in for improving Body Awareness and Balance to achieve Natural Dancing. Practicing SONW has made me much more aware of how my body is coordinated and enable fluidity in my dancing. Throughout the SONW workshop, I'll give a few bonus points on how it applies to one's ballroom dancing, for those who might be interested.

On the spiritual side, practicing SONW will help you let go more of your holding. Your breathing will be more free and your mind more calm. There is a deeper spiritual connection to the Divine as well.

Sounds too good to be true? Well, there's very much little to lose to try it. The modality has already been featured on prime time National TV in Indonesia. Please see the following youtube link. The subtitles will be coming soon:
http://youtu.be/t1qKFlWDsB4?list=UU46HjyB-0_SYF7Rpx1uDtsA

Please send me email at Laura@Natural-Walking.com or LFan18@yahoo.com to let me know if you'd be interested in learning more about the workshop or registering for an upcoming workshop, or suggest a date for future Raleigh/Durham/Cary or Bay Area or any other area workshops :)

Love & Light

Comments (0)

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

by Laura Fan on 12/25/14

Time flies when we're having fun! Very grateful for an eventful 2014. Looking forward to a joyful 2015 and wishing everyone happiness, health and prosperity.

Dance development has been very interesting in the past few years. Truly wonder what's going to be in the bag for 2015 :) New Professional partnerships in the WDC end & I look forward to them - Domen Krapez & Natasha Karabey, Valerio Colantoni & Monica Nigro!

Enjoy my Christmas tribute to the past legends & current rising stars - it was quite a chore to find these stars' performance with the appropriate Xmas theme costumes :)

Comments (0)

There's Slow Fox, and there's Slow Fox...

by Laura Fan on 11/11/14

I've picked some of my favorite Foxtrot performances from the recent 10 years to share. The trends are so different. The latest one from the top rank amateur couple Evaldas & Ieva as I could see, is still in development. I don't know how Slow Fox will end up looking like in the next few years, but for sure, it is definitely not the same old Slow Fox as we have come to know it.

I view the current Slow Fox being evolved from the traditional harmonized partner ballroom dancing which emphasized swing action and smooth movement to a more modern lyrical expression that emphasizes body fluidity with exaggerated and dynamic shapes and individuality in a couple. As any trained eyes could tell, a lot of the classical pure swing action is missing from the current Slow Fox dancing, despite the extensive movement.

Let's take a stride down the memory lane of this evolution.

Luca & Loraine (Barry) Baricchi have held the reign of the arguably the most smooth, jazzy and harmonized partnership in Slow Foxtrot.

Mirko Gozzoli & Edita Daniute have developed something entirely different with each became a star of his/her own.

Now the students of Mirko/Edita & Fabio, Evaldas Sodeika & Ieva Zukauskaiti have taken this development even further. The body abilities of these two are probably the best so far in the dancesport world. They have much softer exaggerated shapes with very soft legs. I actually preferred their dancing 5 months ago to the recent performance but I trust that they're exploring this new trend & trying to stretch this big shape & unconventional choreography to the extreme and see where it would lead to.

So here're the few performance clips of these wonderful legendary (or to be legendary) couples:

Luca & Loraine

Mirko & Edita

Evaldas & Ieva (5 months ago)

Evaldas & Ieva (1 month ago)

Comments (0)

WDC Vs. WDSF Amateurs

by Laura Fan on 09/03/14

It's an exciting scene and yet a sad situation at the same time out in the ballroom world.

The war among WDC, WDSF and in its own league Blackpool Dance Festival, has gotten to the point that the good old days of all top competitors dancing on the same floor is indeed gone.

This is most unfortunate. Today, I'll dedicate the blog to the amateur scene. I'll name 2 of my favorite couples from the 2 organizations:
Evaldas Sodeika & Ieva from WDSF (currently 3rd place)
Marek Kosaty & Paulina from WDC (currently 1st place)

IMHO, Evaldas & Ieva can anytime outdance the current front runners of WDSF Simone Segatori & Annette and Dmitry Zharkov & Olga. The footage of the recent German Open Final is online & you can judge for yourselves.

Both couples, Evaldas/Ieva & Marek/Polina have the fluid movement with Evaldas & Ieva having the more unique and special body abilities & fluidity and Marek/Polina having the more pure swing/classic movement.

I'd have love to see both couples on the floor going head to head against each, dancing at their best.

This unfortunately is not possible in the current situation between WDC & WDSF. Furthermore, I would even venture to say that it's a sad situation that some of these couples cannot even dance their best or their true abilities & preference in the current organization that they have chosen.

I'd honestly say that about Marek Polina. I have put 4 clips of their dancing for you to view & analyze. Their Waltz & Tango Show Dance Vs. their 2014 WDC German Open competition.
Waltz Show
Tango Show
Waltz Competition
Tango Competition

It's clear to me that they've got their own unique, fluid and dynamic style when they are dancing showcase Vs. in competitions. It's unclear to me why they'd choose to dance differently in competitions as the way they would dance their shows was superb.

Evaldas & Ieva, on the other hand, I've seen their demo in Fabio's lecture and competitions. They danced not only consistently but totally free of inhibitions despite competition pressure. They're just a pure joy to watch.
Waltz Competition
Tango Competition

I know many of my colleagues (both in professional and amateur divsions) and I are quite tired with politics. All of us have invested countless hours and exorbitant amount of money in our dance training. It's time for us to express ourselves on the dance floor the way we prefer, instead of having to dance a certain way (or worse yet combining many ways) to please the judges in hopes of getting "results"!

Comments (2)