Tip#7: Head Posture
This is definitely something i get asked a lot. How to fix Forward head posture. As a competitor, whether you have posture or neck issues, the judges don’t care. They want to see good posture, they don’t know your story nor do they care. For some its sheer laziness. Others have done it for so long, their muscles and bones are used to the forward position and is literally painful to place your head in the correct position. I can tell you this because i have forward neck posture myself. It has come a very very long way from what it was due to exercises. I HIGHLY recommend doing them daily. I’ve been doing it for years, and i still practice them when i get the chance. Here is a link to a website describing what the exercises are! Best part, It doesn’t cost a dime and really makes a difference! Hugo Secret: Collared Shirts help hide forward head posture

Thanks for reading. Results, Sultry Swing Weekend, Unity of Dance Festival and Tip #7: Head Posture is a post from Hugo Miguez

Tip#6: Foot Pressure
Dancing is what we do foot to foot and how we move in between. One of the most important aspects of control and precision is what you are doing with the leg that you are not on. A good drill to acquire this skill is to stand with your feet together, point your left foot, place the ball of your foot on the ground, and think about pulling your thighs together. You can point your foot either forward, side, or back. Drill this with both feet. If you do this correctly, someone should not be able to move the foot you are pointing. Remember there is a difference between weight and pressure. Pay attention to your body. You should be able to use pressure on the free foot, then lift it off the ground and there should be no change in the inclination of your body. If it does, you were weighted, not pressured.

Stay tuned for weekly updates and tips!

Thanks for reading. DanceLife Showcase, ASDC, Tip #6: Foot Pressure is a post from Hugo Miguez

We had a great time at Mardi Gras Masquerade Birthday Bash! Demery added some excitement and had the finalists of the Novice J&J draw one of the Pro’s.
Stacy Kay and Troy Novotny got 2nd
Dena Shrum and I got 1st
Great attendance for Whitney Brown and I’s workshop!
Thanks to everyone that stepped out of their box and tried some Shag!
Looking forward to next year!
Next up, O-Jam (Orlando Jack and Jill Jam)!
Don’t forget to “Like” our Facebook page for updates on Events, Workshops, and Deals/Discounts on private lessons!

Setting up private lessons for O-Jam!
More times will open up closer to the event!
Availability openings:
Friday: 3pm-7pm
Saturday: 11am-7pm
To Book click HERE!

Tip #5: Syncopations 101
This topic in itself is a HUGE lengthy subject so we will add 101 to the title to let you know this is just a tiny piece of what i will be covering in later posts.
A big question i get asked is what is the “right” amount when it comes to Styling and Syncopations. Today i will be covering an easy way for you to determine what is “too much” or “too little” in your West Coast Swing syncopations. The first comment I’d like to add is, as I’ve said before, the best part about West Coast Swing is that it is not standardized. Worst part? It’s not Standardized. The ideas in this topic are my own personal thoughts, opinions and what i like to see in both myself and others i am judging.
First I want you to start thinking a “Section” is 2 beats. Example: In a 6 count pattern, there are 3 Sections.
The next part is us determining what is Swing within West Coast Swing. That in itself is a huge controversy so what we are looking for is what is recognizable WCS?
Next, I will place an idea into your thought process. Does Shaping, level changes, and body rhythm that doesn’t affect the basic patterns footwork still considered recognizable swing? Yes!
Lets take the basic Left side pass as our base pattern for this subject.
The pattern consists of 3 sections.
1. Walk Walk (1 2)
2. Triple Step (3 & 4)
3. Triple Step (5 & 6)
I want to add a little flair on my 1st Section so ill add a double syncopation with a timing of: and, 1, and, 2; That gets me on the same foot as i would normally get to on count 2. I continue the pattern normally with Section 2 and 3.
That just cut my Recognizable swing content from 100% to 66%. Feel like knowing the math? Easy. 3 Sections= 100% When you change one section, that makes your Recognizable swing content 2/3 which is equal to 66%.
Lets now say for the reason of increased energy in the music, you want to add another syncopation on Section 2 to show that increase in your dancing. That has dropped our recognizable swing ratio to 1/3 or 33%.
Now that you have the idea, the final Section being taken up by yet another syncopation has withered the last of your recognizable swing ratio to 0/3 or 0%
If you use an 8 count pattern instead of a 6 count pattern, your math changes accordingly.
My suggestions: Start by having 1 Section of Syncopation and 2 Sections Basic. You can place the 1 Section of Syncopation anywhere within the pattern. This allows you to not be in any of the 2 extremes. Boring, or too busy.
Music energy increases? Try 2 Sections of Syncopation and 1 Section normal.
Feel like making all 3 sections syncopated? Dont.

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned every week for posts!

Thanks for reading. Mardi Gras Masquerade Bday Ball, O-Jam availability and tip #5: Syncopations is a post from Hugo Miguez

MADjam was nothing short of spectacular. First of all we’d like to say how much of an honor it was to share the floor with the top Pro’s in the world. Stacy Kay and I performed our Classic routine right after Jordan and Tat. As nerve wrecking as it was knowing we were following their performance, we were pumped knowing we’d be in the same spotlight as them as well as the other incredible performances following ours. We placed higher than the last comp and as a new partnership, progression is all we strive for.
I got 1st place in All Star J&J with the incredible, amazing, don’t have enough adjectives to describe, Virginie Grondin as well as 3rd Place Adv/All Star Strictly with Ms. Sick Nasty herself, Lindsey Nastos. Stacy Kay got 5th place Advanced J&J with one of the most Killer Russian leads, Grigoriy Lebedev
Its always a pleasure having the opportunity to dance with the talent that comes with the Internationals. We are overjoyed that they are helping build and pump up our WCS community up. They are also kicking our (Bleeps) too. Extremely proud of Allysa Rees and Pam Meade for both placing among the top half out of 62 other competitors.
Pam Meade was awarded Silver and Allysa was awarded Gold with honors. Ladies, your hard work and determination continually shows in your dancing. We’re very proud. Great job.

The Chicago Classic was a really fun weekend! I got 1st Place All Star J&J with Angie Cameron. It was the first time dancing with her, really love still having true J&J’s in All Star. I’d like to thank Blandine Iche for some really amazing dances in Champions Strictly! Big thanks to Brianne Cline for our last Classic Routine showing. Such a pleasure to work with her. Such a trooper performing so well with an ankle injury. Quick praise to Tommy and Renee for their 1st place in Masters Routine Division! Totally deserved!

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the next event: Mardi Gras Masquerade Birthday Ball!

Tip#4: Adapt
The word adapt is something that should on your mind, at all times, as an always growing dancer. You must adapt with every level of dancer. There are lots of categories of adapting. In this post, for the reason of you not having to read for hours, Ill only touch on a couple of the aspects of Adapting. Adapting can entail, connection/communication issues, style changes, break changes, ability to fix common distances and imbalance issues, and much more.
With a beginner dancer, adapting to the mistakes they make and fixing distance issues such as the lady traveling too much or too little with make for more enjoyable dances. For teachers this increases your chance of lessons With an advanced dancer, as a leader, dictate your preferred connection, if the follower doesn’t match you, match her. Pay attention to what kind of follower she is.
Is she a great follower and mimics really well but doesn’t really do much on her own? Is she great at musicality and hits musical accents in her follow?
You have to tailor the way you dance and communicate depending on their strengths. This thought process will give you a higher chance of successful awesome dances. At a higher level, everyone is awesome. The one that communicates and adapts the best in that specific dance with that specific person in that spotlight wins! These tips apply to both leaders and followers with slight differences due to their roles. Final tip: Never say sorry. Learn how to make that unplanned hickup into a different extraordinary movement. That’s how new movements are made! Ever look at Pro’s dancing socially and say “wow, that dance was perfect!” Wrong! I guarantee at some point something happened that wasn’t planned, the part that makes them Pro’s in this aspect is that their transitions from unplanned moments were smooth! Adapt!

Thanks for reading. MADjam, Chicago Classic, and Tip #4: Adapt! is a post from Hugo Miguez

Tip #3: Breaks
At “The Big Event” Stacy Kay and I taught a workshop that talked about musicality, Buildup, and Breaks. In dance our bodies are the instrument. Music builds, hits a bang/break and does that over and over throughout the song. Since in WCS we pride ourselves on the impromptu musicality as we dance, we strive for ways to hit the music differently. Each break has its own personality meaning each break sometimes builds to a big chord hit, a small hit, or a break that drags on whether lyrically or musically. The break happens mathematically (See Tip #1 for details) but that doesnt mean the way it breaks is always the same. For example, the song we chose for the class was Love Letter by R. Kelly. In this song for first couple of phrases, the personality alternates. After the intro, the first phrase break is a little hit, the second phrase break drags for 5 beats lyrically, the third is the little hit, the fourth drags, etc. Being able to not only hit the big break but to hit it with the personality of that specific break brings you’re dancing to a whole new level!

Thanks for reading. The Big Event and tip #3: Breaks! is a post from Hugo Miguez

I’ll leave you guys with a workshop recap December 2012 at Mad Westie in Deerfield Beach. Simple ways to make the dance look “faster,” and simple variations and turns to spice up a cool pattern! Remember just because you might be a Beginner doesn’t mean you have to look Beginner! Stacy also touches on a VERY important topic: Pressure
Click Here for the Recap!
See you guys next time!!

Thanks for reading. Valentines Day Specials and Video Tip! is a post from Hugo Miguez

Tip #2 Connection: I get a lot of questions about why hands slip and how to make a better base connection. First of all i’d like to state that the best thing about WCS is that it’s not standardized, and the worst thing about WCS is….. Its not standardized That being said… Starting from the hand connection i try and think about being knuckle to knuckle with my follower. As the followers hand is resting in my hand, my index fingers knuckle is aligned with her 4 knuckles. Why is this beneficial? What i see commonly is what i refer to as hanging off the cliff. That is when one or both sides of the partnership are connecting with the ends of the fingers, an inch from slipping connection. This causes many chain reactions including the other side of the partnership feeling like the have to use their thumbs (No Bueno!) to feel more secure. “Cliff hanging” also promotes bad technique in the other partnership such as using wrist elevation to attain connection (also No Bueno!). Knuckle to knuckle doesn’t make the connection more intense or uncomfortable, it just sets for a better base connection! Leaders i also suggest leaving the index finger out and to the side of the ladies hand both for side control and an increased “snug” feel. Try it! I will end this tip on a final and important note: If the partner “Cliff hangs” that doesn’t mean you have to do it too, don’t let the partners bad technique affect yours. How to use this technique even on an insistent “Cliff hangers?” Align your knuckle to where ever they are connecting from so your technique isn’t sacrificed.

Thanks for reading! See you next post!

Thanks for reading. Free weekly West Coast Swing classes and tip #2: Connection! is a post from Hugo Miguez

Tip #1 Musicality: Within the workshop we touched on musicality. Musicality and creativity on the fly is what gives WCS it’s unique place in partner dancing. We spoke about how music is structured, most of the time. An easy way to describe this is in school, you learned words, sentences, and 4 sentences equals a paragraph. In music we have beats, 8 counts, 4-8 counts equals a phrase. Why do we need to know this? As the music builds to the big break/bang/crash, it happens in a mathematical structure consistently throughout the song. It hits its biggest point usually on the 1st beat of the phrase. Memorize the 1st 2 phrase break styles, and BOOM! (Literally) you’re able to plan and hit the music as you’d like, even if you don’t know the song!!! Now this mathematical structure is just a tool to train your ear to hear that buildup. Try and count it in the car or at work! Once you’ve mastered hearing it, you’ll never have to count again
(This 32 count phrase structure is the most common form in music, ill leave the other structures for another week )

Thanks again for reading! See you next post!

Thanks for reading. Sultry Swing weekend and tip #1: Musicality! is a post from Hugo Miguez

This is officially my first post! This blog will entail lots of different aspects of dance coming from a wide variety of reviews about events and workshops I’ve been involved with, videos I will post with tips and techniques, inspirational quotes/pictures and much more. Thank you for sharing your time with me. Stay tuned for weekly updates!

Thanks for reading. Welcome to my Blog! is a post from Hugo Miguez