Hi, Tessa here. Since 2002, I've been writing advice articles for West Coast Swing from my perspective as a WCS Champion and 30 years as a professional teacher and coach. My mission is to help dancers #trainWCSsmarter and teachers #teachWCSsmarter, which we do thoroughly in our Swing Literacy training programs.
These articles are my way of contributing some free, bite-sized education to the community to help inspire and motivate with practical, actionable advice for your dancing & teaching.
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I highly encourage everyone to leverage these free resources by sharing them in your community groups and with friends you know who could use them. Enjoy!
Watch this 2-minute video pep talk to give you some realistic coaching and encouragement to help you discover more styling potential immediately. Transcript below.Watch the video: Feeling limited in your styling?When you dance, do you ever feel like you are colouring with a box of only primary colour crayons? In each WCS class and workshop, do
Watch this 3-minute video pep talk to give you some realistic coaching and encouragement about asking higher level dancers to dance. Transcript below. Watch the video: Do you have an “untouchables” list? You know, that imaginary list you make up of dancers in your community that are usually better than you that you don’t ask
You’ve been taking West Coast Swing classes for a little while now, and you are inspired by the videos you’ve seen, so now you’re wondering if you should follow the hype to attend your first West Coast swing event? I got you. Here’s a brief pros-and-cons list to help you decide. First,
You love your classes and you love your teachers, but it can be challenging to build new skills when the partners you rotate to or practice with have bad habits or bad attitudes, right? So let’s talk about how you can still manage to get meaningful learning from every partner you rotate to in
Relatively speaking, dance is a pretty financially accessible hobby. Most nights of dancing that include classes and a dance still cost less than a night at the movies. But it’s “pay to play”: if you want to dance more, train more, compete more, travel more, the costs will add up.. So it would be smart
Part 1 and Part 2 of this series have garnered a massive response – when I opened up the floor to take suggestions for more tactical questions, people really unloaded! Well, I’m honoured, because that’s exactly what we’re here for. Not just this article series, but ALL the Swing Literacy programs: to fill a need and
When it comes to social dancing, many dancers ask us questions like “How should I handle it when…?” or “What do I do if…?” These are Tactical questions. In Part 1 of this series, I defined the difference between Techniques, Tactics, and Strategies which are important distinctions to read about to help you get
“What should you do if…”, “What happens when…”, “How can I handle…”, “How do I deal with…” These are all questions that students of all levels batter their teachers with. They are tactical questions – they ask for circumstantial advice, or recommendations for particular situations that have to do with not just the physical
I recently had a set of privates with an older male leader (let’s call him Phil) who was a very nice man and well liked in the community but has received complaints from followers that he hurt them. Many followers would say that they can relate – this is a common issue in many
What does it take to have a WCS dance where both partners contribute to the fun? As a leader, do you wish playful followers would let you lead more? Or wonder why more followers don’t play with you they way they do when they dance with other leaders? As a follower, do you
West Coast Swing offers a unique opportunity for both partners to express themselves and co-create in amazing “dance conversations”. But it wasn’t always balanced or amiable. So how did we get here? This article describes the journey of how the the improvised conversation of West Coast Swing social dancing has evolved dramatically over the
Struggling to find dancers in your area who want to practice? Need to find the words to approach partners and suggest practicing? Here’s a complete guide to who to ask and how to approach them.