 Survey
Please take the time to respond to our survey. The club board is always interested in suggestions and comments that improve your dancing experience. To that end we are conducting an electronic survey, please use the following link and help us be a better club:
Balboa Park Survey Page. |
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Membership
We are renewing all current members for the 2019 calendar year.
For your convenience we have sent online renewal invitations to those members that have a valid email address in our records. You can renew conveniently with a credit card.
On most Sunday nights Barbara is available to renew your membership. This process is important because we need to submit a substantial roster list before January 1st 2019 as part of our relationship with the city, permitting us to use the ballroom. You can speed this process by having $20 in cash and your membership card handy.
On December 21st the club will begin accepting new membership applications.
Regarding the economy of the club. While our board are all volunteers, your admission fees and dues pay staff, operating expenses, insurance and supplies. Without the membership we would not be able to use the fabulous Balboa Park Club ballroom.
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Classes
In December our smooth/standard dance is Waltz and the latin/rhythm dance is West Coast Swing. As we approach the New Year being familiar with these dances will be very helpful. Waltz is one of the easiest dances to learn and West Coast Swing is very versatile in terms of being compatible with a wide range of music. Further, in the lead up to the Viennese Nights Ball it is helpful to refresh our Waltz skills.
Waltz
Waltz is a dance born in the suburbs of Vienna and in the alpine region of Austria. As early as the seventeenth century, waltzes were played in the ballrooms of the Hapsburg court. The weller, or turning dances, were danced by peasants in Austria and Bavaria even before that time. Many of the familiar waltz tunes can be traced back to simple peasant yodeling melodies. Today Waltz is a smooth progressive dance characterized by long, flowing movements, continuous turns, and rise & fall. Graceful and elegant, Waltz dancers glide around the floor almost effortlessly. The American style is punctuated with lavish open movements, underarm turns, and solo spins. At 28-30 measures per minute, the tempo is slow at best, but the expressive quality of the music often invites very powerful and dynamic movement from dancers. Waltz is the one of the easiest ballroom dances to learn so don't hesitate and join our classes and be ready for the holiday dances this months.
West Coast Swing
West Coast Swing is a form of swing dancing that is danced in a slot to moderate tempo blues, R&B and, in recent times, contemporary music. It is the smother, sexier version of the swing dance family. Its basic patterns are both 6 and 8 beats, but those patterns can be varied by +/- 2 beat increments. It is characteristically highly musical and can adopt many nuances from other forms of dance. This makes West Coast Swing a highly versatile dance form.
West Coast Swing is a really fun dance and allows the follower much greater freedom of movement to express the music.
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Calendar
Classes on December 7th are canceled - the December Nights event fills all the parking and makes travel to and from the ballroom extremely onerous.
The party will be on December 14th.
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Christmas Dance Party - December 14th
The Christmas party will be hosted by John Nagel.
John Nagel has been teaching people to dance for over 15 years. His skills stretch from International and American Ballroom to many of the popular street dances. His high-energy and fresh approach add excitement. John and his talented wife, Lisa Duncan, dance together all over San Diego. John currently teaches our beginning level dance class.
We play music for a variety of dance styles, from classic ballroom (Waltz, Foxtrot, Tango) to Rhythm and Latin Dances (Salsa, Rumba, Cha-Cha, swing). We also take requests for your favorite song. There will be snacks and cool drinks in the foyer. During the course of the evening we will have a mixer or two.
We will have a performance by the San Diego Smooth Dancers, many of their performers are fellow members.
Our parties are a potluck affair, we ask attendees to bring finger foods - sweet and savory - in disposable containers ready to serve. Too many people bring sweet items such as cookies and cakes, unless you have an overwhelming sweet tooth think about bringing chips, pretzels, crackers, or vegetables instead.
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General Membership Meeting
The club is required to hold general membership meeting at least twice a year. As announced on November 18th the next scheduled meeting will be on December 16th.
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Lost and found
Remember we have a lost and found repository, please check for your missing item. We recently found a money clip sans cash, see a board member to retrieve it. At the beginning of each year the lost items are donated to charity.
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Facebook
The club has a Facebook group page. We invite you to join the page to allow the cub to better communicate and allow you to engage with your fellow dancers. Our instructors will be posting tips and special events to improve your dancing and the board will post last minute calendar changes and parking warnings.
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Tim Waldowski
President, Balboa Park Dancers
http://www.balboaparkdancers.org
Phone (outgoing message only) 858-859-1926.
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