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I have this t-shirt as well as 10+ other dance styles to choose the shirt that most speaks to your dance soul!

The shirt was inspired by the writing on the back of American currency where we see, “In God We Trust” and then I saw a shirt that had the phrase “In Art We Trust”. So I then created a dance version of this!

You can help support me and this newsletter by ordering through Shopify!

Current State Of Mind

What makes a great social dance?

I'll continue the Interfusion social dance reflections, this time reflecting on my dance with Hermela.

Dancing with Hermela

Reflecting on the dance I had with Hermela at Interfusion definitely brings a smile to my face. I also feel some soreness in my stomach because she had me laughing so much.

Most of my social dances with Hermela have been pretty fun, although there have only been a handful. ZoukMX, Elevation, and Interfusion come to mind, as I don’t go to many zouk-only events. In zouk, I definitely notice a mental barrier I have to push past to muster up the courage to ask higher-level followers. Part of me wants to not hurt them by leading something incorrectly or in an uncomfortable way, or be boring from being too repetitive.

Hermela, from the little I know about zouk and more so from an experienced social dancer, is super smooth, like shea butter. Aside from her smoothness, she kept things playfully present with tons of creative musicality interpretations.

Musicality is my main inspiration when I’m social dancing and I usually get the compliment of being a very musical dancer. What I’m noticing now about what made me so happy dancing with Hermela was that I was able to be on the receiving end as well as “give” musicality, so it was a very present, playful exchange of musical interpretations and expressions.

I remember a quote I wrote about a while back about social dancing at times feeling like you are floating on the same stream of musical consciousness; that was my dance with Hermela.

I also find myself realizing that we may bring different versions of ourselves at different times of the same social, different days of the same event, from event to event in the same year, and to our growth over larger periods of time. We may have more or less “compatibility” with the people we dance with as they also go through their different versions of themselves.

You can dance the same song 20 times with the same person and each time will be different.

It’s fascinating to reflect publicly on positive social dance experiences.

Communication Channels & Pre-Workshop Surveys

I’ve talked lots about the communication channels in other emails and laid them out a carousel. The fascinating element to expand the concept is adding time, specifically the before, during, and after.

Since I’m a nerd lets make before 1, during 2, and after 3. 3 periods of time times 14 communication channels and we have 42 channels. (Adding the organizer to the mix would add another layer of complexity).

I have a few weekenders coming up (see my travel schedule below) and I’ve committed myself to implementing pre-workshop surveys (here’s one you can check out) to have a better idea of the group of people I will be teaching and to lesson plan better.

This is a great example of a way to implement channels 1.2 & 1.3.

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Erections on the Dance Floor

I posted a PSA on FB that got a bit of like basically sharing that male leads should remember to empty their front pockets to make sure that they don’t “misrepresent” themselves. A lot of people got a chuckle and then I felt inspired to share the following comment:

I’m kinda of feeling inspired to write a “Guide To Handling Erections Better On The Dance Floor”  I feel it’s one of those important conversations that needs to happen but is also awkward and how do you “have this conversation” at scale.

One question I’ve been asking my lady friends is:

How does a follower communicate/indicate that they are aware of the erection & it’s ok to continue to dance AND also when they would like some space?

If you feel inspired to share something with me on the topic feel free to reach out!

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I’ll end here for now! Thanks for opening another newsletter and enjoy the rest of your week!

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Song I'm Currently Jamming To

Magic by Taylor Gasy

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Recent Content

• [FB REEL] Emphasizing intention and direction.
• [FB REEL] Covering a simple turn into a saida entry.
• [FB POST] PSA for male leads and their pockets! Comments are good as well lol
• [FB VIDEO] Demo with Ninja to “One Man Can Change The World” by DJ Chad
• [FB VIDEO] A video from a novice Brazilian J&J dance with myself and Wendy.
• [IMAGE] Connected calendars across WCWD.
• [IMAGE] The easiest hook step to lead.
• [PODCAST] 111: Interview with William Araujo
• [CAROUSEL] Carousel of the 14 communication channels of a dance class.
• [DANCE VIDEO] Me dancing urbankizouk at Elevation Zouk Festival.
• [FB REEL] A reel showcasing the timezone being updated automatically on WCWD.
• [FB REEL] Me mic’ed up in a snippet during a private lesson.

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Photo of the Week

Photo of my friend Ninja I think pre-pandemic in downtown Austin.

Dance Meme of the Week

Another goodie!

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Cool Video I'm Watching

8 Tips To Improve Your Health by Ali Abdaal

Reel on thresholds of action

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Upcoming Travel

See my artist profile at wherecanwedance.com, any artist can create one for free!

2024

02/1/4: Neokiz Weekender in Kansas City - Kansas City, Kansas

02/23-24: Neokiz Weekender in Guadalajara - Guadalajara, Mexico

03/1-3: Neokiz Weekender in Roanoke - Roanoke, Virginia

03/9-10: Neokiz Weekend Immersion: Workshops + Party - Denver, CO

03/31 - 04/3: Victoria International Kizomba Festival (Hosting the J&Js)- Victoria, British Colombia

03/15-17: Neokiz Intensive - Atlanta, GA

04/19-21: Lucas & Thayna - Dallas Zouk Weekender - Dallas, TX

05/3-6: Neokiz Weekender in Edmonton - Edmonton, AB, Canada

05/17-20: Kizowna 2024 - Kelowna, BC, Canada

07/20-24: 8th Annual Neo Kizomba Festival - Austin, TX

10/24-27: Zouk Conexao Festival - Atlanta, GA

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Question Of the Week

Here’s a question from the pre-weekender surveys I’ve been putting out:

When you think of your best dances, what kinds of things would the other person do that helped in making that dance a great experience for you?

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Answer of the Week

How can I track my progress in dancing?

This can be challenging. To simplify, I believe there is visible and invisible progress, both of which require some form of documentation.

Visible progress can be captured in a video or photo (most of you know I'm a big advocate for recording videos and tracking them in the DTJ). If you aren't organizing your videos for easy future reference, it's difficult to look back and compare your current skills to those from the past.

Invisible progress includes things like changes in mindset and confidence. These can be documented in a journal for future reference. For example, you may have been trembling during your first J&J, but after two more, you reflect and realize you've managed your nerves better.

Another invisible aspect could be the feel of your frame in how you follow and lead. However, this requires someone else to share their experience dancing with you and to remember previous times compared to the current time.

Working with a coach can also be beneficial for accountability, tracking, and feedback.

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Past Newsletters

You can view past newsletters here.

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‍Dope Dance Resources

• A cool project to create a global directory of dance events for dancers, artists, and organizers!
• Find out how you can thrive at your next dance event with the Ultimate Dance Event Survival Kit.
• Find out how you can organize your dance journey with the Dancer’s Training Journal 1.0.
• Level up your kiz online with Mr. Neokiz!
• Learn more about the Ultimate Musicality Course For Dancers to level up your musicality!
• Get the 16-count phrase mapping worksheet download for free!
• Join me at my urbankiz festival in Austin, July 18-22, 2024!
• The WhereCanWeDance.com Podcast - Check out my dance podcast!

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Thanks for reading!

Thoughts and feedback on the newsletter or on anything covered within are always welcome, just hit reply. The thing I love most about writing this newsletter is follow-up interactions with readers.

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Feel free to forward this to other friends in your circle!

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Charles

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