Ballerina Brides « OUR WEDDING DANCE BLOG

July 21, 2010

When a White Wedding is a Green Wedding!

Filed under: 2nd Time Around,Ballerina Brides,Green Weddings,How Cool Is That?,Moms & Dads,Wedding/Reception Venues — Tags: 1st Dance, Ballroom, Ballroom Dance Lessons, Ballroom Dance Lessons in Orange County, Ballroom Dance With Jillian, Bride and Groom 1st Dance, First Dance Instruction, Green Weddings, Orange County Dance Instructor, Orange County dancing lessons, Wedding Dance, Wedding Dancing — admin @ 10:09 pm

Everywhere I turn I read about green weddings these days!

Speaking as a lifelong gardener who has trouble entering her front door due to her menagerie of plants that are taking over, I can truly say… I love it!

Now, you might ask, “What exactly is a green wedding?”

One of my grooms laughingly told me it’s when all the guests shower him with money as he walks down the aisle…

Nice try

According to the Green Bride Guide,

“A green wedding is any wedding where the couple tries to decrease the impact of their event on the planet.”

What a concept

Everyone I’ve talked with about this great green idea from wedding vendors to brides to coordinators have all assured me you can be “super chic without the waste!”

Whether you want to go dark green and make everything earth friendly from the material of your dress to the flowers and food you use at your reception or just light green with eco-friendly invitations and favors; every little bit helps our environment.

Try doing a Google search on “Green Weddings” and you’ll be amazed at all the information out there.

Here are just a few of the URLs* I found:

Great Green Wedding

Tree Beginnings (favors and gifts)

The Spiraled Stem (eco-friendly flowers)

Green Weddings and Events

The Knot’s Green Weddings

How Green Is Your Wedding quiz

Books for Green Weddings

“Being green is not difficult, but it requires forethought and desire. Most weddings, on average, produce 15,000 pounds of carbon dioxide gas”, says Kimberly Goetz in her article, Member Helps Couple Arrange Totally Green Wedding in the June/July 2010 Association of Bridal Consultants newsletter.

Wow, that’s amazing!

So if you’re still in the planning phases of your wedding or know someone who is why not share a little of the green.

With some unusual choices you’ll not only help our beautiful planet but you’ll create a one-of-a-kind, personalized experience for both you and your guests.

Happy Green Wedding,

Jillian

OurWeddingDance.com / ArgentineTangoWeddingDance.com

949.400.7347 / Email

Go Green!

*Please note I list the Green Wedding URLs above for your convenience. No endorsement is made of any particular one with the exception of Christine Saunders at The Spiraled Stem who is an Orange County ABC member with me.

As always, make sure you research any vendor carefully and if you’re purchasing on-line look for the SSL certificate that ensures that your credit card info is safe from prying eyes traveling along the corridors of cyberspace.

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June 16, 2010

“The Best Thing To Hold Onto In Life Is Each Other” – Audrey Hepburn

Well, I got my daughter graduated from UCLA – go Bruins! and I thought I’d share with you a little shop talk about the frame of the dancing couple since I get a lot of questions about that during my lessons.

When your guests watch your first dance do you think they’re looking at your feet?

Probably not.

The bride’s feet are most likely hidden by her dress and the groom’s feet may possibly be as well.

Your guests’ gazes are on your radiant faces and your dancing frame, that is your arms connected to each other hand to hand on one side and the groom’s right hand upon the back of the bride on the other.

The frame can make or break a dancing couple.

A “noodle” frame can make the dancing couple look soft and squishy and make the lead and follow very difficult to give and take.

A “rigid” frame can make the bride and groom look stiff and awkward and may even actually hurt the bride to take the lead, especially if her dashing groom is a strong armed one!

So what’s the best frame for dancing?

The leader should always frame up or down to the height of the follower.

I like to start my couples off by having the bride put her arms out to her sides, horizontally from her waist so the groom can see what looks good with her shoulders.

Especially if the groom is six feet three and bride is four feet five I want to make sure that their dancing frame is angled to her height not his. After all she would look rather silly dancing her arms way up to him for their first dance!

Having established her correct frame height, then we move on to the bride’s three connection points and I focus on impressing upon them the necessity for an “energy transference” toward each other at all times. No one person should pull away or just plain “not be available” to the other in the frame.

Once we have the frame we move side to side and forward and back in it.

We walk in it.

We sway in it.

We get used to it.

People don’t really dance like this anymore so it can take a little getting used to the frame once you’re in it.

My grooms sometimes say it is hard to keep holding up their arms. This might mean the bride is being “heavy” and using her groom’s arms as an arm “easy chair”.

My brides sometimes say that they feel like they’re “in the harness” of the frame and can’t move easily within it. This might mean that the groom is holding her too stiffly and not letting the lead be communicated easily through his arms and his connection points.

During our first lesson we work hard to alleviate any stress in the dancing couple’s frame and make it a positive part of the dancing. Since the frame connection is the pretty part and, I think, the romantic part it is vitally important that it work for us in the first dance.

Be it a foxtrot frame, a rumba frame or a swing frame – the couple’s dancing frame is an integral part of the mechanics and beauty of their wedding dance.

And as Audrey said, “The best thing to hold onto in life is each other” – we may as well do it right for the dance!

***

It’s wedding season so email to Jillian@OurWeddingDance.com or call Jillian at 949.400.7347 today and reserve your favorite day and time for lessons now!

Happy almost Summer!

Dance With Jillian

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February 26, 2010

Words to the Wedding Show Wise

Filed under: 2nd Time Around,Ballerina Brides,Dancing,Father Daughter Dance,Grooms,How Cool Is That?,Moms & Dads,Wedding Shows — Tags: Ballroom Dance, Ballroom Dancing Lessons, ballroom lessons, Bride And Groom Dance, bride and groom dancing instruction, costa mesa dance teacher, Dance, Dance Instruction, dance instructor, Dance Lesson Teacher, dancing at reception, Dancing at Wedding, dancing lessons, father daughter dance lessons, father daughter dancing instruction, foxtrot, groom dance, huntington beach dance teacher, irvine dance teacher, Jillian Forbath, laguna dance teacher, laguna hills dance teacher, latin dance, newport beach dance teacher, orange county, Orange County Dance Instructor, Orange County Wedding Show, Our Wedding Dance, salsa dance, social dance, social dance instruction, Social Dancing, swing dance, Tango Dance, tustin dance teacher, Waltz, wedding 1st dance, Wedding Dancing, Wedding Shows — admin @ 1:21 pm

Wedding Shows

Two words that conjure up images of lots of people, lots of noise and lots of choices!

Is a wedding show good for you to attend? I believe it is but first let me qualify that.

Having been a participant at over 25 wedding shows in the Orange County area during my many years as a wedding dance instructor I can tell you from experience they are not all created equal!

There are gigantic ones at the Anaheim Convention Center all the way down to intimate ones at various wedding reception venues all over Orange and LA Counties and the Inland Empire.

In fact this Sunday, February 28th from 11am-3pm I’ll be dancing at a lovely local complementary wedding show in San Clemente, 111 Avenida Vista Montana San Clemente, Ca 92672. Visit this link for more information.

Some are expensive to get into, others are free. Some feel super high end, others feel home town and local. Some are run by conglomerates who do three to six shows a year in several counties and even many states and others are offered by reception venues and cater to brides and grooms who have already decided to use their services.

Whatever the show, you’re sure to find lots of cake, food samples and vendors of every type to satisfy your wedding planning needs and maybe even a fashion show or two.

But be prepared…

Bring a large bag since the show might not provide one for you to collect paperwork and you don’t want to be balancing a lot stuff as you walk around and sample food.

Some really on-the-go brides and grooms even bring their own address labels complete with their wedding date on them so if they want to fill-out a raffle ticket or info card for a vendor they don’t have to waste time and tire themselves out writing but just stick one of their labels instead.

Definitely wear comfortable shoes. You will be walking and standing a lot. Keep in mind too, if you’re bringing along your groom his comfort as well. I see more and more grooms coming to wedding shows and I always try to make them feel especially welcome and not like they just stepped into a “girls only” sector.

If you are just getting started in this great big task of putting on a wedding (read that – you’re a year away from your big day) you might want to attend what I call the “overall picture” wedding show.

This show is usually fairly large about seven dollars or less per person for entrance and held in a local hotel. Be sure to take a look at the vendor list in advance and see where the vendors are based out of and what kind of web sites they have. You can tell a lot about a vendor from their web site and also the testimonials listed on it.

Often you can call a vendor listed on that particular wedding show list and they might have a few free tickets available for the show they’ll be at and they can send you some or leave them at the door.

Keep in mind, if the show has a lot of vendors based out of your area that might not be a good show for you to attend if you’re looking for local people so you don’t have to drive too far for consultations and follow-ups.

During the early planning stages you want to attend shows that will give you the maximum amount of knowledge for your time spent researching. Other considerations include how big your wedding and reception are going to be and what your budget is for them.

If you know you’re having an intimate ceremony and reception for under a hundred you don’t need to go to a giant wedding show. In fact you might only go to a wedding show in this case just for the fun of it.

Yes, guys – wedding shows can be fun. Where else will everyone be really nice to you because you’re getting married and ply you with goodies and cake to eat and freebies and coupons to take home?? Just think of all the brownie points you’ll get to use when you need to have guys poker night or game practice.

At any rate, I’ve only just touched on the giant area of wedding shows here. I’ll post more later on this year so check back often to see what’s up!

Email me at Jillian@OurWeddingDance.com if you have questions.

You can also visit my wedding show page on my web site to see more of my experiences at wedding shows.

Jillian at the Richard Nixon Library Wedding Show

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December 15, 2009

Ballerina Brides

Filed under: Ballerina Brides,Dancing,Types of Wedding Dances — Tags: Ballet, Ballet and Ballroom Dancing, Ballroom, Ballroom Dance, Ballroom Dance Lessons in Orange County, Ballroom Dancing, Ballroom Dancing Lessons in Orange County, Dance, Dance Lessons, Dancing, Jillian Forbath, Our Wedding Dance, The Nutcracker — admin @ 2:07 pm

My birthday was last Friday and I was all set for that “get in free on your birthday” Disneyland offer. But, alas, my beloved Torin was sick and there was no way that a rainy, damp, windy day outside was going to help him fight off the tail end of his cold.

So… on a whim I decided to see if I could find The Nutcracker playing nearby at the last minute! Yes, there it was – at The Irvine Barclay, opening night (opening night tickets were only $20/person, regular tickets will be $38/person) and offered by The Festival Ballet Theatre. We hopped in the car and got to the box office when it opened and wonder of wonders they did have two seats that had been turned in!

I had been a dancer in Ballet Pacifica’s The Nutcracker for years as a young woman and this was going to be a real trip down memory lane! My roles had included a principal snowflake and flower, an angel, a big rat (our rat king was very heavy by the way when we had to carry him out!) and a soldier. And in school I’d danced the parts of the Arabian and the Spanish dancers!

This opening night featured two guest principal dancers from American Ballet Theatre, Irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Beloserkovsky. A husband and wife team who had received their initial training from the Kiev Ballet School, this Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier were extraordinary to say the least. Technically perfect, lyrically complementing in their Pas de Deux and just an all around fine treat; such lift, such turnout, such extention!

As I sat there enjoying the also excellent youngsters in The Festival Ballet ensemble (Megan Yamashita as Clara was endearing and technically spot-on) my thoughts also turned to many of my “ballerina brides”.

Who hasn’t had a few ballet lessons (some of us much more than a few!) in our youth? Our moms and dads excited to see us up on stage in cute outfits doing the prerequisite jumps and spins??

So many of my brides say to me:

“Oh I’ve had ballet training but I’m not sure it will help a ballroom dance.”

“I took ballet when I was in high school years ago when I had more time.”

“In college I did ballet class several times a week just for fun.”

Although an old instructor of mine years ago said that ballet was not helpful in the least to ballroom, I do believe that ballet can add good things to a bride’s first dance.

First, ballerina brides are familiar with listening to music and hearing a beat.

Second, they have graceful arms and use their necks and heads well.

Third, they like to dance and can be patient with their grooms so they can enjoy something that they already know can be very fulfilling!

Of course ballerina brides also have to be very careful to avoid some pitfalls…

1) Since they do understand beat and music they need to realize that their groom will be leading and they will be following and they will have to be just a “hair” behind in the music.

2) Ballet uses a “center” that is high (especially if you were en pointe) often up in the neck and chest region while ballroom prefers a lower center in the abdomen.

3) Since ballerina brides already can technically “dance” they need to be super patient with their grooms so their gentlemen learn in a relaxed fashion and want to dance often with their lovely ballerinas!

Sometimes grooms will worry that they can’t ever be good enough to dance with their ballerina brides.

My response is certainly you will since a) you’re leading and she has to do what you lead and b) you’re going to practice lots and learn all my little technique points to make you confident and handsome on the floor!

So if you’re a bride who has had a little ballet and are ready for first dance lessons know that I’ve been there too. I had to adapt and learn and it has been worth it!

Below is a lovely picture of one of my ballerina brides from years ago. Marisol and her handsome groom, Gabriel, had their reception at the Richard Nixon Library and did an outstanding rumba for their first dance.

And yes Marisol lowered her center and Gabriel learned to lead and dance with musicality and good form! I saw them the other day and they are still dancing together, this time learning the Argentine Tango.

Marisol and Gabriel's Romantic Rumba Kiss!

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