Urs and Agnes retire from competitive dancing together

At the Northern California’s District Showcase in September, Urs & Agnes wowed the audience in their very last professional performance of the couples 6 year long competitive partnership. The duo dazzled the audience with heartfelt stories of their journey and some of the couples favorite show pieces. Initially, they had announced their retirement at the Unique Dance-O-Rama in July, but fortunately for us, they were already scheduled to judge and perform at our showcase!
Their show included flashes of their Latin background with lunges, spins, and… heaven forbid…. hip motion. Throughout their performances they maintained an incredible focus on each other with an occasional aside to the audience. The construction of their farewell show had even the most experienced professionals watching in awe, but the most surprising part came from an unplanned addition to the show lineup.
After back to back encore standing ovations, mixed with a slow clap or two – Urs and Agnes returned to the dancefloor. The urges for an encore and the rhythmical chanting “URS-AND-AG-NES” over and over finally convinced them to perform an unplanned, and improvised number: A Latin Medley! With the music from their final “Kiss” number, the legendary couple danced a Cha-Cha, Rumba, and Samba (there may have been a sprinkling of Jive in there too). As their music changed speeds, their bodies morphed from dance to dance. The real killer was when it was all finished and Urs announced that it was all lead & follow! Well, if anything was “lead & follow” it was Urs & Agnes leading the fortunate Northern California audience down an exhilarating emotional roller-coaster celebrating their fabulous careers together.
Although they will no longer be dancing together competitively, we are so happy to have both Urs and Agnes as featured consultants in our Arthur Murray Northern California studios and we look forward to many more exciting journeys with them. As easily as they captured the hearts of the people they danced in front of, they have just as easily become woven into the fabric of our studios.

You don't have to be a Pro to get this stuff

The Newcomer Divison:  The best kept secret 

One thing is for certain, it is very, very rare that someone walks into an Arthur Murray Dance Studio with a dance costume and a scheduled competition.  However, when there are advertisements in your school about upcoming Dance-O-Ramas, most of the student body figures it’s for that mythical student mentioned at the top.

Enter:  The Newcomer Division!

At Arthur Murray, you don’t need dance experience to take your first lesson.  That’s what makes the program so effective.  Well, if Arthur Murray were going to put together a dance competition, wouldn’t it be wise to keep that theme in tact?

Enter:  The Newcomer Division!

If you’ve taken fewer than 50 lessons, and this is your first Dance-O-Rama, you qualify for the Newcomer Division.  The fine print should read, “No ringers allowed”.  In this “costume-optional” level students in age categories from Youth to “Young at heart” get a chance to experience a Dance-O-Rama.

At the Dance-O-Rama you’ll not only get a chance to do something you never thought was possible, but you’re also guaranteed to gain confidence by the truckload.  These events differ from our in-studio, or district events because they are held over a period of 2-3 days.  So, essentially, everything that you wish you would have done on day 1 can be on your to-do list for day 2.

Another great benefit of dancing in the Newcomer division is you’ll know that everyone on the floor with you will be experiencing the same nervous energy.  This typically subsides after the morning activities on the first day of dancing, and, before long, you’ll be making friends with other Newcomers from all over the world.

We’ve had many students who missed the cutoff for the Newcomer division and had to start in a higher category.  Every time that’s happened, they wish they would have signed up for a Dance-O-Rama sooner so they could have had an easier transition.

All in all, a Dance-O-Rama is like any Arthur Murray event – you’re going to get top caliber service, a fun and motivating atmosphere, and a raspy voice from cheering so much.  So now that the secret is out,

Enter the Newcomer Division.

There was a point in my dance career where I was sick and tired of looking like an asthmatic smoker at high elevations during the final rounds of a competition.  When a judge mentioned to a friend of mine that I should quit smoking (I’m not a smoker), that was it – I needed to change my strength and conditioning program.

Side-note:  When you love dancing, as I’m sure you do, you begin to notice that you have a free pass at the buffet line, dessert isle, and anything else in carb-heaven.  Dancers, through dancing, have earned that.  Unfortunately in my case, that just allowed me to “stay skinny” but didn’t do much for strength building.

I decided to go all out: the gym, dumbells, barbells, one of those weight vests, plenty of sleeveless stretchy shirts, and, oh yeah…

… leg weights.

A few weeks in and I was hooked.  I couldn’t get enough fitness in my life – or my practice schedule.  So I decided to infuse weight training with my normal work day (teaching lessons).  So I used, you guessed it..

… leg weights.

I strapped a pair of 10 pounders on and kept them on throughout the day, “wow this is really working!”  It was great, and with a sleek design, they were my own fitness secret.  My slacks showed no sign of the 20 pound workout happening “behind the scenes.” I started the Thursday night group class with the usual cast of characters.  You know them well:

- The Academics: hanging on every technical word and description

- The Newcomers: hanging on every partner that they have

- The Socialites: think “cocktail party” minus the cocktails and insert a group class

- The Comedian: Class clown – typically my right hand man/woman in a group class

We start the class and things get off to a great start.  A new swing combination, a few jokes, and we’ve got momentum.  I field a question from one of the Academics and have everyone separate so I can demonstrate the figure.  People clap, I enlist a demonstrator, and show the group the next part of the combination.  Then it happened…

“THUD!”

Out from under my slacks falls a black 2 pound weight insert.  Everyone, especially me, is frozen.  I’m not trying to be crude but what would you do if a black, narrow, two pound object with rounded edges just fell out of the pant leg of your dance teacher.

Cue the Comedian, “OK, funny man, explain that!”  I gasped for a response but my quick wit was apparently weighed down by, you guessed it…

… leg weights.

Aside from the Comedian, everyone was in a frozen stand still just staring at this foreign object in the center of the dance floor. Just as the 3 shade blush wore off and I had worked together an explanation…

“THUD, THUD, THUD!”

Three more inserts out, huge laughter, more blushing, Comedian has material for the next calendar year.  My secret weight training mission was an epic failure… and just sharing this makes me feel like a weight was lifted off my leg.

Happy Dancing,

Chris

Chris Lynam is the CEO of Line of Dance Inc. and the co-owner of three successful Arthur Murray dance schools. When he isn’t dancing, teaching, blogging, designing, training, or husbanding – he loves spending time with his two beautiful children, Christian and Olivia and his dog, George.

Here it is - the new direction in dance fashion: LINE OF DANCE!

So, if you didn’t know already, “Line of Dance” is the name of the clothing line I’ve done (in all my spare time).  Whether its a funny slogan, or a funky design, the goal is simple:  cool, comfortable dance apparel.  Here are the never-before-seen images of the latest addition:  the TEAM JACKET.

Front lapel of the new LINE OF DANCE team Jacket

Want your own?

Lexus Vs. Arthur Murray

Milestones: Lexus vs. Arthur Murray

You may have seen this commercial for the Lexus Hybrid.   It’s called “Milestones”.  In the commercial they tout the legacy they’ve

established with their hybrid vehicles.

Nice.

Well, nothing against Lexus, but we’d like to examine those milestones and see if they aren’t, in fact,

“inch pebbles” in comparison to one ridiculously famous dance studio franchise.

[NARRATOR]

“When we build our first hybrid YouTube didn’t exist,

and Facebook was run out of a dorm room.”

Wow.

[NARRATOR]

“When we built our first hybrid

more people had land lines,

than cell phones…

… and gas was only a $1.75/gallon.“

Really?

Let’s see, the Arthur Murray version of this commercial would go something like….

“When we built our first dancer, televisions weren’t invented yet and the automatic bread slicer was being worked on in a basement.

When we built our first dancer a ship called the Titanic sank and the price of gas was 18 cents/gallon.

When we built our first dancer Oreo cookies landed on the shelves, and the Girl Scouts of America was formed.

We didn’t invent dance instruction, but we’ve been doing it longer than anyone else.

That’s quite a head start.”  Arthur Murray – Since 1912.

The term “inch pebbles” was taken from the book “Switch: by Dan & Chip Heath”

The following rant is in no way related to this author’s view of the Lexus brand, it’s cars, cars in general, or slick advertising involving cool cars narrowly missing each other and creating cool shapes seen from a camera mounted on a helicopter.

If anything else, they won't think you're crazy

Well, I hate to break it to you, but your friends and family may think you’ve gone off the rhinestoned deep end with your love for everything Arthur Murray. In fact, you probably have a paranoid uncle that thinks you’ve joined a cult. Well, fret not. The solution is to become a “Dance Samaritan”.

Explaining all the incredible things about Arthur Murray to your friends is like trying to explain Avatar to your grandmother, stuff just gets lost in the translation.  They have to see it, to believe it.  Think of the positives if you could bring them in for a lesson…

1. They really enjoy themselves

2. You have a “dance buddy”

3. They don’t think you’re crazy

So here are some ideas for bridging the gap between “you’re crazy” and “thank you, I am indebted to you forever”:

1. The Red Cross Treatment – Think for a second of anything positive that has happened to you because of your dance lessons. Maybe you’ve lost some weight, you’re standing up straighter, or you finally got the courage to go out dancing on a friday night. Now, think for a second, of anyone you know that could really use one of those things. It could be anyone – friend, relative, co-worker, or your pilates instructor. This prevents you from just looking for “another dancer” to bring in. Instead, you can look for people that would get a lot of value from their dancing lessons.

2. Assistant Wedding Planner – How many more weddings can you go to if you keep seeing that same “bear-hug” wedding dance time and time again? So become an assistant wedding planner. Recommend that they take some dance lessons. Keep in mind, they don’t have to swing across the chandeliers to make a big impact for their wedding (we’ll save that move for your next routine).

3. Stay Neutral! – Meet up for coffee before heading to the studio.  This allows your guest to start in safe, neutral territory.  The alternative is to have them meet you in the center of the dance floor at a studio they’ve never been to before.  Sounds fun?  Yeah, well save that one for people that used to steal your lunch money.

4. Don’t rule people out – OK, quick, think of two people who  were absolutely stunned to hear that you’ve been taking dance lessons at Arthur Murray.  So if you didn’t seem like the dancer-type, then that’s exactly the reason why you should consider any of your friends or co-workers – not just the ones who come in with pirate shirts, rhinestones, or fake tan.

5. If all else fails – Don’t worry about whether they can, should, or will continue with their dance lessons after the guest program.  Leave that up to them.  You may have a friend who falls in love with dance lessons, like you have, or maybe they just finish the guest program.  If anything else, the people closest to you will have a better idea of why you love this so much.

So give it a try.  You know your dentist is always uptight.  Think of how much smoother things would go if you could talk Tango instead of just the torture.  So what are you waiting for?  Be a “Dance Samaritan” and, before long, your boss will be asking your advice on Foxtrot music and your weird uncle will keep forgetting to give back your latin heels.

How steak and free dessert help us clarify dance goals

Imagine you go to one of those really fancy steakhouses (My favorite – Maestro’s in Scottsdale). The sides, the drinks, the ambiance… all help that steak taste even more delicious. Before the bill comes, your waiter – let’s call him Jean-Luke, just for fun – Jean brings you and your friends a complimentary dessert. Bonus. At this moment your belt is very, very angry with you. The Tiramisu never tasted so delicious.

Going to a Dance-O-Rama is an incredibly bold and exciting move. It is, without question, the best thing you can do to improve your confidence in dancing. That is the goal. Period.

This is the steak.

There are incredible side benefits to attending Dance-O-Rama. You meet great students from around the world. You stay at beautiful hotels in beautiful cities all over the map. Not to mention the fact that any event that you participate in that is smaller than the Dance-O-Rama immediately feels more comfortable. Pretty cool.

The side benefits are… well, “the sides”.

So what is the “Tiramisu”? The free dessert? The belt-stretching cake-like goodness?

The free dessert is “the results”.

No one goes to an awesome steakhouse for the sole-purpose of acquiring a free dessert, you go for the steak, the sides, the ambiance. The same can be said for the Dance-O-Rama. We go for the incredible confidence boost, the side benefits, and the fun. If, and this is HUGE, if we happen to have some nice results then that is just a “sweet bonus”.

A free dessert is an unexpected bonus

You see, the nice thing about a free dessert is that even if you only get a nibble, it was still an unexpected bonus. Whether you’re a student or a professional, the moment that we change our focus to our own journey (the confidence/conquering timing/improving footwork) and away from the results – things immediately get better. You see, when we allow ourselves to be governed by things we can’t control (the results), things get frustrating. What we can do is keep our focus on the things that are in our control (the hard work/the individual goals/building confidence/”The Climb” – if you like Miley Cyrus).

Here are some more examples:

(Can’t Control) Free desserts…………………….. (Can Control) Buying dinner
(Can’t Control) Grades …………………….. (Can Control) Doing your homework
(Can’t Control) Opinions ……………………..(Can Control) Your own effort
(Can’t Control) The Music…………………….. (Can Control) Your ability to adapt to the music
(Can’t Control) Your dance partner…………………….. (Can Control) Your own dance effort and responsibility
(Can’t Control) Your boss……………………..(Can Control) Your attitude & effort at work
(Can’t Control) The stock market……………………..(Can Control) Your knowhow & decision making
(Can’t Control) The wind……………………..(Can Control) The sails
(Can’t Control) The results……………………..(Can Control) Your effort, expectations, and attitude

So whether you just got back from the New-York Dance-O-Rama, or you’re preparing for San Francisco – focus on the steak. If a free tiramisu comes your way – great!  If not, no big deal.  Keeping your focus on your journey and the “expected goals” will make any “unexpected bonuses” all the more SWEET!

Richard & Marianne - Arthur Murray Hayward

Know someone that could use some “steak”?  Forward this article to a friend or point them to our website to get them started with dance lessons.  Hey, you never know, when they become an awesome dancer and want to thank you for it – have them take you to Maestro’s!

www.arthurmurraylive.com

This is within 5 minutes of Arthur Murray?

Their spontaneous photo shoot - Team Livermore

The Arthur Murray Redwood City Staff love to pose in public!

Yes, seriously!

(*Note: If it is Chris telling the story it takes much longer. Daisey covers the Reader’s Digest versions)

Every Wednesday, your teachers and executives from Arthur Murray Hayward, Livermore, and Redwood City get together for training. We cover all the little details that create the atmosphere, service, and fun that you know and love. One of our themes has been centered around teaching in a way that is more exciting and less predictable.

For example, how would you feel if you had rescheduled your lunch break, hired a babysitter, navigated traffic, and changed clothes in the parking lot only to have your teacher say “Hey, let’s review”. AAARRRH!!! The “R” word is a criminal offense in our company. In a perfect world, you’d want to feel like each time you walk in there’s something new and exciting in store for you.

Well that’s what we work on – EVERYDAY!

So, as an exercise to practice what we preach – we decided to surprise the staff. I mean, if we are going to train on being less predictable, wouldn’t it be a shame if that training was done in a predictable way? That would be like the military dude from Celebrity Fit Club eating a greasy Pastrami sandwich while he scolds the C-list celebrities on their poor diet choices.

It just wouldn’t fit! (Not that the author has anything against C-list celebrities, military dudes, or delicious pastrami sandwiches)

So, in an effort to avoid the “usual” – weekly highlights, teaching training, and dance training – the staff were presented with these instructions:

“As quickly as possible, drive with your team anywhere within a 5 mile radius, text me the directions, and prepare for a photo shoot.”

Needless to say, there were a lot of stunned faces which immediately was followed by a stampede through the door. Some students had come in early for their lessons (*so awesome) and were, undoubtedly, shocked to see people sprinting out the door. INTERESTING NOTE: If you’re like me and 35 people sprinted past you, you’d probably run too. I mean, think of what that could mean? Yet, the students stayed there. That’s some serious dance dedication.

So anyway, the exercise was a hit. It was incredibly fun but it was also an excellent reminder to the staff that if we are the people in charge of changing your comfort zone, then we need to be adept at change ourselves…

… and fast! There could have easily been a logjam of strategy, “who’s car should we take?” or “Hey, no! You had ‘shotgun’ last time!” When they got to their mysterious destinations they could have all made long and interesting cases for their different creative choices for the photos. Yet, they didn’t. They all assembled their teams and were on the road before I could even get to my car. How many other businesses can create a group consensus in less than 10 seconds!? The teachers then received instructions to brainstorm on how this related back to work.

The results were incredible! This one simple photo shoot churned out ripples upon ripples of great ideas. The common thread was simple: Change is good. Group consensus may be elusive, but when we are all going in the same direction, we can accomplish a lot more.

Enjoy the pictures, and enjoy your changes. They say that in dancing you work “really hard to make it look easy”. Well, we hope that the changes, the communication, and the commitment all seem easy – because these guys do really work hard at it.

All for now!

Chris

The methods for this type of training, in particular making things “less predictable” is inspired by the work of Dan & Chip Heath’s book “Made to Stick”. Their findings give a great framework for us to start with – they didn’t have a chapter called ‘spontaneous photo shoot’, but you get my drift.

Goes perfectly with Arthur Murray

In their new book “Switch” authors Dan and Chip Heath explore how people from all walks of life create positive changes. They explore how students, professionals, and organizations created monumental changes; sometimes with just changing the mindset, questions, or environment. It goes into detail about how many people see themselves as “fixed”, that is, incapable of making monumental change in their lives. Like your aunt who hates computers, or your grandfather that can’t work the DVD player, and you can forget about explaining that blue ray something-or-other. If only they could see that you’re always capable of growth.

Now think, for a second, how often we have students walk into our studios and say, “I’ve got two left feet, there’s no way I’m going to learn” or “I’ll never have any rhythm.” Yet, in no time, these same people are transformed into comfortable dancers! We help people make the “Switch” every day! Arthur Murray = agent of change! Naturally, when I find a book that relates so well to our business – we train on it.

And then it hit me!!!!

While reading the book I come across a section that will forever “change” me, and give me a new goal to shoot for.

Dan and Chip Heath took salsa lessons!

Not only did they take salsa lessons, but they are from Northern California. So, let’s see… I’m an insane fan of their books. They have an interest in becoming insane salsa dancers. I happen to know of a few dance studios where said authors could develop, rather quickly, in said salsa. But here’s the clincher, the catalyst, the game changer….

They quit taking salsa lessons. Why? Too hard.

So now – the strategy.

One chapter of their book is titled, “Shrink the Change”. Think of your first cooking class – you didn’t start with Duck L’Orange or even meatloaf. It was probably eggs, over-easy… if you were advanced. By making the opening moves easy and attainable you begin to believe that you can cook. Before you know it, you’re making scones with the best of them. At Arthur Murray it is no different. What the Heath brothers ran into was the common case of the non-Arthur Murray studio. The salsa teacher most likely taught too many layers, too soon, and not to mention, too many moves. The non-Arthur Murray teacher, in an effort to seem knowledgeable and cool really only alienated the students.

The Heath brothers have a story that is all too familiar. Unfortunately, people form their opinion on a subject based on their first exposure to it. The “Growth” experience they were looking for, “hey we’re going to be a couple of cool salsa dancers”, turned into a “fixed” mentality – “salsa just isn’t for us.” I’m sure there are countless other stories of the brothers Heath out there. We rescue them everyday. We can’t save them all, but showing one person that their “rhythm problem” isn’t permanent, is one less wallflower in the world. So this is an official all points bulletin – Heath brothers, we have the secret. We have shrunk the change. We’re on a ridiculous hot streak – almost 100 years. We have the salsa you seek and it is much, much easier than you originally thought.

Ready to make the “Switch” to Arthur Murray? CLICK HERE
Chris Lynam

If I get scared or nervous when speaking in front of a large group, what’s the solution?
If I have butterflies that turn into bullfrogs in my gut while I’m contemplating singing at a karaoke bar, what’s the solution?
If I’m a kid and every step toward the front of the line for Space Mountain feels like a step closer to certain death, what is the solution?

Having a moment

In all of these cases there are two choices.

I can back out or jump in.

One keeps the fear on “lay-away” and the other cuts down the fear like a lumberjack to a redwood.

So when it comes to participating at the showcase, understand this: The number one reason we have an event like this is to eliminate any fear of using your dancing in a moment’s notice. After all, our students are the only proof that our Arthur Murray system even works! So the next time you’re at a wedding and Santana comes on, we would expect you to be dancing.

However…. the fear of using your dancing outside the comforts of the studio is a very real thing (even if you’re an Arthur Murray student). So the showcase really boils down to one thing: confidence. It’s looking that fear in the eye and chopping it down. The great thing is that every minute that passes, the more and more you start to resemble your “studio self”. That is: the version of you on your best day in the studio.

Think of the public speaking scenario. Regardless of your ability in this department, you should have some nerves building up – or you’re just a public speaking robot (like Tony Robbins, or something). Nevertheless, it may take 5 minutes or 45 minutes to really get “into your groove”. The same can be said for your confidence on the dance floor. The reason you feel nervous is because:

1. You’re excited – same part of the brain controls nervousness and excitement.
2. You care – the only people that don’t really feel nervous usually don’t really care about how they do. Master P, for example, probably wasn’t nervous on DWTS because he didn’t even really want to be there.

So here are a few tips for chopping away at your “nervous tree” and making the showcase your fast track ticket to confident dancing.

1. Pick some FUN ONES – This upcoming showcase we’ll be starting with the country western and specialty dances. These are the dances that we find students throw caution to the wind, smile, and have a good time with. We don’t find many students crying in the corner because their Country Western Shuffle just didn’t feel right. Picking some of these adds minutes on the floor and allows you to get acclimated. Having them at the beginning of the day means that your other dances that you really spent the most time working on (*Waltz, Rumba, etc.) will actually look and feel better.

2. Frequency – It may take you 10 karaoke songs to feel like you own the stage, and that’s the same feeling we’d love to develop for you on the dance floor. Think of it this way – every 10 freestyles you add one of your 5 senses. So after the first 10 you can FEEL your legs, after the second 10 you can SEE your partner, after the next 10 you can HEAR the music. I don’t know how many freestyles it would take to SMELL the judges perfume… I’m still working on that one. =)

3. Big Picture – Remember, this is your own personal exercise in confidence. No one goes to compete. In fact, the way that it is set up is for FEEDBACK ONLY. That means that there aren’t placements or scores or a judging panel with an Italian guy who sometimes says the wrong thing. We have students who have only been taking lessons for a few weeks participating, and then we have those that have been dancing for years there too. The great thing is that you will always be on the floor with people at the same level as you.

4. Frequency pt2 – I’ve never had a student slap me on the shoulder and say, “Hey, I danced way too much today. Why did you make me do that!” Instead, and there’s always one that says this, it’s “Hey, how come you didn’t tell me I should dance more!?” Sometimes the decisions we make in the studio, “I’m only dancing 2 times” versus the feeling we get at the showcase, “how come you didn’t make me do more” is totally different. So my recommendation is to find a happy medium.

You want to do 2 entries.
Your teacher wants 100.
So do 90! What’s the worst that could happen? You feel so confident that you’re blowing kisses to the judges and signing autographs in the lobby?

Not too bad considering the alternative. Riddle solved.

Happy Dancing,

Chris