New to Joy Dance?

Welcome to Joy Dance. This blog aims to make dance more accessible by creating online resources for people interested in dancing. Read more about me on the About page.

If it’s your first time here, check out our top posts each month below or go to:

• Stanford dance locations (week-view)
• SF Bay Area dance locations (by city, day of week, or dance style)
• Dance spot posts
• Dancer spotlights

Experiment: Social Dance for Older Adults (Part 2)

In my last experiment post on social dance for older adults, I identified the customer need. So next in the Startup Garage design thinking proces is to come up with a point of view (POV) and then brainstorm ideas.

Experiment: Social Dance for Older Adults (Part 1)

Some of you knows I spent my summer searching for startup ideas related to dance, and thus came up with a few experiments. One of which was highlighted in an earlier blog post on using audio cues of dance practice.

During my search, a former professional dancer and fellow alumni suggested I look into the aging population. Following the Startup Garage design thinking proces, I sought to understand customer need through exploration and immersion.

Dancer Spotlight – Liz

Feature Photo: Liz and Kristin dancing at the vintage street car party with Gaucho (band) in Jane Warner Plaza, Castro, SF in September 2016. Photo credit: Rik Panganiban

This is part of the Dancer Spotlight series to show how someone got into dancing and how dancing fits into someone’s day.

Where to dance at Stanford? Autumn 2016

October marks the beginning of the school-year Stanford. Yes, it actually started late September, but does the first week of school count?

With Fall quarter starting, many student dance groups are back to dancing indoors! Here’s a week-view of all dance events I know of at Stanford. Let me know if I missed any since I may not know everything!

Exhileration of Hip Hop Performances

For better or worse, Hip Hop at Stanford is tied to performance whereas Social Dance is not. For example, Ronnie’s Fall quarter classes  at Stanford typically does a Halloween flashmob to Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

Kick off your Autumn with dancing at Stanford

With the start of the Fall quarter next week, many dance groups and clubs are holding socials and kick-off events. Here is a list of events I’ve gathered:

Dancer Spotlight – Richard

This is part of a series of Dancer Spotlights to show how someone got into dancing.

Richard is a dance historian who teaches Social Dance at Stanford and at workshops around the world. When young, Richard did not dance and pursued a career in engineering. He even held eight patents.

Why I Still Like Social Dance

I wrote about the benefits of hip hop for social dancers, but one part I missed in Hip Hop was the social aspect of Social Dancing. Since I didn’t sign up for Hip Hop with friends, I didn’t know anyone coming into class. As an introvert, I would easily end up with no interactions with anyone else for the entire class.

Benefits of Hip Hop for Social Dancers

About a year ago, I ventured from social dance classes into hip hop class at Stanford. I signed up for History of Waltz with Richard Powers and wasn’t sure if it was a dance class or a history class, so I also signed up for Hip Hop with Ronnie Reddick to make sure I was really doing some dancing. (Spoiler: History of Waltz is a dance class that teaches different Waltz from the past 200 years and includes very practical variations that can be used for social dancing in the real world.) It turned out to be a great combination that allowed me to dance every weekday.

Dancer Spotlight – Kristin

This is part of the Dancer Spotlight series to show how someone got into dancing and how dancing fits into someone’s day.

I first met Kristin at Fish and Farm Fridays, where her lovely smile and welcoming attitude caught my attention. Growing up, Kristin loved vintage fashion: “I used to raid my Nana’s closet and take her dresses from the 50 & 60s. I loved my grandfather’s big band music.” Yet Kristin described herself as painfully shy. “I’d never want to dance, never mind if people were watching me!”

Dance Spot – Tuesday Night Tango

This is part of the Dance Spot series highlighting different places to go dancing in SF Bay Area.

Dance Spot: Tuesday Night Tango
Price: $10 for class ($8 students), $3 for dancing ($2 students), free after 10pm
Time: Tuesdays, 7-9pm class, 9-11pm social dancing
Location: Fellowship Hall of First Baptist Church, 305 N. California Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94301

I first learned of Tuesday Night Tango after asking on Facebook for the best places to dance role reversed. After my venture into nontraditional dance roles, I was excited to learn that everyone learns to both lead and follow here.

Best places to dance role reversed

I came across an interesting read on Homophobia & Salsa: Same-Sex Couples on the Dance Floor. Immediately, I thought of the disasterous times I tried to lead in Salsa. Some particularly bad experiences include: