Mrs. Canary, New York
Age and Occupation: 24, Marketing
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Journalist/Editor
Engagement Date: February 16, 2007
Wedding Date: July, 2008
Blogging Since: October 19, 2007
Venue: Pier Sixty, Chelsea Piers
About Me: I'm a born and raised New Yorker who loves all things crafty and artsy, food (cheese and dessert!), magazines, and shoes. I'm a power shopper always on the lookout for good deals or great quality-- sometimes I'm lucky and I find both! I love to dance and "shake what my momma gave me" but can also really enjoy a quiet night in with Mr. Canary and a good episode of Seinfeld or curl up with a good book.
Bust A Move
June 9th, 2008 @ 12:50 pm by Mrs. Canary
A few weeks ago, I convinced Mr. Canary that we needed a dance lesson because we picked an up-tempo first dance song and I wasn’t comfortable doing the sixth grade mixer rock and sway for all 2.5 minutes of it. Let me preface this by saying that I love to dance, but it’s usually to top 40s pop or old school hip hop in the confines of my bedroom! I have never had formal ballroom dance instruction, while Mr. Canary participated in 8th grade social dancing.
Since time is not on our side, I researched private dance lessons at various studios in New York. The lessons ranged from about $80-95 for 45-60 minutes. Most of the lessons took place at a dance studio in Manhattan and although they were “private” we would not be guaranteed a private room. Then I remembered bookmarking a dance Web site where instructors would come to your home to teach. The site was for Start Dancing and after browsing the site some more, I decided to make an appointment for an Emergency Dance Lesson. I got to talk to the owner, Erin Bomboy, who was very sweet and informative. The cost of the lesson would be $95 for 75 minutes. We let her know our song selection and she asked us to have it queued up and ready when she arrived. She also asked me to wear the actual shoes I would wear to dance with on the wedding day.
Our private dance “studio” aka the living room!
So on Saturday, Mr. Canary and I cleared away all our living room furniture and I put on my dancing shoes and waited for Erin’s arrival. Once Erin showed up, we made brief introductions and got right to working! She told us the format of the lesson which included: an entrance, a few swing patterns, a dance amalgamation of the patterns for our song, a “finale” and an exit. Erin had listened to our song prior to the lesson and had prepared all the the patterns she would teach us ahead of time.
We started with basic steps and she danced with each of us individually to make sure we understood the steps before we started dancing together. One of my biggest hurdles was allowing Mr. Canary to lead, which Erin told me is pretty typical for women! Erin also provided tips while we were dancing and if we were having problems with a particular pattern, she would try to dance with us individually to work it out.
We learned so much in one lesson– some crowd pleaser turns and locks, a fantastic entrance, and even a simple dip! Even Mr. Canary was quite pleased. By the time the lesson was over, we had a complete dance from start to finish. What initially seemed like another wedding chore turned out to be a fun and relaxing experience where we both just really enjoyed learning something new together. We were so inspired that we continued to practice long after Erin had gone. I think I’m going to try and convince Mr. Canary to take more lessons after the wedding… possibly salsa or more swing.
Mr. Canary and I both agreed that we felt so comfortable that we didn’t need another lesson and it was probably the best $95 we’ve spent on the wedding so far! If you’re in the New York area and need a lesson, definitely give Start Dancing a call. They also offer package rates for those of you with more time and would like to ease into dancing together. I really enjoyed learning in the comfort of my own home and don’t think I would have accomplished as much in a studio setting.
Contact:
Start Dancing
E-mail: inquiries@startdancingnyc.com
Web site: www.startdancingnyc.com
Phone: 646.250.4507
Have any of you taken dance lessons for the wedding? Will you continue to do so after the wedding?
7 Responses to “Bust A Move”
First, let me say, I’m LOVIN’ the capitalization of “Emergency Dance Lesson” — such a sense of urgency! Yes, FI and I will be taking lessons. We want to get so comfy with a choreographed number that it doesn’t appear choreographed! We’re also hypercompetitive and into fitness, so it oughta be a blast! 
I am searching everywhere to find a place. I wanted to avoid Arthur Murray, but it looks like I am just going to have to go with that. What you did sounds so perfect though, I wish I could find something like that in Dallas!
I hope we are going to get some video of this fantastic dance after the wedding!
We’ve been doing Arthur Murray for the past month and it’s been a blast. We’ve had a lot of fun and will probably continue even after the wedding
I think dance lessons, like premarital counseling, should be required for all engaged couples. We had so much fun when we went and it was definitely more of a relaxing bonding experience than a “chore”.
So cool that you could have the lesson at home!
How fun! Dance lessons are a great idea for those looking for something more than the seventh grade shuffle (not that there is anything wrong with the famous shuffle). I love how your instructor danced with each of you first before putting you together!! It’s tricky to learn to dance with your sweetie - the best advice I ever heard is to dance with other people first or at least mix it up and dance with other partners in addition to your sweetie. It can be frustrating for follows (typically women) who often pick up things more quickly, so want to show how to do it rather than wait for the lead (typically guys) to get it.
Whatever the situation, approaching dancing with a sense of humor and patience is key.
My FI and I actually met dancing, so the hardest part for us was picking which song we wanted to dance to. There won’t be formal choreography, but we do plan to practice dancing to the song to make sure we’re comfortable for the big dance. It will be a nice break to all the planning madness!
We took a night social dance class at the local community college for a few months. The total cost was about $65 and it was so much fun. Plus it was nice to have scheduled time for us to do something fun.
Glad to know the beanchars aren’t the only ones with “female leading” problems… hehe. 
