Urban Vancouver

Are you ready to rumba? Part 1

By babykarret on September 13, 2007 - 12:35pm

Richard and I have recently started to take a Beginners Cha-Cha-Cha / Rumba class at Vancouver Ballroom. Evidently, enough time has passed for each of us to recover from the trauma of dancing in high school for us to feel that this could be a rewarding experience. Two weeks into it, we're finding it quite enjoyable, if challenging at certain points (example: 20 minutes into any given class).

Vancouver Ballroom is conveniently located just outside of Chinatown. Don't let the exterior (the building is also a food distribution warehouse) fool you: their dancefloor and space is lovely. Bernice and Aegide run Vancouver Ballroom and conduct all the classes. They have the comfortable rapport of a couple who have been teaching and dancing together for a decent haul. Our group beginners' class has around 20 to 25 people, and they take both singles and couples. I've found them warm, encouraging and their emphasis on having a good time makes a supportive learning atmosphere, especially when learning something with the potential for so much embarassment.

Bernice and Aegide are fairly efficient in their teaching: they flow smoothly from teaching everyone, to teaching the men and women separately, to having us practice separately, then turning up the music to have us practice together. Richard and I have been amazed at how quickly the initial instruction proceeds, and have each had moments of slight panic at the pace being a little too fast for comfort. It's worked out fairly well in the end each time, and we usually get a good half an hour for dancing together so that Bernice and Aegide can go around to give everyone some one-on-one coaching and pointers.

Their classes are certainly not the most inexpensive ones in town at $80 for 8 weeks (1-hour lesson per week), but so far we're having fun with it and have kept up with the practicing. Next week, I'm going to be missing the class to attend a conference, so Richard will be doing the learning and I'll be playing catch up (and giving his teaching skills a whirl). I've had good luck with not having my toes stepped on, but I'll check in once the dancing gets more complicated.