Recently, a mother of four confessed to me that she’d forgotten how to have fun in her free time.
“I usually just clean the house when the kids are out of the way,” she sighed.
This woman needs some dancing in her life. Having just enrolled myself in a beginner salsa class, I have dancing on my brain.
Now, if you think you’re too busy for dance lessons, think again. Dancing is efficient entertainment. It rolls many benefits into one activity: live music, new people, ethnic or old world cultures, maybe even a little romance. It’s even good for your heart as well as your soul.
Here’s a round-up of neighborhood and nearby dance classes for those ready to kick up their heels.
- 1 Dance 2, 5706 E. Mockingbird, 827-3888. This East Dallas studio offers ballroom, swing, country and western, hustle and Latin dance lessons. Many instructors are nationally recognized, competition dancers who teach from coast to coast. Beginner, intermediate and advanced classes available.
- Lake Highlands North Recreation Center, 9940 White Rock Trail, 670-7794. Two dance classes are offered this fall: Round Dancing, a mix of ballroom and country and western dancing, and Senior Line Dancing. You don’t need a partner or date for this shoulder-to-shoulder style of dancing. Classes are for adults ages 50 and up.
- Dallas Conservatory of Ballet, 309 ½ S. Pearl, 748-3930. All classes at this “official school of Ballet Dallas” have live piano accompaniment. Open adult evening classes are for intermediate and advanced levels.
- North Texas Traditional Dance Society has Contra Dancers, which is a group that attracts seasoned dancers and first-time beginners. Their open dances are accompanied by live bands and a caller. The music resembles blue grass, and the dancing (called contra dancing) is an early American forerunner to square dancing. Each dance is taught before it is performed. You don’t need a partner because most of the dancers are single. The dance runs from 8-11 p.m. and costs $3. The Main Dance is the third Saturday of the month at Winfrey Point at White Rock Lake. The First Friday Dance is monthly at Dreyfuss Hall at White Rock Lake. For information, call Mimi Rogers at 357-8213.
- Wild West, 6532 E. Northwest Hwy. at Abrams, 361-6083. This dance club offers free country and western dance lessons. On Tuesday you learn progressive country basics, Thursday’s class is progressive intermediate, and Sunday is the traditional two-step. Classes are from 7-8:15 p.m.
- Cowboy’s, 7331 Gaston, 321-0115. This dance club offers free traditional country and western dance lessons Wednesday and Thursday from 6:45-7:45 p.m. and Sunday from 4-8 p.m.
- Dallas Black Dance Academy, 2627 Flora in the Downtown Arts District, 871-2376. The official dance school of the Dallas Black Dance Theater offers ballet, jazz, ethnic, tap and modern dance classes for adults. Classes range from beginner to advanced and professional.
- Greater Lakewood Shepherd Center, locations vary, 823-2583. This organization for seniors offers free line dance classes Tuesday and Thursday for beginner and intermediate levels. No partner necessary.
- Square Dancing at White Rock United Methodist Church, 1450 Old Gate. Beginner lessons weekly, beginning the first Tuesday after Labor Day. Classes are held in the church activity room at 7:45 p.m. Advanced square dance lessons are Monday from 7:45-9:45 p.m. in the activity room. For information, call Louis Hatcher, 321-1866.
- Dallas Ballet Center, 5832 Abrams at Northwest Hwy., 369-9899. Offers adult ballet, tap and jazz for beginning, intermediate and advanced levels.
