All About Ballroom Dancing Todd Combs & Taras Denysenko

Todd & Taras chat with a student from Virginia Beach VA about her journey in dancing.
This is out first student to be on the show.  Monica is an amazing student and just great woman to get to know.  Learn more about Monica and how/why she got into0 ballroom dancing.  From her 'day-job' in the cockpit of a fighter jet to going Mach 3 on the dance-floor.  We loved chatting with Monica Shifflet.
We're also sorry that we've been slack on getting out content.  We're back in the studio to record some more All About Ballroom Dancing for you :)

“Are YOU Holding Yourself Back?” Todd Combs & Taras Denysenko episode 006  
What does holding back mean to you?
Are you your own worst enemy? Are you engaging in all-or-nothing thinking? Are you afraid of failure?  Sometimes failure means different things: Rejection - disapproval - The Unknown Don’t like getting out of your comfort zone.  Be brave & get out of your comfort zone.  Outside your comfort zone will quickly become inside your comfort zone = more confidence - (Use growing muscles analogy) New Dancers: 
Looking Stupid Not being talented enough, coordinated enough, The perfectionist - Self Criticism - You excel in your profession and other hobbies that starting something new like dancing will make you see all the flaws  No Partner Distance from Studio - (more of an excuse) Intermediate Dancers: 
Wanting to learn too fast is actually holding yourself back:  Talk about people wanting to go up the levels too quickly Wanting to learn too slow...over analyzing every step.  Paralysis Thru Analysis   Advanced Dancers: 
Afraid to go all out, pull the trigger and go for it. When you over train and are afraid of making a mistake.  Want to perfect things before the next routine or event -  You expect perfection from yourself -  Quotes:  
“I don’t believe in holding back...you know, life isn’t a dress rehearsal!” - Kate Winslet  “Courage comes by being brave; fear comes by holding back” - Publious Syrus What areas are you holding back?  Now that you realize where you are holding yourself  back what are the next steps you plan on taking?
Please write in and let us know.  It helps other dancers to know the struggles others go through because sometimes they think “It’s just my problem”...not realizing thousands of people have had the same issue.
We look forward to our next episode of AABD.  
And until then...we’ll see YOU on the dance floor

Bob Powers Standardizing Professional American Rhythm Todd Combs & Taras Denysenko episode 005 12 Times United States Rhythm Champions 3 Times World Professional Mambo Champion Bob & Julia are recipients of the 2012 DanceSport Hall of Fame Award Finalist in the World Showdance Championships Member of the World Dance Arts Foundation Certified adjudicator with the National Dance Council of America * Certified with the World Dance Council Arthur Murray Dance Studio, Owner in Mesa Arizona Julia & Bob are creators & owners of the Latin Dance Fitness Program “Core Rhythms” _________________________________________________
 
What exactly is this project you are doing?  Is it like a “rule book”, or a guideline manual?  Please let us know what it is.  
Bob Powers:  The group is called Rhythm Champions and our mission is to promote American Style Rhythm dancing worldwide.  The American Smooth has had great success lately and we have discovered that the reason the Rhythm has lagged behind is the fact that there’s a belief that there are too many differences in the techniques.  So one of the goals of the group is to come to a consensus on each dance.   We are in the process of developing a technique book, not a syllabus but strictly body, hip, leg and foot action description.  So if you can imagine 15 former US Champions coming together to agree on a specific technique and how it should be expressed verbally. 
 
 
Who is involved?  Is there a person or persons in charge of organizing this?  What are different persons' roles? Bob Powers:  Every US Champion since the inception of the Pro Rhythm division.   I can list them if you want.
1984             Charles & Jean Penatello 
1985-1987    Joe Lozano & Jan Mattingly 
1988-1992    Forrest Vance & Susie Thompson
1991-2003    Bob Powers & Julia Gorchakova
2004             Tony Dovolani & Inna Ivanenko
2005-2006    Tony Dovolani & Elena Grinenko
2007-2010    Jose DeCamps & Joanna Zacharewicz
2011-2013    Decho Kraev & Bree Watson
2014-2015    Emmanuel Pierre-Antoine & Liana Churilova
2016-2018    Nazar Norov & Irina Kudryashova
2019             Andre Paramonov & Natalie Paramonov 
 
What is your role? Bob Powers: We are all equally involved and contribute to the technique as well as promotion and online classes to promote it. 
 
How did this come about? Bob Powers:  During the Coronavirus stay at home order one of the guys came up with the idea and asked who would be interested.  We all responded. 
 
What stage is this currently in? Bob Powers:  Definitely developmental.  It's taken us 9 weeks to do the Rumba Box.  But the great thing is it just keeps getting better.  We have such an amazing group of great dancers, teachers and musically gifted individuals that it can’t help but be a success. 
_________________________________________________

Julia Gorchakova Todd Combs & Taras Denysenko episode 004 12 Times United States Rhythm Champions 3 Times World Professional Mambo Champion Creator of the Fitness Exercise Program called Core Rhythms Owner of Artistry In Motion - DanceSport Clothing  
Ballroom Dance Questions:
What dance do you think challenges most students (as a whole or fem/male/cpl) and Pro competitors? What dance do you think has evolved the most since you’ve been dancing? What can any student do right now to improve their dancing?  (Develop stronger foot/ankle usage, general balance, stronger core, or specific muscle group awareness...are some examples)  
Artistry In Motion Questions:
How did you get started? Who needs “Dance Cloths”? (Everyone...every sport has their own “gear”) What should Men get, & when? What Should Women have, & when? What or who is your biggest design influence?  
Core Rhythm Questions:
How did Core Rhythms come about?   
Listener Questions:  
Trishia Weger:  What kind of diet do you have?  Are you really strict about it?  How do you stay in shape? You once shared with Tricia   ie Todd.  How you first started making your beautiful competition dance costumes with your mom, and that in the early years you had to make the flashy embellishments from raw materials.  Can you tell us more about that, and how that differs today? She and her mom used to hammer out homemade sequins from small discs in Her home country in the early days.  I was fascinated by that.  I am sure there is much more to the story! How does a short dancer adjust dance style to get favorable attention from judges?  
Amber:
What is something you think students 1) Overthink, and 2) under-prepare for in getting ready for comps, or even while at comps Is there any “OMG, not again” errors that you see people make? Dancing and Costume


Beatriz Holan: 
I  have one struggle (out of 150) I  learn the school figures, I can follow with a partner but later, when I have to do it on my own, my brain goes blank!   I  don't remember much  of the names.  I feel like I've wasted a lesson and you know that is a limited supply


Miscellaneous Questions:
So tell us about your dogs Any crazy four wheeling stories Share with the listeners the time you and Bob went running with your friends dog (they had to carry the dog back)  If you were judging a couple dancing a side x side competition...AND that couple was Bob Powers & Julia Gorchakova.  Who would you mark 1st?

So Why Do People Like Ballroom Dancing You Ask?
 
Today Todd Combs and Taras Denysenko we'll be discussing why people love ballroom dancing so much, and why ballroom dancing could improve your life in ways you couldn't imagine.  Ballroom dancing could benefit you in ways so many ways you probably don't think need improvement. Who doesn't want to improve their life?  Who doesn't want more self confidence, stress relief, or just to improve their relationship with their significant other or spouse?  Who out there thinks everything in their life is so perfect that nothing can be done to enhance what they have right now?  I hope none of our listeners out there have this mentality because we can always, always improve ourselves and our environment!

In this episode we get to the core reasons why you should start either taking ballroom dance lessons or why you should continue taking your ballroom dance lessons.
 

episode - 002 Todd Combs & Taras Denysenko Episode Transcripts:
Todd Combs 0:07
All right, everybody. This is the second episode of all about ballroom dancing and have one I am one of your hosts, Todd Combs and I on the other one harass Dennis sanko. In today's topic is a hot topic It is called Do I need a partner to ballroom dance?
Taras Denysenko 0:35
And what an interesting topic this is, and it seems appropriate for the current times. But boy, we get a lot of phone calls and inquiries about people asking, Hey, I want to learn how to ballroom dance. Do I need a dance partner? Yeah, I would say normally who asked this question sort of the ladies, the single ladies that they call in and you know, for dance lessons. So I'd say in a week that's a that's a good percentage of people.
Todd Combs 1:00
Call and ask that question constantly. Yeah. And that's a good question do you need? Do you need a partner to ballroom dance? And that is that is the focus of us answering this question. I mean, it's an easy answer, but we'll tell you why. It's an easy answer. But but maybe before we talk about and just give them an answer, I'm going to give the example of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. So Maslow proposed that healthy human beings have a certain number of needs and that those needs are arranged in the hierarchy, right? A lot of people might know the Maslow's pyramid. And this is done by five, a five level pyramid with the higher needs coming into focus only once after the lower needs have been met. So let's the first two needs we don't even they don't really pertain to us. The first need is the physiological need. And that is air water, food, shelter, sleep, clothing. The second one is safety needs personal security, employment resources, health, things like that. So I think people who are calling into dance have probably met those needs. And they already have those needs, right?  And then, and then the third name, you can talk about the third need.
Taras Denysenko 2:17
Well, 30 talking about love and belonging, where people are looking for friendship, a little bit more intimacy, family sense of connection.
Todd Combs 2:27
Right? And then the, the fourth one would be esteem. So that's, you know, they want they want respect, they want self esteem, they want status, recognition, they want strength, freedom, things like that. Yeah. And then the final one is the self actualization, the desire to become the most that one can be.  Right, and I think I think that's true. You could look at that pyramid and say, there's all kinds of things you can see yourself and all those levels. Everyone has those levels. Yep. And yeah, People come in and in dancing is not something everyone did when they grew up. I mean, I will I shouldn't say that some sometimes ladies come in and they did cheerleading ballet tap jazz, but guys never really did a lot of that not many. Right? So, yes, this is something new, you know, for promote for most people but even when women come in they were dancing by themselves. And they were in control. And then they come in and yeah, ballroom dance and they the guys lead. They hate it. Yeah. That's very true. They, they hate it. Yeah. But they they learn to like it. So so then maybe now we can, let's discuss a few reasons why. You know, people call the studio, kind of inside of this pyramid. So, now we trust and I discussed that next episode we're going to have a have a more in depth discussion about the reasons why people call The studio why people come in what? What are the major reasons they want to take lessons? Right? Right. So that'll be the next episode. So today, we thought would be an appetizer. You know, we would go over some of these but not so much detail because the next episode we will Yeah, that's that's like it's a good one because that next that next topic that's a that's a big one. That's what helps people really want to develop their dancing to their utmost potential.
Taras Denysenko 4:29
But ye