BYU Dance Camp

By Paul Stachour

My feet hurt. It was only the end of the first day at the Brigham Young University Adult Ballroom Dance Camp. I had only gone to four of the five one-hour dance lessons. I had skipped the get-acquainted "Fun Dance." I had only practiced for half of the hour allocated for "review of today's lessons." There were four days left in this intensive activity, and tomorrow there were six lessons scheduled as well as a two-hour social dance. Agghhh! What had I gotten myself into?

It had begun about a year earlier, when I started getting e-mails promoting various dance-camps. However, the camps looked too expensive for my budget, and directed towards those who competed and/or had more dance experience than I had. However, a dancer from Utah that I met while on a cruise suggested I look into the BYU adult summer dance camp. The total cost for the camp, including dance instruction, lodging at a residence hall and eating at a buffet-style university cafeteria, was estimated to total $685: $495 for the camp, $95 for lodging, and food for only $25/day discounted camp-price (B=$7.45, L=$9.45, D=$10.95 was cash price). I asked around, but no one I spoke with seemed to have any experience going there. I sent out an exploratory email to see if anyone else had data, or wanted to join me. I got a few responses, but no takers. In February, I signed up by myself.

Those of you who know my wife, Fran, know that she is not as intensive a dancer as I am. She did not wish to join me at the camp, but suggested that spending a week in the LDS genealogy library in Salt Lake City while I was at dance-camp in Provo might work: so that's what we did. It was a three-day, 1260-mile trip across Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Utah. We did walks (volksmarches) in Madelia, Worthington, and Luverne, Minnesota, and Newcastle, Wyoming along the way. The easiest part was driving through South Dakota, where an 80-mph speed limit and open prairie meant very good progress. We stopped at the Corn Palace and at Wall Drug while passing through. In Wyoming, we visited Independence Rock and the Teapot Dome. Transportation cost (gas, food, lodging) for the two of us was $712, or $356 apiece.

Arriving late Sunday afternoon, I checked in to find that there would be about 190 people at the dance camp. I shared a room with Ron from Colorado. His primary focus dance was International Waltz, and his primary dance partner was Marisa Marinac, from Arvada, Colorado (Figure 1).

There were three people there from Minnesota (Figure 2): Therese Meszaros (her 13th dance-camp), Jeff Ringer (his 7th dance camp), and me, a first-timer.

One of the dances that Therese was focusing on was the International Jive. Her Jive instructor was Malcus Sanford (Figure 3) and one of her dance partners was Stuart Rodriguez from Davis, California (Figure 4).

One of the dances that Jeff was focusing on was the International Samba. His Samba instructor was Natalie Paramonov (Figure 5) and one of his dance partners was Donna Matlock, from Orem, Utah (Figure 6).

The only showcase dance that I was focusing on was the American Foxtrot. My Foxtrot instructor was Natalie Schulz (Figure 7), who was also my instructor for Cha-Cha and some of the West Coast Swing. I also had Lee Wakefield (Figure 8), who has been heading-up this dance camp activity for more than 30 years as one of my West Coast Swing instructors. My most frequent dance partner for Foxtrot was Patricia Kayser of Louisville, Colorado (Figure 9), and for West Coast Swing Danielle Carnes, from Albuquerque, New Mexico (Figure 10).

Let's get into some details about what went on at BYU dance-camp.

Looking at the schedule for Monday, there was an orientation to help us understand the camp and choose our dance-levels. They distributed a list of patterns for each of the 5 full-program dances that would be taught, organized into five levels from one (beginner) to five (advanced-2). I placed myself into level three (intermediate-2) for American Foxtrot and Cha-Cha, and one (beginner) for Jive, International Waltz, and International Samba. Those placings turned out to be appropriate. Monday was Foxtrot (3), Jive (1), International Waltz (1), and two of "you-pick" dances. I chose West Coast Swing (3) for my first one. Feeling some pressure on the pads on the balls of my feet, I decided to skip the second of the you-pick, and that ended the daily lessons. In the evening, we had a one-hour lecture on foot-placement (which went over my head), an opportunity to learn a fun-dance (I skipped that), and one hour of practice-time to work on what we had been taught in the daily lessons.

On Tuesday, after attending the Foxtrot and Cha-Cha classes, I was glad that only Foxtrot would be a required sequence and performance at the Friday night closing dance. I decided to skip the Jive and International Samba classes, but instead chose to do some West Coast Swing (2) and an American Tango (1) from the you-pick set. The five program dances are progressive classes throughout the week, while the you-pick ones are each individually set-up. I took four of the six class-periods that day, and that validated that I was choosing the right level of effort for me. In the evening there was a two-hour social dance. The official policy of the dance-camp is that only men lead and only women follow, but there were a few people (not me) who were very clearly working on an alternate role. I did get my "follower fix" both days, when one lady led me in half a Tango on Monday, and a different lady asked me for a Foxtrot on Tuesday. Tuesday was the day I learned that there were two other Minnesotans there (Jeff and Therese); we took the picture referenced before.

Wednesday there were again 6 lesson-times scheduled; I went to four: Foxtrot, Cha-cha, Waltz, and West Coast Swing (3) from the you-pick. In the evening there was a dinner, and with a demonstration by one of the BYU formation-dance teams during a break in the practice time that followed.

Thursday was the high intensity day. There were seven class periods scheduled, and only a one-hour lunch break (as compared to the usual two hours for lunch and two hours for dinner) before the evening practice time began. I was concerned that I would not be able to memorize the foxtrot showcase dance sequence of 22 different pattern elements, but the memorization came together on Thursday. After the Foxtrot and Cha-Cha classes, and the you-pick classes of West Coast Swing (1) and Tango (3), I went back to my room and wrote the one-page assigned document for the (optional) one-credit dance class (Workshop in Ballroom -- 500R), a part of the BYU graduate-level dance program. The BYU dance program has 127 (yes, a hundred and twenty-seven!) different dance classes. I ate in my room, felt quite tired, and went to bed early, skipping the evening practice-time.

Friday I felt weary, but was also anticipating the performance as we went through the Foxtrot showcase sequence again and again, with Natalie cajoling us to "put some enthusiasm and joyfulness into it." The you-pick choices were West-Coast-Swing (2) and Tango (3). I abandoned the Tango class after it became clear that the footwork and pattern-elements were beyond my current capability.

Friday night at 6pm was the banquet, the student-showcase, the teacher-showcase, and then open social dancing until 11:30pm. The Foxtrot sequence went very well, with our pair only missing the swivel preceding the dip. I was quite proud of myself. I purchased (and have received) a DVD of the full set of classes taught and of the showcases.

Bottom line: Was it a good buy for the money? I think so. Did I learn a lot? Yes. Was it fun? Yes. Would I go again? As of now, I'm planning to go again next year. Do you want to sign up together and ride along or meet me there at BYU on July 31st, 2017? I'm open to questions as to what it is all about beyond what I can write in this article. Ask me when you see me, or give me a jingle on the telephone.