This just in: Disney has announced it will have a Star Wars themed hotel opening in 2018, and while this is a perfect excuse to buy that top of the line lightsaber, this news sent some strong ballroom dancing tremors in the force.
If you haven't noticed, there are a few articles with a little evidence of the Star Wars influence on the Arthur Murray Live team, but this correlation was too good to pass up.
About the Hotel
According to this article by TechCrunch, the Disney resort will be adding a hotel experience that will create a completely immersive Star Wars experience. The hotel staff will be in costume, and in character, at all times. Windows will be replaced [spoiler alert] with digital images of the Star Wars universe to give the hotel that final galaxy far, far, away touch.
In essence, it will be the closest any Star Wars fan could feel to being a patron at Mos Eisley cantina, or aboard an Imperial Starship, or whatever else Disney decides your next Star Wars family vacation mission should be.
So what in the Forest Moon of Endor does this have to do with Ballroom Dancing?
While there isn't an Arthur Murray Hotel in the works, ballroom dance events will crop up in hotels at designated times throughout the year, and all for the same purpose as the aforementioned Star Wars facility.
Sure, this connection may seem as far fetched as Han Solo's Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs, but there's a lot to be said about the benefits of Total Immersion.
Here are some times and places where Total Immersion can keep your dance progress moving at light speed.
Early in your dance hobby, things can get awkward.
Think about it, you're developing muscle memory, adding layers of new information, and it's not like you can replace your two left feet with robotic implants like Luke Skywalker.
The Solution: Total Immersion with your Private Lessons
Keeping your lessons close together is one of the smartest things you can do in your dance development during the first 20-30 lessons of your program. Your brain and body can connect to the information sooner, and can help navigate you past the tractor beam like momentum trap of the Awkward Use Stage.
Asking someone to dance is easy to overthink.
The Arthur Murray practice party is designed to simulate social dancing venues like Wedding Receptions, Nightclubs, and Office Parties. But for this simulation to truly become effective, you need plenty of repetition.
The Solution: Total Immersion on the Dance Floor
Your mission is to get to the dance floor, and log as many minutes as possible there. It's much easier to sit on the sidelines, to wander between the water cooler, the coffee machine, and someone you're debating to ask to dance.
Total immersion starts when you ask one person to dance - even if it is your teacher. From there, you build repetition by asking someone to dance who is already on the dance floor. Just like Luke checked in with Obi-Wan, like his father before him, you can always check back in with your teacher to reinvigorate your Practice Party strategy.
You never want your 9th time to feel like your first time.
A Dance Event, like our District Showcase, is built for building confidence. It is as close to a Total Immersion conference for your dance development as you can get locally. The only problem, outside of making other plans, is the strategy with your freestyles.
The Solution: Total Immersion for Dance Events
You'd rarely see a lone stormtrooper in the Star Wars universe, and you should rarely see a single dance on your Showcase or Dance-O-Rama agenda. The idea is to cluster your dances together to create streaks of time on the dance floor.
Keep in mind, it takes at least 15 minutes of dance time to shake off the effects of your nerves and adrenaline. So, understanding that, if you do a single dance and then sit down for an hour... the nerves won't subside.
The goal is to exchange sweat for nerves, and doing that begins with doing each dance at least 3-5 times.
If you didn't know already, this isn't the first Star Wars themed article here on Arthur Murray Live. Here's another article that is sure to cause some tremors in your ballroom dancing force.
This connection to the Star Wars Hotel may seem like a distant correlation far, far, away from anything truly meaningful, but both are built from the same soil:
Feeling.
What type of costumes, lighting, and commitment to character would it take to make you believe you were truly a part of that fictional universe of Star Wars? How much time, effort, and commitment would it take for you to convince yourself that you're a dancer?
In either case, it's easy to be pessimistic, but with enough immersion, in either environment, you just might start to believe.
Your EPISODE ONE starts with a FREE DANCE LESSON. We recommend scheduling it less than 12 parsecs.
May the (social dancing) force be with you!