Q: What age group generally attends your dance socials?
A: Our age group is generally between 18-30 with the average age of our dancers being around 24.
Q: Do you allow minors?
A: Minors 16 and older are allowed at our lessons and dance socials with an accompanying adult. Children 15 and under must be accompanied by their legal parent or guardian.
Q: Do you do any dancing besides country swing and line dancing?
A: We allow you to dance what ever style you want to while you are at the dance social as long as it is cordial to other dancers and is not explicit in nature. However, most of the music we play is country.
Q: What if I want to request a song that isn't a country song.
A: We do filter our song requests, but generally we play anything that is appropriate for swing genre dancing.
Q: Can I do lifts and stunts at your dance social?
A: Yes. We occasionally have skilled dancers who know how to do lifts appropriately who can assist you and we request that you perform lifts to the side of the main dance floor and with spotters for your safety. We are not responsible for injuries incurred at our lessons or dance socials.
Q: What is a birthday dance/steal circle?
A: Steal circles are a dance method that involves multiple dancers in a single dance. The dance will begin with a single couple in the middle, with the rest of the dancers in a circle around the edge. As the song progresses, dancers from the circle can step in and steal one of the two partners away to continue the dance. This continues until the end of the song. We usually do 6-9 steal circle songs during a dance social. Participation is optional.
A birthday dance is a steal circle we do to celebrate a person's birthday. It works the same as a regular steal circle, with the exception that the birthday person gets to stay in the dance the entire song and gets to choose the song they dance to.
Q: How can I learn to do steal circles?
A: We teach a steals workshop occasionally as part of our Modern Country Swing Classes. You will want a basic understanding of Modern Country Swing or other dancing to participate. We recommend taking the Beginner and Novice Modern Country Swing Walk-In Classes and Workshops so that your steals can go smoothly; however, any dancer who wishes to participate is welcome to hop in!
Q: Do I have to attend all of one class level before progressing to the next level?
A: No. You can move into the next class level once you can demonstrate the skills necessary to start the next level. You can find those criteria here. Some students will be able to progress through each level quickly, other students may need extra time and to repeat classes and workshops at their current level. You should focus on moving up to the next level when you can both meet the criteria, and feel comfortable with taking on a new challenge and learning new skills.
Q: Do I have to compete to move into the higher level classes?
A: No. Competing is not a requirement to moving into higher level classes. However, the higher level classes will begin to talk about how moves and techniques can be used by competitive dancers more effectively.
Q: Do I have to wait for the start of a class session to start classes?
A: No. Our new class curriculum is designed so if you have completed the requirements for a class level, you can move up immediately! There is no "start" to a class session, as the classes run on a continual basis.
Q: I have prior dancing experience. Do I need to sit through all the beginner classes and workshops before I can attend the more advanced classes?
A: No. If you are able to demonstrate the requirements listed in our class criteria, you can immediately move to the class level that matches your skills. You may want to take a few of the lower classes to get a feel of the new style and patterns of the dance, then move up as you get a hold of the required concepts for the next level. If you are unsure, talk with one of our instructors and they will help guide you to anything you may need to learn before moving up.
Q: I have been attending the Introductory class during the dance socials frequently for a long time. Does this qualify me for the Novice level classes?
A: Maybe. Our Introductory class will teach you a number of moves to build a repertoire for basic social dancing, but will not fully prepare you for the Novice level classes or beyond. However, if you have other dance training, you may meet the requirements to move up. We recommend you take some of the Beginner level classes to see how you fit in, and if you are ready to move up, go for it!
Q: Will your classes prepare me to compete?
A: Yes! Our classes starting at the Novice level start to add technique, moves, and understanding that can help you succeed in competitions! Many of our instructors and students in the Novice and above level compete at local and national levels. Your overall success in competition will depend mostly on your own efforts to practice, learn, and grow, but our classes will provide you with a strong foundation to start your competition journey!
Q: Do you ever bring nationally recognized instructors to teach classes?
A: Yes! Our Intermediate and above classes frequently have local, regional, and national guest instructors come and teach! These are great opportunities to learn new skills, hear other perspectives on Modern Country Swing, and see moves being done in other areas of the greater dance community! We occasionally will replace our weekly Beginner and Novice level workshops with guest instructors as well!
Q: Do you offer private lessons?
A: Yes! Many of our instructors, and guest instructors, offer private lessons for dancing. These are scheduled directly with the instructor. Availability will vary from instructor to instructor based on their current class load. Private lesson prices are set by each instructor individually.
Q: Can you do a comp review for me?
A: Yes! Many of our instructors can give you comp reviews if you have a video of your comp and schedule a time with them. Note: They will limit their critiques to the level they compete at nationally.
Q: You don't play the line dance I know. How can I get my line dance on your Line Dance Library?
A: You can submit your line dance to dbdutah@gmail.com or on our Instagram @dustybootdancing. You will need to include the title of the song, and either an official step sheet or demonstration of the dance. We review line dances monthly and add new dances to our rotation as time in the lesson schedule permits.
Q: You don't do the same line dance I know to a particular song. What is up with that?
A: Most songs have a number of different dances that can be performed to them as line dances, we generally dance a specific dance that is chosen by our instructors in committee. While often there is one line dance that is more popular and well known to a specific song, the exact version of that dance may vary from region to region, as different regions may have variations or alterations to the dance while keeping the same basic format of the dance. This phenomenon is known as Line Dance Drift and is perfectly acceptable. Feel free to dance your variation so long as you do not interrupt or put in danger any other dancers. We kindly ask that you do not interrupt an ongoing line dance with an entirely different dance.
Q: What is the difference between the line dance classes at your socials and the line dance classes through the week?
A: The line dances taught at the socials focus primarily on the steps of the dance and basic timing with an occasional discussion on technique or styling. The novice and upper level classes focus on developing dance technique, understanding line dance theory and patterns, and developing styling.
Q: How do I know if I am ready for the upper level line dance social on Saturday nights?
A: If you can pick up the line dances in the novice level classes on Tuesdays, without any trouble the first time around, and are finding that you are getting the dances down faster than the lesson is being taught, you might be ready for the upper line dance social. A sudden jump from the introductory class to the upper class will be challenging! We recommend taking the Novice line dance technique classes to fill in your understanding of the moves in line dancing and progress to the higher level needed for the upper line dance social.
The dances taught in this section will have more difficult timings and patterns, and will often be longer and include restarts, tags, and skips, as well as the possibility of phrased line dances with multiple long sections of the dance to learn. You will be expected to keep up with the faster pace of the instruction without needing an explanation of the moves or movement patterns being presented.