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Written by Rick Archer
Although most of you think of
SSQQ as “Home” and take it for granted, in the big picture of things
you might be surprised to find our studio is one of the largest
dance studios in America. In terms of sheer numbers of students, we
might even be THE largest (does anyone know of a larger studio?)
And how did this come about?
We accomplished this impressive feat by being “different”. Right
from the start SSQQ separated from the pack by emphasizing social
dancing for the fun of it over dance competition.
Traditional dance studios
emphasize dance competitions and dance exhibitions. Through the use
of private lessons, most studios motivate their students towards
excellence by targeting various dance competitions. Although we
teach private lessons as well, our reputation has been built on our
Group Lesson program. It is the Group Lessons that account for our
attendance numbers, numbers I might add that are practically unheard
of in the dance industry.
SSQQ has always emphasized
Group Lessons with the aim of making dance fun to learn and fun to
use. I might add our Group Lessons are also a lot less expensive
than private lessons. This helps to make learning to dance a much
more affordable hobby.
Even our studio dicor is
different. Our walls are not lined with trophies from dance
competitions or with pictures of past dance champions. Instead they
are filled with pictures of countless students having fun dancing.
Over the years our main
measure of success has been the thousands of students we have taught
to dance. We are also proud of the several hundred couples that
have met here at the studio and gone on to get married. I might add
the Marriages are just the tip of the iceberg. Throw in a dollar
for every romance we have assisted and I could retire right now.
Still SSQQ has been the object
of much criticism over the years from Houston’s dance community. We
don’t teach styling, we don’t teach technique, we don’t teach frame,
we let our students dance sloppy without any correction. We have no
dance champions and we don’t stress excellence.
You get the idea.
It is true that we don’t train
dance champions. Dance champions will never emerge from a group
class, even if it is an “Elite Group Class”. I completely agree
that at some point, private lessons are a mandatory step for anyone
who wishes to achieve excellence in the world of dance. However as
you will see, our group classes are a marvelous place to get
started.
One reason SSQQ has not
trained a dance champion is due to the simple fact that we haven’t
ever tried to. I have never had the interest to play that game, but
the main reason is that I never have had the time. Running this
enormously complex business has always been a full-time job. I gave
up teaching private lessons years ago simply because I no longer had
the time.
Nevertheless I have always
felt that if there were some teachers here at the studio that wanted
to put their mind to it, SSQQ could become a force in the world of
competition dancing as well.
This hunch became a fact last
January 2003. During a New Years 2003 Competition our wonderfully
gifted longtime dance teacher Susie Merrill took her legendary
Heartbeat Dance Team to the UCWDC World Dance Championship.
Over the previous six years
Heartbeat had been a consistent winner in dance competitions
throughout Texas and nearby states. The team had become so deep and
so talented that Susie decided to take aim at the highest target.
She set the Worlds Western Dance Competition as their ultimate
goal. To her delight, Heartbeat did indeed win the World
Championship in the “Team Category” despite some tough competition.
Susie has been an SSQQ
Instructor since the late 80s. Her original team started in 1997 as
an offshoot from fiddling with a Western dance known as “Triple
Two”. She recruited some SSQQ instructors and advanced dancers to
help her. Just by playing around they developed such a clever
routine that Susie asked permission to let them perform here at the
studio. After a big round of applause the whole group was hooked and
decided to get even more serious. They continued to practice for
another year and a half just for the fun of it. They honed and
modified their routine. In 1998 they decided to go on a road trip.
It began innocently enough as they were just going to go to a small
competition in nearby Austin to dance an exhibition. Their routine
was very well received, but something happened. As the team members
watched the other people compete, they began to imagine dancing just
as well as some of those people did. The fire was burning. The team
decide!
d to get serious and dance
competitively. From then on, each individual took it upon himself
or herself to do whatever it took to improve as dancers. Many of
them began taking private dance lessons in addition to their team
practices.
The 2003 victory at Worlds was
the culmination of all those efforts.
Heartbeat consisted of 24
dancers who trained right here at the studio. Let me point out that
all but one of these dancers was recruited from the ranks of current
and former SSQQ students. As I said, our group lessons may not be
enough to win a dance contest, but they give you a heck of a great
start. One question the competitors constantly asked was, “Where do
you find so many men who can dance so well?”
However it wasn’t easy. The
long hours of training plus the stress of keeping up with rules
changes and upgrading the routines took its toll. The struggle for
Heartbeat to win the Worlds was so great that Susie practically fell
apart from exhaustion after it was all over. She was offered a job
teaching science up in Longview, Texas, which is where she and her
husband Bill have their retirement home. The temptation to “get away
from it all” was too great so she jumped at the offer. For the past
school year Susie has been up in Longview, which explains why some
of you newer members of the studio may not have heard of her.
Losing Susie was a fatal blow
for Heartbeat. Unfortunately there was no obvious successor.
Without their charismatic coach, the members of Heartbeat decided it
was better to go out on top. After a tearful farewell party here at
the studio in January 2003, they disbanded. I have noted there must
be some serious fun in this competition game because ever since many
of the members speak to me of their yearning to start all over again
and raise the phoenix from the ashes.
One person who decided she
would keep going is Anita Williams. At the Austin competition that
really brought the team’s focus together, Anita was one of the
people who had been inspired to take private lessons. Her work paid
off in a big way.
While Anita and her 23 fellow
dancers were busy winning the team championship at World’s in 2003,
Anita was the only Heartbeat member to win an individual competition
(3 different people entered). With her teammates cheering for her,
Anita won first place in the West Coast Swing Worlds competition to
add to her victory as part of Heartbeat.
Unfortunately soon after her
victory, several of Anita’s body parts decided to give way. She
suffered an infuriating series of knee and foot injuries that
required several surgeries to fix. While her own dance career was
postponed as she healed, Anita decided she enjoyed competitive
dancing so much that she turned to coaching.
Her first student was Victor
Marquez who just happened to have been her dance partner on
Heartbeat. After the smoke cleared from the team victory, Anita
approached Victor with this request - She wanted to try her hand at
being a pro and compete with him as the “amateur”. Anita made it
clear to Victor that this was going to be a learning process for
her. She said that most of what she could offer was her experience
as a former competitor. Victor said yes and so it began.
Anita and Victor began putting
routines together in late February 2003 to prepare for their first
event in May at the Texas Classic. From there they went to New
Orleans, then another event in Houston and a final event in Dallas.
Working the competition circuit had two purposes - first to get
invaluable experience and second because they needed to compete in
at least three UCWDC sanctioned events to qualify to compete at
Worlds.
Victor and Anita had so much
success at the local competitions that they were encouraged to go to
Worlds. They spent November and December working hard at practicing
and structuring the routines. As a result, they were well prepared
for the Big Show.
Not only did Victor and Anita
dance the five required dances, they put two other dances on the
floor as well! They were very pleased by how comfortable they
felt. They knew they had danced well and by watching the other
couples knew they had a chance to place high. But first they would
have to suffer an agonizing wait for the results. After dancing New
Year’s Day, they had to wait three days for the awards ceremony!
Anita was a nervous wreck the entire time. She couldn’t stop
thinking about what the results might be. Talk about cruel and
unusual punishment!!
Anita felt certain that Victor
had a great chance to win but the waiting nearly shot her nerves for
life. Finally the awards day came. Anita burned several more cat
lives when she discovered the ceremony had been delayed.
Finally the Awards Ceremony
began just one hour before they had to take a taxi to the airport.
Would this be enough time to get to Victor’s results?? Anita was
through with her fingernails so she started to bite her toenails
instead.
Fortunately after all that
waiting, Victor’s division was one of the first announced. Anita was
on pins and needles as they read each placement in reverse order.
When they got to the #3, she could hardly breathe. Then they
announced the #2 winner it wasn’t Victor. Since he was the only one
that hadn’t been named, this meant he was the last man standing.
Victor won!
Not only did Victor win, his
scores were superior. He had basically trounced the field. Anita
decided to call him “Victory” as his new nickname. The man
definitely deserved the moniker.
This impressive championship
motivated Victor and Anita to continue working together in 2004.
Plus Anita had something else up her sleeve - she recruited a second
dance partner!! Early this year, Anita began working with SSQQ
student Joel McClesky as well.
Not long after the big win at
Worlds Anita spied Joel in the SSQQ Martian Whip class. Using the
confidence she had gained from working with Victor, Anita persuaded
Joel to compete with her as well. Fortunately Anita’s stable of
thoroughbreds does not currently compete against one another. Due
to his previous victories, Victor competes at a higher level than
Joel.
I have watched these two men
train with Anita on several occasions. Every now and then I drop by
the studio on a Saturday. Each time I see Anita and Victor dancing.
Usually Joel is also there sitting on the couch waiting his turn.
Or maybe I will see Victor watching while Anita works with Joel. Or
maybe Anita would sit and let Joel practice with his girlfriend Ruth
or Victor dance with his girlfriend Christine. They are always
training!
The hard work recently paid
off. Over the weekend of Friday, July 16th, Victor,
Joel, and Anita had an exciting weekend in New Orleans at the Dance
Mardi Gras UCWDC competition. Mr. Victor was indeed the Victor again
in his competition, but Anita had a new thrill as well - this time
Joel won his competition as well. This means Joel has now won two
competitions, the first being here in Houston at “the Texas Classic”
in May. That’s a pretty good start.
Victor and Joel’s victories
are no accident. I happen to know that both men are “Naturals” when
it comes to dance. These men moved gracefully from the first time I
saw them. Nor is it surprising that Anita picked them - she can spot
talent! But you know what, I think Anita is a “Natural” too. Not
only is she a great dancer, it looks like she has the makings of a
great coach.
Joel and Victor’s success was
not the only SSQQ news this weekend. In all there were EIGHT SSQQ
students and teachers who won or placed in their divisions.
In the C&W competition, Cher
Longoria, Christine Sandal, Joel McClesky, and Victor Marquez won
their divisions. Randy Winfrey came in second in his division.
Priscilla Hamic came in fifth in her division.
Cher Longoria was the only
person to enter both sides of the competition. After winning her
Western contest, Cher came in fourth overall in her division as
well. I loved her victory message to me, “I won”. My reply? “Good.”
While Joel and Victor are
indeed “Naturals”, let us not overlook another amazingly gifted male
dancer. The entire Houston dance community is aware that SSQQ Whip
Instructor Bryan Spivey is one of the finest young talents to come
along in many a year. When you see him dance, you realize he moves
his body better than most women, but somehow manages to look quite
masculine in the process. In the Mardi Gras West Coast Swing
competition, Bryan Spivey won his Pro-Am division in impressive
fashion. Dancing Pro-Am with Lisa D’Amico against a crowded, deeply
talented field, the odds were not in his favor. Nevertheless in
classic Julius Caesar fashion, Bryan came, saw and conquered.
When you put Bryan, Victor,
and Joel side by side, we are reminded of the classic query
mentioned earlier, “Where on earth do you find all these men who can
DANCE???”
And guess who the top-rated
Coach was? Actually Anita is too modest to accept my praise. I
don’t know how anyone can beat a coach whose only two students both
won first place, but I learned long ago the world of competitive
dancing can yield some strange results. Nevertheless Anita insisted
I say that all she knows is that as a “Coach” she placed somewhere
in the top 10% out of 42 different dance professionals. Not bad for
a woman who dances wonderfully but can’t even walk without a limp!!
We have always know that SSQQ
is a great place to get started dancing if your objective is to
learn to social dance. After this weekend, it is no longer idle
speculation that we may have the seeds of a competition program as
well.
We have three instructors who
are ready to roll up their sleeves and help all comers with Western
and West Coast Swing right now.
Anita Williams can train a
male dancer to compete Pro-Am either in Western or West Coast
Swing. If you are interested in learning more about details,
contact her at
anitawilliams1@juno.com
Scott Ladell has recently
joined the SSQQ staff. He is a very experienced Western dancer.
Working in conjunction with Anita, Scott is ready to train a female
dancer to compete in a Western Pro-Am. You can reach him at
scottladell@houston.rr.com
Our recent college graduate
Bryan Spivey still has Amateur dance status. He isn’t ready to go
Pro-Am just yet. I think he is thoroughly enjoying taking
everything one step at a time. However Bryan said he will be happy
to work with anyone male or female who wishes to improve their WCS
dancing with a future eye towards competition. You can contact him
at
bubbamotion@yahoo.com
And one more thing - the next
time someone corners you at Wild West and tells you the only way to
get any good at dancing is to go learn someplace else, set ‘em
straight. Thank you.
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