Not strictly ballroom

>> Ballroom dance instructor sees
boom in young enthusiasts

by CHRIS BARRY

Name: Cheryl

Age: 40

Occupation: Dance instructor/co-proprietor of Dance Conmigo

Bio: This amicable Plateau broad started practising ballet at the age of six and over the years has, at one time or another, studied pretty well every style of dance you’d possibly care to imagine. “Growing up, I was always in some sort of dance school.” A former copywriter who somehow grew tired of writing all those infinitely witty ads you hear on local radio, Cheryl abandoned a promising career in media to eventually teach dance at Arthur Murray for several years. But upon meeting her partner Alain (“We were the missing pieces to each other’s puzzle”), she recognized destiny was taunting her to open her own dance academy, so they did just that with the official launch of Dance Conmigo (3655 St- Laurent #207, www.danceconmigo.com) last January.

Is there any one step everybody wants to learn these days? “Salsa is pretty big everywhere, but in Montreal it’s huge. That seems to be the dance people want to learn, even if they’re not quite sure what it is. Ballroom has become pretty big lately too. With these shows like Dancing With the Stars, there’s a lot more interest in it than before when people saw ballroom dancing as something their grandparents did to hokey music. The people taking our ballroom class are mostly in their 20s.”

Is it safe to assume these people were not the cool kids in their respective high schools?“I dunno, dancing attracts all kinds: the awkward kid and the cool kid.”

One style of dancing Cheryl specializes in: Ballroom. Are there significant differences between, say, bachata, salsa and the tango, or are they all pretty much the same deal with a few minor variations? “There’s a huge difference! But what’s quite similar with most of the dances is you learn a basic step, a blueprint, and the rhythm of that basic step will carry out throughout the entire dance. And once you get that basic step down, though the amount of steps you can learn is unlimited, the rest is just colour and flair.”

One interesting dance class they offer: Asalsa class for new mothers where momma learns to dance while cradling her infant child in her arms. “It’s fun, great exercise, and it gives mothers a chance to do something different, something for themselves. They can still be with their babies while learning something that maybe they’ve always wanted to learn. It’s also a good way for them to meet other new mothers.”

Do these students ever breastfeed at the same time they’re dancing up a salsa storm? “Yes, I’ve seen this.”

Is there a proportion of her students who are taking dance classes for the primary purpose of finding someone to dance with in the sack? Yes.

Which gender tends to be studying dance more for this reason? Guys. “Because girls love dancing. If you’re a guy and you can dance, even if you look like a toad, we’re into it.”

Musical preferences: Frou Frou, Michael Bublé.

Last book read: A Course in Miracles, by Nazareth’s very own cosmic superstar, the legendary Jesus Christ, as dictated from beyond to Helen Schucman.

Words of wisdom: “Breathe, stretch, pray and dance.”

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