Give Away the Farm

 Giving Away the Farm

The concept of giving away the farm derives from a phrase that means an individual gives away his livelihood.  Most dance clubs do this to some extent by offering free classes at various establishments.  Betty and I have noticed that there are some who only go to the free classes and never join any class, and that is ok.  However, for the most part, they are getting minimal instruction.

Our objective is to impart our joy of dancing to as many people as possible.  As a general rule, we are not going to offer our classes for free.  On the other hand, we elect to offer written instruction free to the viewers of our web site.  If you choose to visit our site often, you will be treated to in-depth, written instruction in a number of dances.   We will begin with basic 2 Step.  Over the course of the issues, we will teach basic Polka, Salsa, Cha-Cha, Waltz, East Coast Swing, and West Coast Swing.  Once we have established the basics in each, we will begin presenting written instruction in more advanced patterns in each dance.

There will be text to explain each concept accompanied with graphic illustrations.  One of the failures of written instruction for dance in the past has been the inability of the author to demonstrate motion when required.  We plan to overcome this difficulty with a unique graphic method that marries freeze-frames to a timing clock.  

Also, from time to time, there will be animated graphics.  Since these segments are intensively loaded with pictures, the pictures will be rendered as line drawings rather than bitmaps to keep the size of the files down and to reduce your download time.

I'll be the first to admit that written instruction is not the best way to learn how to dance.  The best way is in a class or a private with an instructor present.  However, you can learn with written instruction if you choose to do so, and you devote the time to it. 

If this is your choice, I urge you to bookmark this website, and keep on coming back.  Everything we offer in this column is for free.  You may use it any way you like with the exceptions that you may not sell or publish it without permission from 2Step2 Dance Studio.  If you give the material to others, you must admonish them likewise.  In addition, if you do share this with others, we ask that you give credit to 2Step2 Dance Studio.