<![CDATA[Hartford Ballroom

<![CDATA[Hartford Ballroom - Blog]]>Mon, 11 May 2026 22:13:24 -0400Weebly<![CDATA[Finally Reopening!]]>Tue, 09 Jun 2020 18:24:37 GMThttp://www.hartfordballroom.com/blog/finally-reopeningHey dancers! Long time no see!
It's been a long three months, but we're finally happy to say that we're cautiously reopening the studio!
So here's what's happening and what our safety guidelines are:

Our Lessons:

Nate and Lisa are both available for private lessons right now, so feel free to book a lesson anytime!
Starting on June 18th, we will be reintroducing group lessons. Don't expect everything to return to normal though. We're playing it by ear and we're trying to stick with the safety guidelines recommended by the state. One change we have to do, for example, is require students to sign up for classes ahead of time. Please go to our Lessons Page to view the schedule and the new changes.

Our Safety Guidelines:

We will be requiring students to wear masks while in our studio. Of course, we're anticipating that some students will want to dance with other students, so in those cases, we recommend wearing gloves as well. We will have masks and gloves on hand if you need them, as well as hand sanitizer
In our group classes, we are limiting the number of students to a maximum of 9 per class (with a teacher, that keeps to the social gathering guidelines of no more than 10 indoors). Because of this, our students will have to sign up for a class ahead of time.
We will not be changing partners in class. We recommend coming to class with a partner. If you come alone, you can choose to dance with one other willing student (or the teacher), but be prepared to dance alone.
To minimize the number of surfaces that will be touched, we will not have the water cooler or mints available. We recommend bringing your own water. Please also only use the chairs we indicate you can use.
Our teachers need time to sanitize the studio between lessons. Please arrive to class five minutes early to pay so that we can start on time. There will be a 10-minute practice after each lesson, but once that is done, we kindly ask that you leave the studio so that the teachers can clean the room.
It almost goes without saying, but we ask that you please practice social distancing with other dance couples while in our studio, and to not come to Hartford Ballroom if you are not feeling well. We need to do the best we can to ensure the safety of all the dancers at our studio, and we appreciate your help in keeping our community healthy.

It's going to be tough and a little confusing over the next few weeks, but we're all experiencing dancing withdrawal and we need to get a fix and see people again! So see you on the dance floor!]]><![CDATA[Spring is coming! Updates and Changes At Hartford Ballroom]]>Thu, 01 Mar 2018 12:28:18 GMThttp://www.hartfordballroom.com/blog/spring-is-coming-updates-and-changes-at-hartford-ballroomHappy March dancers!

Well, the weather is changing for the better (hopefully) and so have our salsa workshops!

First the bad news: I regret to inform you all that we have cancelled the Salsa Rueda classes that occur on Sunday evenings due to low attendance. If interest in these classes spark up again, we will consider trying again later this year.

Now the good news! We officially now have salsa workshops every Saturday! Here's the lineup:

1st and 3rd Saturday of the month: Salsa Workshops with Jason!
A fun afternoon with one of our favorite guest teachers! Beginner class starts at 3 p.m., intermediate class at 4 p.m.. Each class costs $10.

2nd and 4th Saturday of the month: Rueda de Casino with Luis!
An highly entertaining workshop where you learn how to dance Cuban Salsa Rueda! (think square dancing for salsa dancers) Luis provides us with a lot of laughs and we hope you'll have fun too! Beginner rueda is at 3 p.m., intermediate rueda is at 4:30 p.m.. Each class is $10. See you then!

If you need more info, click on the button below:

Workshop Info

Everything else is the same! We have our weekly group lessons as usual, as well as our Friday dance socials! Here's the schedule:

Weekly Group Classes: This Month's Dances
(Click here to check out our weekly class schedule)
Level 1: Swing and Foxtrot
Level 2: Salsa
Level 3: American Tango
Level 4: Quickstep
Level 5: Samba

Our Dance Socials:
(Click here for more information)
Friday March 9: spring-themed Milonga Mariposa!
Friday March 16: Dance Social
Firday March 23: Michele's Salsa Night

Take a breather from all that spring cleaning and come and join us! Happy March!

]]><![CDATA[Happy 2018! Changes At Hartford Ballroom]]>Tue, 09 Jan 2018 13:21:41 GMThttp://www.hartfordballroom.com/blog/happy-2018-changes-at-hartford-ballroomHappy New Year folks!

First, apologies that this blog post came so late. It's been a busy kickoff to 2018.

We have some important changes here at Hartford Ballroom, as well as a new program! So let's start with the changes:

Well, it's really just one big change. We have officially decided that all of our monthly dance socials will now take place at our studio on Arbor St. That's right, we have three dance socials (Milonga Mariposa, 3rd Friday, and Salsa Night) and they are all now at the same location! While we loved using Lisa Matias' dance floor, we found we weren't making enough of a profit to make renting that floor worth it. We will, however, continue to use the Lisa Matias Dance Center for our annual New Year's Eve Party and Springaling Dance.

Wondering where Hartford Ballroom is, exactly? Click here to go to our studio page, where you'll get our address, as well as directions and parking.

In other news, we have a new monthly workshop! For the past year, Lisa has been teaching a small Salsa Rueda workshop on Sunday evenings twice a month. Now, we have salsa teacher Luis coming in once a month to teach a very entertaining Salsa Rueda workshop! That's right! On every 1st Saturday of the month, from 3-6 p.m., Luis will be teaching us Rueda, with the beginner class starting at 3 p.m., and the intermediate class starting at approximately 4:30 p.m.. Each class is $10 per person.

Wondering what Salsa Rueda is? Think of Cuban Salsa Rueda as square dancing....but for salsa dancers. Couples dance Cuban Salsa in a circle, a caller calls out the name of a specific turn or pattern, and everyone does the pattern together at once, with that pattern sometimes involving changing partners. It is a lot of fun to do, and Luis is a great teacher!

We do recommend that if you're planning on coming to the workshop, try attending both classes, or at least arriving 20 minutes early for the second class, so that you know what patterns have been covered in the beginner lesson. And we definitely recommend the beginner lesson if you've never taken Luis' classes before!

For more information (or for videos of salsa rueda), check out our Facebook Page!

Final bit of news for our dance students: just a heads up that Quickstep is coming to our Thursday and Sunday classes next month! If you have never done Quickstep before, or if you have but found it confusing last time, may I suggest trying our Level 2 class on Monday nights this month? In our Level 2 class, we are introducing Quickstep by starting you out with the familiar Foxtrot, and then tweaking it bit by bit until you find yourself in the intricately fast dance from the big-band era. We hope to see you then!

Well, that it's for now! Please feel free to check out our Class Schedule for this month's dances! And don't forget our salsa workshops on the weekends!
]]><![CDATA[Happy December! Hartford Ballroom's Holiday Plans]]>Sat, 02 Dec 2017 13:38:22 GMThttp://www.hartfordballroom.com/blog/happy-december-hartford-ballrooms-holiday-plansHello dancers! The Holiday season is now officially upon us! It's time for good cheer, lighting menorahs, and buying presents.

It's also the month where we host our very own annual pot luck New Year's Eve party! That's right, our New Year's Eve party is finally coming! Food, dancing, champagne, it's always a great time! Click here if you need more details!

Now, because it's the holiday season, there are also some holiday cancellations. Every year we take a week off around this time. This year, there will be no lessons of any kind from Sunday, December 24th to Sunday, December 31st.

We've also made the decision to cancel our 3rd Friday dance social for this month. In the past, the attendance for our social has been low because of all the holiday parties that have been going on around this time, so we've decided to put our social on hold until the holidays are over.

Don't worry though! We're still hosting our Milonga Mariposa and our Salsa Night! Feel free to go to our Events page for more details!

Well, that's it for now! Happy holidays everyone!
]]><![CDATA[Happy November! Here's What's Happening!]]>Fri, 03 Nov 2017 12:23:55 GMThttp://www.hartfordballroom.com/blog/happy-november-heres-whats-happeningHey dancers! I can't believe it's already November! Where did the year go?!

I'm not sure exactly how October went by so quickly, but we did do quite a lot in our group classes, and I'm happy to report that the step lists are officially up! You can check them out by looking at this blog, or by going to our Lesson Recaps page.

Well, we are soon approaching the holiday weeks! Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year's Eve: they're all coming up and that means loads of opportunities to dance! So keep on coming to our group classes, and sign up for our flexible private lessons, so you can prepare for those holiday parties!

Sadly, we have to cancel our Thursday classes on November 23rd, due to Thanksgiving (I know that I myself won't be able to move, much less dance after all that turkey!) However, Michele's Salsa Night is still happening on Black Friday (November 24th), so you'll have a chance to dance off all that food!

Speaking of holidays, it's not too early to remind you of our Annual New Year's Eve Party! That's right, we're doing our Potluck Party again! Champagne, food, dancing....it's been a huge success in the past, and we're hoping it'll be a huge success again! So, mark your calendars!

In other news, Open Studio Hartford is happening this month! That's right, on November 11th and 12th art studios will have a wonderful opportunity to advertise their wares and services! We'll be participating as well, and we want people to see us dancing, which is why we're offering a 20% discount on all private lessons that are happening during this awesome weekend, so book a lesson with either Nate or Lisa today! And also don't forget that there will be a salsa workshop on November 11th, starting at 3pm. We hope you can join us on this happy weekend, celebrating the arts and an active lifestyle!

One final announcement: our salsa rueda workshop needs more dancers! We're still going to do a half-hour lesson at $5 per person, but we're thinking of maybe having the workshop at an earlier time to make it easier to attend, perhaps during Sunday afternoons before the group classes, instead of at the end of the night. If this change happens, it will probably start on January. How does everyone feel about that? What time should we do it? Please leave a comment below letting us know what you think!

Well, that's it for now! We'll be seeing you on the dance floor!
-Lisa Spiro, Hartford Ballroom]]><![CDATA[Step Lists For Berkshire Hall October 2017]]>Fri, 03 Nov 2017 12:14:19 GMThttp://www.hartfordballroom.com/blog/step-lists-for-berkshire-hall-october-2017Dances Covered:

Beginner: East Coast Swing
Intermediate: Cha Cha

Beginner: East Coast Swing

Basic, both in single step and triple step
Underarm turn
Hand change behind the back
Back walk
Charleston with a scoop ending

Intermediate: Cha Cha

Shadow Crossover
Half Moon, with arm hook ending
Cross body lead with follower's turn
Turkish Towel
Paseo
Triple progressive cha cha
Cha cha swivels (starts from a back break, keep it small and tight)

]]><![CDATA[Step List For October 2017]]>Fri, 03 Nov 2017 11:48:45 GMThttp://www.hartfordballroom.com/blog/step-list-for-october-2017Dances Covered:

Level 1: Swing and Foxtrot
Level 2: East Coast Swing
Level 3: Cha Cha
Level 4: Slow Waltz
Level 5: Bolero

Level 1: Swing and Foxtrot

Swing-

Basic (single step)
Follower's underarm turn
Leader's underarm turn

Foxtrot-

Basic
Hesitation

Level 2: East Coast Swing

Tuck Turn
- with a "stop sign" hand
- with followers' free spin
- with both leaders and followers turn (apart turn)
Charleston with tuck turn ending
Peekaboo
- original (inside turn)
- with leaders' hands on follower's back
- with leaders' right hand only on followers' back (the cool way)

Level 3: Cha Cha

Crossover, back breaks, outside breaks (review)
Big box from outside breaks
Alternating underarm turn with man's loop to cross body lead and shadow crossover
Shadow crossover, turn and loop to shadow back breaks
Half moon (shadow crossover + cross body lead)
Triple progressive cha cha

Level 4: Slow Waltz

Twinkle with promenade chasse ("one, two-and-three")
Grapevine with apart turn (starts with a twinkle and check)
Chasse (the in-and-out move that starts with a twinkle with leader's turn)
Twinkle with inside turn to left turn
Zigzag with develope to inside turn ending
Butterfly, with leader's going across

Level 5: Bolero

Rope spin
Back spot turn with Rudolph Ronde
Half moon with quick turn
Right hand loop, with optional Cuban walk
Crossover with quick turn ("quick, quick, and-slow") to fencing line and right hand loop)
Three Threes (J-hook lead, followers' full spot turn to the left, back break and half spot turn to right, then "forward-and-forward-and side")

]]><![CDATA[Berkshire Hall Step Lists For September 2017]]>Fri, 06 Oct 2017 14:21:47 GMThttp://www.hartfordballroom.com/blog/berkshire-hall-step-lists-for-september-2017Dances Covered:

Beginner: Cha Cha
Intermediate: Slow Waltz

Beginner: Cha Cha

Basic, using either side or progressive cha-cha-cha
Steps using progressive cha-cha-cha
- follower's underarm turn
- alternating underarm turn
steps using side cha-cha-cha
- crossover
  - with underarm turn ending
  - with apart turn ending
- double crossover
- Cross body lead

Intermediate: Slow Waltz

Left 3/8 turn (starts diagonal center)
Right 3/8 turn (starts with a travel step diagonal wall)
Twinkle, Twinkle with 1/4 turn
Routine 1: Left 3/8 turn, twinkle, twinkle with 1/4 turn
Routine 2: Left 3/8 turn, travel step, Right 3/8 turn, travel step
Paseo
Parallel twinkle
- with checks on 5 + 6

]]><![CDATA[Tango Tuesday Step List For September 2017]]>Fri, 06 Oct 2017 14:18:39 GMThttp://www.hartfordballroom.com/blog/tango-tuesday-step-list-for-september-20177 pm: Basics

Media Vueltas with man's skateboard

8 pm: Tango Flow

Hiro with step across follower's line

]]><![CDATA[Step List For September 2107]]>Tue, 03 Oct 2017 17:28:08 GMThttp://www.hartfordballroom.com/blog/step-list-for-september-2107Dances Covered

Level 1: Salsa and Cha Cha
Level 2: Cha Cha
Level 3: Slow Waltz
Level 4: Bolero
Level 5: Argentine Tango

Level 1: Salsa and Cha Cha

Salsa-

Basic
Turn

Cha Cha-

Basic

Level 2: Cha Cha

Basic (with either side cha-cha or progressive cha-cha
Turns using progressive cha-cha
- Underarm turn
- Alternating underarm turn
Crossover (uses side cha-cha)
- underarm turn ending
- with apart turn ending
- Double crossover

Level 3: Slow Waltz

Left 3/8 turn
Right 3/8 turn
Twinkle
Twinkle with Promenade Chasse
Zigzag with Develope
Parallel Twinkle
Parallel Twinkle with with rock step
Slip pivot

Level 4: Bolero

3 Crossovers, underarm turn, 3 apart turns, underarm turn (used as an exercise, not advised as a regular pattern)
Crossover with she goes/he goes ending
Half moon (1 shadow crossover + cross body lead)
- end with shadow crossover
- end with arm hook (continues into aida, fencing line, and she goes/he goes ending)
Open break to Natural top (aka "back spot turn")
- short version (only 1 count of back spot turn, end with open break)
- long version (3 counts of back spot turn, end with opening out and closed hip twist)

Level 5: Argentine Tango

Back Ochos in a circle
Molinete to the right, ending with ocho cortado
ocho cortado
back ocho to Sandwich

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