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Arts & Entertainment

So You Think You Can't Dance

Ballroom dance class helps Lake County residents learn the skill.

Fans of the popular television programs So You Think You Can Dance or Dancing with the Stars might watch episodes from their couch, thinking, "There's no way I could ever learn how to dance."

Jim and Linda Barnich didn't let such doubts stop them, however, as they learned ballroom dancing at the College of Lake County in Grayslake.

Linda Barnich said the dance lessons have an unexpected benefit - a freshness to the routine she and her husband had grown accustomed to every night. Now, instead of watching dancers on TV, the couple are out dancing themselves.

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"Now it's like we're laughing more because we're practicing," she said. "We practice in our living room or our garage. It's changed our evening routine because we're having fun."

That is the whole idea. You can learn to dance, even close to home and the College of Lake County offers classes to teach you how. The next eight-week session of ballroom classes begins Oct. 21.

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Classes offered include the foxtrot, waltz, rhumba, cha-cha, tango, the East Coast Swing, ballet, hip-hop and salsa.

While the ballroom class is challenging, the Barnich's said that it is fun. 

"Years ago, when I was much younger, I kind of thought that [ballroom was] for old people," Jim Barnich said. He doesn't feel that way anymore.

"It is fun, we have met a lot of new people and it is an excellent form of exercise," Linda Barnich added. "We practice every night."

When Alexis Short signed up for ballroom dance class, she knew it would be tough to overcome one of her greatest fears. She dreaded that people would witness her failures as she learned to dance, she said.

"I was afraid that others would see me fail to learn the steps," Short said. "[People must] push past the fear of public humiliation when not knowing how to do something."

Floyd Fowler, the ballroom teacher at College of Lake County, said that is a common problem for new dancers.

"The fears that people have that keep them from dancing are fears of their inadequacy," he said. "They don't believe they can do it."

But they can dance, Fowler said, and he is glad to prove those people wrong in his classes. "My favorite part about teaching is enjoying the ability of passing on my knowledge to others so they can enjoy the dancing," he said.

Fowler has been teaching ballroom dance since 1972.

"I came to the Midwest at the invitation of the U.S. government via the Navy," he said.

During a journey to Chicago on the train, the young sailor met a woman who taught Afro-Cuban dancing. Not only did she let Fowler come watch her class, but she also invited him to go to the Charles Mattison Dance Studio with her. After watching Mattison teach ballroom, Fowler was hooked.

Fowler's interest in ballroom dance eventually led him to the College of Lake County, where he began teaching first as an assistant and then eventually became the teacher himself.

"Fortunately, we had a couple in the class, Brad and Robin Sealander, who enjoyed dancing and came back semester after semester to take the course and to expand their knowledge," Fowler said. "Robin asked if she could help me with the teaching. I agreed because she's a very good dancer."

Sealander now co-teaches the class with Fowler, and her husband often assists.

As soon as a student steps into their first class, they begin to learn what Fowler believes all ballroom dancers should know.

"A dancer must be courteous to his or her partner," Fowler said. "You can learn not to be insensitive. Gentlemen can learn to be more of a gentleman. Dancing is a relationship. If you don't know your partner, if you can't look her in the eye, you do not move together."

Couples or singles are welcome at Fowler's ballroom classes, although he said bringing a partner is a good idea.

"Come and have fun," Fowler said. "Come expecting to have fun. It is work, but work can be fun."

For information about the classes, call 847-543-2022 or e-mail cpeinfo@clcillinois.edu.

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