Social Dance With Dean Paton

Introduction: The truth is, most of us teaching noncompetitive partner dancing in the Greater Seattle area are solid teachers and know how to help people learn to dance. My strengths are these: I'm perceptive in private-lesson situations and know what you need in the moment, as well as in the next moment, and the moments after that. And I never forget that what we're doing is "just dance," that is, we're not working to end famine in sub-Saharan Africa or to solve the climate crisis; we're just here to have some fun, pick up a joyful skill, and see what can happen as we move around the floor in the arms of another. I never judge. I never scold. And, because learning to dance can seem scary at first, I'm always working to keep lessons as low-pressure as possible. Because I'm a musician, I'd say my musicality skills -- understanding how to move to different kinds of music -- can demystify the process of learning dance. The very most? That everyone improves. And that I get to be there and see it. Dancing is something everyone gets better doing, as long as they keep doing it kinda regularly. It is a joy to watch people of all ages accomplish something they have long wanted to do, but, for whatever reasons, kept putting off trying.