I'm watching the fifth series of the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing (love it lots!) and wondered if there was any possibilty to learn ballroom dancing in the Zürich area.

I know there are a number of dancers on the forum - anyone know of any classes?

Also got to work on the hubby to get him motivated and that's going to be the toughy...

very famous Dance school for abllroom and other dances,they also organise a ball a like the Wiener Opernball

http://www.kaisertanz.ch/tanzkurs-an...hp?xCategory=1

Thanks, Eastenders. And I see they cater for singles so if I can't motivate my other half, I (hopefully) get a ready-made dance partner there.

Cool!

good luck to you, I am trying to convince the bf to take Argentine Tango classes...damn hard work!

going off topic now but who is your favorite to win Strictly? I vote Alesha or Matt...

Alesha's definitely one of the best and Kelly's up there as well. Not sure how Kate managed to stay out of the bottom two.

Always a fight for the TV on Saturday night. The other half escapes to the computer for the duration of SCD.

My Money is on an outsider ,the ex-landlady of the Queen Vic.
Matt,obviously, is a strong candiate for the crown as well

But please dear BBC,can you replace Brucie and let him enjoy his pension somewhere FAAAAR away from a camera!

Yes, they should definitely put him (and us!) out of his misery. God, he's appalling. Very funny and entertaining in the 70's but not now.

Tess Daly is also a poor choice with her annoying northern accent. I'm from oop north but I don't sound like that.

Keeeeeep Dancing! How irritating is that???

The BBC should give both Brucie and Tess the chop, they are c**p!
I must admit, I am warming to Gethin, he is getting better each week.

Am I cruel for laughing at Penny when she started crying yesterday??

Anyone know a place to go dancing? At home I used to do zydeco, cajun, waltz, swing, some ballroom (foxtrot, I guess). Am not a beginner, but haven't been for a while, really miss it, would rather just go dance than pay for ballroom lessons.
cheers,
Felicia

Don't know about social ballroom, but there is a fairly active swing (lindy hop) scene in Zurich, with regular Saturday night dances at a place called Club Silbando. The same venue also has argentine tango on other nights.

http://www.swing.ch/

http://www.silbando.ch/

You might find that going to some classes is a good way of getting to know people to dance with. In my limited experience just turning up alone at a dance hasn't been a great strategy, but your mileage may vary.

Let us know if you find a friendly waltzing venue!

You are right, I am sure about that...It is hard to break into a dance scene unless you are seen dancing already. I just do regular 6-count, didn't quite master lindy, but I remember enough that I could probably fake back into it Thanks for the tips,tho...

In July, I think it is, there will be a cajun/zydeco festival in Saulieu, France where I can do what I do, but that's a long way away...

Hmm.. I am trying to break into the dance scene in Zurich and I must say I am not too optimistic. Used to go dancing to live salsa, swing and rockabilly and tango in Austin, but I am a bit lost about where to go here. I only know some 6 count swing, used to do basic lindy and can fake myself through salsa and merengue and took some tango lessons - not exactly a good background for techno/house dancing which seems to be more prevalent around here.

I'd like to take some dance lessons again and maybe learn some other dances such as cha cha and foxtrott.. but the main thing is to go out and dance and have a good time, so I can definitely look into other styles as well... Classes that cater to single members would work for me as I have no dance partner.

Looked at the dance site linked to below - not sure about that one though - anyone had some good experiences in the swing, salsa, or tango scene in Zurich?

I'm a long-time pupil and big fan of Marianne Kaiser.

Whereas you do learn a lot with her, it is by far not the fastest means to learn. I'd recommend Läderach in Oerlikon for that sort of thing, or the Migros school, also in Oerlikon.

If you're not in a hurry though, and would prefer not to have too much pressure while maybe affording lots of detours and escapades into disciplines you probably won't need, Kaiser is very much unbeatable.

Her end of year ball, the Kaiserball, is just pure magic.

I disagree, Zürich has a very active ballroom dancing base. maybe they're not as mareting orented as the Salsa folks are, but that doesn't mean they don't exist.

The best place to start is go to a course and you'll soon learn of all the opportunties. The big dancing schools all have their own more or less regular dancing events. There are also some dancings in the broader Zürich area where you can go for social dancing. For example the Dancers Club in Schwamendingen, the Pasadena in Volketswil, the Aladin in Baar and two or three more in the Luzern area.

There is also a guy in Zürich called Rolf Schneider. You can't get far in the dancing scene without running into him or one of his friends at some point. He organsies events quite regularly and if you're interested you should get onto his mailing list.

Hi guys,

Seems there is a lot of motivated dancers around here! That's really cool!

I can also recommend Marianne Kaiser's dance school. I enjoyed the lessons a lot. And the ball is really a treat. Marianne recruits 50 or mor teenager couples for a Vienna style opening which is very spectacular, there are several bands, including one playing swing and jazz and rock, and ladies really dress up - big evening.

I'll be in a jive course soon there with Monika as a teacher, she is really nice and dynamic and encouraging.

I've tried a the Migros dance (in Oerlikon dance school every Wednesday night (?)) there is a lot of space, the room is nice and cool, but at least on the night I went there, the atmosphere was not exactely crazy...

I've heard of Dancers and Aladin but haven't tried yet - does it sound a good idea to go and discover new places as a small group? There is also some partanz nights in Kaufleuten that sound quite good.

For many many addresses, try this
http://ballett-shop.ctek.ch/shop_con...47c0f0279caac4
Some are commercial schools, some are more social clubs.

Oh yes, I agree that Monika is an excellent teacher.

Ballroom dancing on the whole is a very enjoyable experience and I can only recommend it.

I actually have the impression that in Zürich most people can dance, at least the basics, which I can't exactly say of most other countries I've lived. So the dancing tradition is more alive here than elsewhere.

Does anyone know of any (ballroom) dance schools, for total beginners, where the instruction is in English?

I used to be an ace Ballroom dancer. Won every single competition I was in (local level) I can teach you...

Edit. You are married with a kid... never mind ;-)

^LOL

as in any other dancing activity is funny to notice that most women do it because of the beauty of the dance and most men do it for the beauty of the woman

Talk to Marianne Kaiser of the Tanzschule Kaiser.

The official courses are in Germany but her English is very fluent and she does private lessons. I'm not sure whether she is expensive though. Maybe if several people of this forum got together she woule even do a regular course in English? Just an idea.