By Audrey Levine
Editor’s note: With this feature, we’re continuing our look at local opportunities for learning artistic skills.
With close to 10 different dance studios open in Hillsborough alone, dance has risen in popularity both among performers and viewers, spending their nights either taking lessons or becoming engrossed in the latest television program featuring professional and amateur dancers.
Local studios offer a range of programs to teach dancers from age 3 to adult, who are all looking for a new activity or a way to stay in shape.
The music played and the students began their waltz Tuesday, gliding across the dance floor as they practiced their steps over and over, watching each other and trying to improve their movements with each turn of their hips and move of their heads.
”How’s it going?” asked Marek Gabor, co-owner with his wife, Denisa Jancusova, of G&J Studios on Jill Court. He stood at the edge of the dance floor and watched as the dancers continued to move across the floor.
”Better,” they all replied with a bit of uncertainty in their voices as Mr. Gabor grabbed the hand of one of his students and led her to the center of the floor to demonstrate the next step of the combination.
”I hope they get from the class an appreciation of the quality of dance they are doing,” Mr. Gabor said. “They have an enjoyment and appreciation of doing it well. Once they get it right, they are able to lead or follow anyone.”
The studio, which Mr. Gabor said he and his wife opened in August 2007, offers different forms of international and American styles of ballroom dance, including waltz, samba, mambo and Viennese waltz, all of which are taught through four weeks of group lessons.
”This is a great way to stay in shape and have fun,” he said. “It is also a great way to spend your free time and meet people.”
Throughout the evening’s class, the nine students, ranging in age from 16 to 70, learned basic steps and turns separately and with partners, working to master a basic combination to both fast and slow waltz music.
”Back, back,” Mr. Gabor said as he demonstrated a step with one woman and tried to get her to move her foot behind her as she began a turn.
”That is back,” she replied.
”No, it’s not,” he said, kicking her foot with his.
Mr. Gabor said that people with prior dance training often have an easier time getting into the ballroom styles because they have a better understanding of how to control their bodies. On the other hand, he said, those who do not have the background have the opportunity to learn steps fresh.
”Other styles use the same techniques to achieve the character of movement,” he said. “But there are many bad habits that would be hard to break. Ballroom in general can look natural.”
But despite all the technical aspects of ballroom dancing, Mr. Gabor said that in order to emphasize the social aspect of the dance, the studio also offers weekend social dances for people to come and have a good time.
For those looking to actually train, he said, private and group classes are offered to help students prepare to compete professionally or just to learn a new skill.
”I enjoy teaching because I like when people appreciate what I am trying to give,” Mr. Gabor said. “And I enjoy the feedback I get when they learn things.”
Although he spends a great deal of his time teaching, Mr. Gabor and his wife have been performing since they were 15 years old and living in Slovakia. He said they trained to be teachers before moving to America four years ago when they also began to perform in competitions across the country.
”We had been teaching independently (before moving here),” he said. “But we didn’t want to travel anymore. We wanted to get our students in one place.”
Now, Mr. Gabor said, he and his wife are ranked as finalists in the National Championships of Ballroom Dancing, held in Florida, where they competed in September.
”If the dancing is correct, it is the harmony of the body, music and spirit,” he said.
The students attending the waltz class continued practicing throughout the evening, switching partners as they moved across the large dance floor that spanned the length of the entire studio, which Mr. Gabor said he and his wife designed, having studied engineering at Technical University in Slovakia.
”This is the best floor around,” said Diane Duquette, of Readington, who attends class with her husband, Paul. “We have been dancing for seven years. We have to keep taking classes or we will lose what we learn.”
In total, Mr. Gabor said the studio sees about 130 students, with 30 attending group lessons, 50 taking private classes and another 50 attending the weekend socials.
”People hear about us through word of mouth and from going to competitions,” he said. “The shows build up interest.”
Some interest, Mr. Gabor said, also comes from the recent influx of dance-centered television shows, including ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars,” which consistently reaches more than 10 million viewers and is now in its sixth season of ballroom dancing. Still, he said, the popularity of the shows is not what people usually use as a basis for deciding to take lessons.
”People keep talking about the shows, but there are many who started dancing before they began,” he said. “The shows increase interest, but people have other reasons to dance. They want to, or they are getting ready for an event, like a wedding.”
Judging by the various ages in the Tuesday class alone, Mr. Gabor said that ballroom dancing is something that does not require previous training, but just a desire to learn and dance.
”It is something you can do correctly at any age and any level,” he said. “It is really like walking in a rhythm.”
For more information on G&J Studios, visit the Web site at gandjstudios.com.
