Dancers of the Month - Dec 2019

Meet Hannah Palmer & Andy Pasquesi, our December Dancers of the Month! They grew up about 15 mins away from each other in the suburbs of Chicago, but only met two years ago! They got engaged this summer and will be getting married on February 29th, 2020. 

Hannah, who works full time and is an MBA student, had a break from school in September and they decided to try something they had always wanted to do… dancing! Even when her break from school ended, they loved it so much, they decided to continue.

While they’ve only been dancing with us for a short time, they’ve been killin’ it in class and we recently welcomed them to our Intermediate/Advanced Ballroom. 

What is your favorite style of dance?

Definitely waltz. We can’t decide between slow waltz and Viennese (fast) Waltz yet.  

Do you use your dance skills in any social settings? 

Our new dance skills have been coming in handy: a lot of our friends are getting married (i.e., wedding receptions) and Hannah is finishing up her MBA (i.e., business school galas). Before taking classes, our options were basically: a) 8th-grade-style slow dancing or b) jumping up and down to pop songs. But now we know how to recognize the time signature of the music—and then move into one of the choreographies we’ve learned.

Why do you keep coming back to BDC?

For many reasons! We love feeling like we are learning new dance moves and choreography each week and we have so much fun at class. We also have met some really great people through BDC—everyone is so kind and welcoming! But probably most importantly, it is the one time a week where we actually leave work at a decent time and spend some quality time together. It's fun to have a hobby and feel like we are working together to accomplish something.

What would you say to someone that is thinking about taking classes at Ballroom Dance Chicago?

You will never be bored! The instructors throw a lot at you. If you practice between classes, you can progress quickly but it’s not essential—everyone is super supportive so you can learn comfortably at your own pace. Just hang in there and you’ll be happy with the results.

Anything else you want to add?

Our only regret is that we didn’t start sooner—we could’ve been dancing for a year by now!