August 22, 2023 • 44 mins
Episode 9: Join me to hear Morgana's story of starting her dance journey as a young ballerina, only to reconnect with her love of dance again through the delightful world of West Coast Swing alongside her husband Devin. Prompted by learning that partner dance was the number one tool in preventing and reversing dementia associated with Alzheimer's, her husband signed them up for Tango but then they discovered the rhythm and social world of West Coast Swing. Get ready to be inspired by the Morgana's journey.
Links:
Morgana Rae: Make Money Fall in Love with you for Abundance and Prosperity
West Coast Dancers Mentioned on the Podcast:
Ben Morris, Jordan Frisbee, Tatiana Millman, Victoria Henk, Benji Schwimmer, Tara Trafzer, Emily Huang, Emeline Rochefeville, Samantha Jane Buckwalter
World Swing Dance Council
Contact me at happysweatlife@gmail.com for questions, suggestions, or to be put on the email list and be notified of new episodes.
Find my World Groove movement zoom class on Thursdays, under my name, at: https://theworldgroovemovement.com/virtual-search/
If you're interested in starting a podcast of your own, consider joining the SPI Community. The All Access Pass, in particular, has a step by step course for starting a podcast which absolutely was key for creating and launching my podcast. And equally important, I made connections with other fellow entrepreneurs/podcasters. If you do sign up through my affiliate link, I will receive a commission fee.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Lisa (00:10):
Welcome to the Happy Sweat Life Podcast.
My name is Lisa Rung, and todayI'm very excited to be talking
to Morgana Rae.
Morgana is a number oneinternational best selling
author and a seven figurespiritual life and business
coach for 29 years.
She was voted the best coach of2022 for tangible results by the
(00:31):
Life Coach Code Institute.
A favorite guest on television,radio, and print, Morgana has
guided Tens of thousands ofentrepreneurs, innovators,
healers, and humanitarians toheal the rift between heart,
spirit, and money and to savethe world as only they can.
today we're going to talk aboutMorgana's involvement and love
(00:53):
of West Coast Swing.
So maybe you can sort of tell usa little bit about what West
Coast Swing is.
So for anybody that doesn'tknow.
Morgana (01:03):
Well.
So swing dancing as we see it inmovies, you know, from the like
twenties, thirties, and fortiesas it evolved on the East Coast
jitterbug and all that kind ofstuff.
When it got to the West coast,think in the sixties, And by the
(01:24):
way, Lindy hop and Jitterbug andall that kind of stuff actually
started with West African dance,over to the US and combined
with, you know, jazz.
And then when it got to the Westcoast, it was already, I think
the sixties and they werelooking at, well, how do we do
(01:46):
swing It's dance to rock, bluesand, and different, a different
style of dancing.
So this is, it's swing, butit's, I would say a little
slinkier
Lisa (02:02):
Okay.
Morgana (02:02):
and, and it's not just sixties rock, it's like
contemporary music, whatever ispopular now.
And one of my teachers said thata student of his described West
coast swing dance as If SnoopDogg danced swing.
Lisa (02:20):
Oh,
Morgana (02:21):
So it's, it's, it's different.
There are lots of differentkinds of swing.
There's something called shag onthe East coast that I really,
really, really wanna learn.
It's just not done as much onthe west coast.
So one of the fun things aboutbeing on the West Coast where I
am is because this form of swingdeveloped here.
(02:46):
Most of the world's best dancersof it, world champions,
celebrities in the swing danceworld, live minutes from my
house,
Lisa (02:57):
Wow.
Morgana (02:57):
which is kind of mind blowing.
So my are kind of the, the kingsand queens and celebrities of
the, the form, which doesn'tmean it's only here.
I mean, it's huge in Asia.
There's also a bunch of westcoast swing dancers in France
who blow my mind.
(03:18):
Mostly they married people fromSouthern California and then
added and then took it toFrance, and they're like the
world's best dancers.
And you've got it in Russia andSouth America and.
Once a year.
This month, August, there is aglobal flash mob where West
Coast swing dancers in countrieseverywhere have a day where we
(03:43):
all dance the same dance withour partners.
And it's evolved in recent yearsso that it isn't So strictly,
well men do this and women dothat.
It's more leaders and followers.
the latest thing, which isreally taken off in Europe and,
(04:06):
and is, we're also seeing it nowa lot in the United States is
leaders and followers switchingoff.
So
Lisa (04:16):
During the dance itself?
Morgana (04:17):
During the dance
Lisa (04:18):
Oh wow.
Morgana (04:19):
Where this person is, the leader and then, whoa, wait,
wait a minute.
And now she's leading.
And women can be leaders, guyscan be followers.
Some of the very best, you know,the best leaders learn how to
follow and the best followerslearn how to lead.
And it's, it's also fun to beseeing because I, back in the
(04:41):
eighties, I was a ballet dancer,like that was dance.
And I also You know, did jazzand I did African jazz and I
did, you know, Martha GrahamModern because they incorporated
that at the Boston BalletCompany.
And you know, I just danced, butI was ballet first and foremost,
and ballerinas starved.
(05:04):
Like there were stories of, allyou have to do is order hot
water and then grab some ketchuppackets and presto, that's lunch
Lisa (05:14):
Oh gosh.
Morgana (05:15):
Tomato soup that, so that was the model of dance that
I grew up with.
And now you have all these kids,all these young people who are
taking it and running with itand innovating and it's, it's
(05:36):
all improvisational, which is soweird for my ballerina brain.
And honestly, that's how, why wegot into it.
I don't know if you know thestory.
So
Lisa (05:46):
no.
Please tell.
Morgana (05:47):
back in 2016, I found out that my father had
Alzheimer's,
Lisa (05:53):
I'm so
Morgana (05:53):
and I think that's, I think that's when I found out
it's, no, I think it was earlierthan that.
It was probably 2000 and, well,anyway, so.
My father had Alzheimer's and Iwas visiting a friend in
Northern California, a formerballerina like myself, who said,
Hey, wanna go to a waltz?
(06:14):
And that's totally what you doin Northern California,
especially if you're an exballerina.
Sure.
So I went to a waltz and I endedup dancing with a guy who turned
out to be a Stanford doctor, andhe told me that partner dancing
is bar none.
The number one activity toprevent and reverse Alzheimer's
related dementia.
Lisa (06:35):
Oh my gosh.
Morgana (06:36):
So I went home and I told my husband, and next thing
I knew, he signed us up forTango because that's the kind of
like super loving guy he is.
And you, Lisa, you know that healso came up with the idea that
we get married a hundred timesin a hundred countries
Lisa (06:52):
Yes.
Morgana (06:53):
I met him after I slayed My Love monster the way I
teach slay your money Monster.
So anyway.
He signed us up for Tango.
We were really bad at Tango.
We never really got good atTango, but while were taking
Tango, our teacher said, youknow, you're so terrible at
Tango.
Maybe you should take West Coastswing too so that you're less
terrible at Tango And we gotbetter at West Coast swing, or
(07:16):
at least we thought we did, youdon't know what you don't know.
And actually West Coast Swingand Tango are considered to be
the two hardest partner dancesthat there are.
Lisa (07:27):
Oh, no.
Okay.
Morgana (07:29):
so, but I didn't know that, you know, I was just like
learning how to count six countpatterns in an eight count
music, which is kind of mindbending.
Lisa (07:40):
Yes.
Morgana (07:41):
You grow up with everything as choreographed in
counts of four.
So the thing is, the better youget at something, the more
addicted you get.
And I'm just good enough now.
You, I think we've been dancingfor five or six years now to, to
(08:01):
actually fool people intothinking I'm better than I am.
Lisa (08:04):
I'm sure you're great.
Morgana (08:07):
So yeah, you know, it's a, it's a really, it's a cool
community.
It's a cool culture.
Very different than ballet.
One of my favorite things islike really good dancers.
Of course there are gonna beexceptions and there's you know,
there will be jerks here andthere, but overall there's a
(08:28):
culture where it's like, well, Iremember when I was a beginner,
so I'm going to partner withbeginners.
Lisa (08:36):
Oh wow.
That's so nice.
That's so great.
Morgana (08:39):
You know, because we all pull each that, we all pull
each other up.
We all began as beginners.
And so I will dance withbeginners and I'll dance with
people at my level, and I'lldance with people who are outta
my league I'll learn from it.
And.
That's what social dancing is.
(08:59):
It's social and you learn fromevery partner because everybody
has a very different preference.
They, everybody has theirfavorite default patterns.
Some people like a really kindof heavy lead and some people
like a very light touch.
Lisa (09:15):
Hmm.
Morgana (09:16):
And the feeling of connection the way I know what
my partner wants to do becausethat was the thing I never I'd
be able to do a lot of it.
It's, it's so much in connectionis the pole, but it's very light
and it has so much to do withthe way you hold your shoulder
(09:38):
and your back so that you canfeel the pole and you can twist
intuitively know from where yourpartner is standing in the line
if he wants you to go this wayor this way, or straight ahead.
and, and oh another reallybecause it's improvisational.
(09:58):
I think the biggest trick for meto learn and why I love dancing
with people, I don't know, likewith my husband, I anticipate
him all the time, and I'm aterrible follower because I, I'm
always guessing ahead what he'sgonna do, but with an amateur, I
actually have to wait.
to always hold back just alittle bit.
(10:19):
Followers are typically likejust behind the music and then,
and then you catch up and that'sthe swinging us of it.
It's like which makes it farmore interesting than step,
step, step, step.
It's like step, step, step,step, step to just, you know,
find out what does your partnerwant you to do.
Lisa (10:41):
Wow.
That's, yeah, that'sinteresting.
It, it's funny'cause I, I kindalooked up what the definition of
West Coast.
Swing is, and they said it, it'san elastic look that results
from extension and compressiontechnique of partner connection
is, yeah, yeah.
Morgana (10:59):
You're either apart or you're together, and when you're
together, you're pushing apartand.
when you watch it, and I sorecommend that you go on YouTube
and watch some of these dances.
And my favorites are Ben Morris,Victoria Henk Tatiana Mollman
(11:24):
Jordan.
but Tatiana and Jordan just, youknow, Google that.
By the way, these are all myteachers, starting with Ben
Morris.
And Jordan and Tatiana, they'rejust so much fun and it's so
much more than the basepatterns.
And oh, Benji Schwimmer, who wonI think season two of So you
(11:46):
Think You Can Dance, he'sanother Westie.
and real dancers, you know, drawfrom everything.
So it's, you've got West Coastswing, but then they'll throw in
stuff from Salsa or from Tangoor from Lindy Hop, east Coast
swing, you know, just hip hop.
(12:08):
'cause they're always just,we're just weird.
Free flow, modern.
There's this dancer in Francenamed Emmeline who is she and
her partner are So elastic andthey do all sorts of like, you
know, weird improvisationalstuff and then they land on the
beat and that's that funexperimental place where one of
(12:30):
my teachers had us do thisexercise where you're holding a
piece of tissue paper and so youhave to maintain the same, my
partner's holding one end my,I'm holding the other and the.
The trick is to always keep ittense, but never tear it and use
that as an exercise in a very,very light sensitive follow
(12:54):
where you stay connected thewhole time.
But it's, it's that level oflightness.
Lisa (13:02):
That's really challenging.
gosh.
Yeah.
Morgana (13:06):
fun.
It was wild and I've, I, it hitme last time that I was at.
A swing dance event becausethere are competitions going on
all the time everywhere in theworld, and that's where there's
a lot of social dancing andthere are a lot of classes with
all the best dancers andteachers and superstars and
(13:29):
winners.
And honestly, every one of myteachers now is a world
champion, including Andrew'sson, who was my very, very first
teacher, just like swept all thechampionships last year.
So, you know, they, they all arenow.
And it hit me while I wassitting there that I, I, this is
(13:50):
like my comic-con, I've becomeas like obsessively nitpicky.
Like I can get the inside jokeswhen dancers, Do when they dance
in the style of another dancer,it's like, oh, I can see who
(14:11):
that is.
That's, that's, you know, Tori,you know, there are just so many
like super dancers, but they allhave own imprint and just like,
I could do the same back withballet in the day.
There were certain people whoare like very, you know,
flourishy and, and we have thesame, the main thing is, I don't
(14:36):
believe exercise should everfeel like punishment.
Lisa (14:39):
Right.
Right.
Morgana (14:40):
You won't do it.
I was put into ballet'cause Iwas fat and my mom didn't want
to be embarrassed by a fatdaughter.
What a healthy message.
And so there was always thislike kind of pressure and
heaviness'cause I had to earnlove.
Lisa (14:57):
Oh,
Morgana (14:58):
But I love dance because it's fun and it's life
affirming, and I think, youknow, while we have bodies, we
wanna move our bodies however wecan.
There are professional dancersin wheelchairs who are amazing,
you know, so dance, swim, walk,yoga.
(15:25):
Whatever, move your body whileyou have it, but make it fun,
not a punishment.
Lisa (15:33):
yes, that's excellent advice.
I love that.
Yep, and that's kind of what I'mtrying to communicate in my
podcast is that there are waysto enjoy.
And look forward to you know,exercise.
So that's great.
I was kind of reading a littlebit about the history too.
And one of the things I wasreading that is that they banned
(15:55):
jitterbug, maybe in the films orsomething, because too many
people were getting injured.
And so they sort of did thisWest coast swing, like that had
a slot format to it.
Morgana (16:08):
It does it.
It does.
That's one of the differences isso Lindy uses a circle and West
Coast swing uses a slot.
And in West Coast swing, thewoman really does the heavy
lifting.
So well men will lift a woman,but.
the guy pretty much stands inthe middle steps aside and sends
(16:30):
the woman down the slot and backthe slot.
So we're, a lot of it is justgoing back and forth and, and
then it's everything in betweenthat makes it interesting and
the styling so that you can dothe same pattern a dozen times
and it won't look like it's thesame pattern.
But yeah, that's one of thethings that makes it weird and
(16:53):
tricky and, and specificallyWest Coast swing.
It also, all these socialdances, like you would never
know it, looking at Dancing withthe Stars, but all these social
dances like Tango and Swing,were designed to dance in really
crowded spaces.
So, so like Argentine tango isactually very intimate.
(17:17):
It's, you know, you aren't goingall over the floor because
you're crushed in a little patioand West coast swing.
The slot allows a of people tocram in and also gauge where the
next person is.
'cause sometimes, know, some ofthese dances are a lot of people
in a really tiny amount ofsquare footage.
Lisa (17:37):
Oh, that's interesting.
I never thought about thataspect of it, but yeah, that
makes a lot of sense.
I know you were talking a littlebit earlier about sort of your,
your growing up with dance and Iwondered if you could just tell
that story
Morgana (17:50):
I think one of the cool things about returning to West
Coast swing now is I was adancer for so much of my life
when I was young and then Iwasn't.
And to like wake up and be adancer again is really does feel
like waking up because there issuch an aliveness to being able
(18:14):
to use your body to music.
Like when they teach you thechoreography, it's so dry.
then as soon as music comes on,everything becomes easy and it
all makes sense.
I was honestly, I was put intoballet at seven years old by my
(18:37):
mother'cause the doctordetermined that I had
hypothyroid and like my dad andmy mother in her questionable
wisdom.
Decided to put me into balletrather than actually give me
medicine.
Lisa (18:54):
Oh,
Morgana (18:55):
Yeah.
Which,
Lisa (18:57):
Interesting choice.
Morgana (18:58):
yeah.
I, I think that I always, for avery long time took for granted
that they made, she made theright choice.
And then like I started thyroidabout a year ago, and suddenly
all these like shoulder painsand things disappeared and it
occurred to me, wow, I couldhave skipped a lot of eating
(19:18):
disorder years, mom.
But here's the thing, ballet wassuch a gift.
It really, for all the bloodytoe shoes and.
Hard work that goes into it.
(19:40):
Any kind of dance connects youto your body.
There are so many, honestly.
Hello.
Look at the world today.
Challenges to living in a bodyand in a flesh suit.
So grab the joys where you canfind them.
and it's really hard to findanything more joyful than dance.
(20:04):
It's what we've been doing, youknow, as long as we've been
human
Lisa (20:10):
Yes.
I mean, you see all the littlebabies dancing.
So natural.
Morgana (20:14):
and, and what I love about West Coast, like ballet
clear expiration date.
Like I would enjoy, you know,ballet for middle aged ladies
with questionable knees at thisage, which is so weird'cause I
know how to plie and so I don'tknow why my knees hurt now.
Lisa (20:33):
Mm
Morgana (20:35):
but the thing about West Coast is it's something you
can do with age like Can I dothe deep lunges and dips and,
and pirouettes and fouettes.
By the way, you can do fouettesin, in west coast.
You really can and pirouettesand attitude and all this there
(20:57):
because, so there's so manyballerinas doing West Coast now.
But when you dance, you'redancing on an almost flat foot,
which took me years to figureout how to lower my heel.
Gives you, actually, it's justdifferent center of gravity.
It gives you more connection tothe ground, more balance.
(21:18):
But you can do west coast reallyinto your nineties.
you can, you just strip away.
It's some of the acrobatics andyou can still do this dance
forever.
And I love, love, love dancingwith older partners'cause they
(21:42):
are the best.
They know what they're doing.
Their lead is so clean and soclear, and they are so
economical, you know, with, withwhat they do.
And you really can dance thisforever.
Lisa (21:59):
That's wonderful.
Yeah.
I love dances like that, thatyou can just adapt and change as
you, as you get older andcontinue to enjoy it.
(22:23):
I was thinking too, I wonderedif your ballet, like, helped
with, you were talking about theshoulder, you know, having the
proper shoulder thing, like, doyou feel like that helped you
in?
Morgana (22:32):
I It does.
And it doesn't like, oh my God,yes.
Like, You know, when teachersare teaching you how to turn out
in West Coast swing and show theheel, it's like, oh, honey.
Yeah.
No, not a problem.
My problem is that I keepwanting to extend my leg too
much or and which can trip mypartner, you know?
(22:56):
Because ballet is always mydefault in my body, but there's
so much that, yeah, I know howto spot, I know how to turn.
even in my fifties.
And the hardest part for me isballet.
Your center of gravity is veryhigh, it's very lifted, west
(23:18):
coast is very down.
It's very rooted, and you'rearching your back and sticking
out your butt, which doesn'tprotect your lower back like
ballet does.
So in terms of injuries, Iactually found that ballet
protected my body better thanWest Coast swing does.
Lisa (23:34):
Huh.
That's
Morgana (23:36):
I, I think that's, that's why the knee has been
hurting, and it's not just me.
Everybody seems to have kneetrouble, and I really am not
trying to put that out there aslike, stay away from Do it.
You know how far you take it istotally up to you, and you can
just have so much fun as abeginner.
There are so many beginnerclasses.
I think that it's just sopopular and there are beginner
(24:01):
classes everywhere, and thereare intermediates and advanced
people who are always takingbeginner classes because we need
to perfect our basics.
Forever and go back and justimprove our form.
And especially when you havereally, really good teachers and
(24:24):
there's so many of them outthere because when they're not
winning their awards, how dothese dancers make their money?
They make their their moneyteaching classes.
So if you're in SouthernCalifornia, go to Irvine and
take a Thursday beginner classwith Ben Morris.
You must, must, must, or you cantake online classes with, with
(24:46):
Tatiana and Jordan.
I like the in person because youknow, you get a feeling dancing
with different people and youknow when there are flare ups of
COVID it's also really good thatthere's a virtual community too,
where you your teacher can seeyou on screen and correct your
(25:08):
form.
Lisa (25:09):
Oh, wow, okay, so they're teaching over Zoom.
Morgana (25:11):
Yeah.
It started in 2020.
I don't think it was much, Idon't know if it was a thing at
all before 2020, but in 2020teachers had to switch online,
and so for two years, my husbandand I didn't go social dancing
at all and.
I grew and I was better by thetime I returned.
(25:36):
cause I was, I had anopportunity to spend two years
just learning new technique, newstyles, new basics.
Every week I would learnfollower stuff.
My husband would learn leaderstuff.
And then once a month we wouldhave a guided practice where we
would learn to do stufftogether.
Lisa (25:54):
do you feel like you've developed your own style?
You were talking aboutrecognizing the style in other
Morgana (25:58):
Yeah, I would wonder what other people would think it
is.
I think anything I do is gonnahave that, like floaty ballet
lyricism to it.
and I can get staccato, but it'sstill very, you know, it's
molded by the dance classes thatI took in my youth, so that's
(26:20):
always gonna show up.
Lisa (26:21):
And did, did Devin have any dance background?
Morgana (26:25):
None.
Lisa (26:26):
Okay.
Morgana (26:27):
None.
Nothing.
And the first few years he feltso like he had two left feet.
I mean this.
And he was only doing it for me.
So generous.
And now he's got swag.
He cute, he has charm and he canlearn choreography.
(26:49):
And we've done the flash mobthing, we have done the swing
team thing, which was sounbelievably inappropriately
difficult but fun and grew us,and I got to learn how to do
stuff that I had been wanting tolearn for years.
So, and yeah, you know, it'sAgain, everybody starts as a
(27:16):
beginner.
Lisa (27:17):
Right, right.
do people feel comfortable justgoing alone?
Do you have to have a partnerwhen you get
Morgana (27:22):
No, you totally don't have to have a partner and
you're gonna switch partnersbecause that's how you learn.
And that's, that's the fun andthe excitement is everybody's so
different.
And I will enjoy some peoplemore than others.
And I'm sure some people enjoyme more than others do because
(27:42):
everybody has their ownbackground and they have their
own defaults and preferences.
But remember when I said wayback earlier that it's the
number one activity to preventand reverse Alzheimer's.
It's the not knowing.
It's the being in the moment andputting it together.
(28:04):
It's the.
It is such a form of meditationbecause, and this is why I get
high from it, is you can't thinkabout anything else because you
have to be so present to everysingle moment.
'cause I have no idea what mypartner is gonna lead me into.
And then after that, and thenafter that.
So I have to be waiting andlistening and paying attention,
(28:27):
responding and playing everymoment.
And then you throw in music andmusicality and timing to it
also.
And then the more advanced youget, it's not just patterns,
it's like, and the music swellsup here, so we have to do
something that shows that, youknow, and change the pattern a
little bit and hit the littlebeats and, and it's easier.
(28:54):
the better you get at it becauseyou aren't counting 1, 2, 3, and
four, five and six, which is thebase pattern most of the steps.
You just start to, your bodyjust knows.
And the better, you know, themore time goes on.
And I'm not quite there yet.
(29:16):
I am, and then I'm not
Lisa (29:17):
Yeah, it reminds me somewhat of figure skating.
you have your jump and then youdon't have your jump.
And the more you kind of get thebasics, the more you can
improvise and add on and doother things.
The other thing I was watchingon the videos on YouTube were
Jack and Jill competitions.
Morgana (29:36):
Oh yes.
So this is, this is the coolestthing.
So yes, there are choreographeddances and competitions like,
you know, the flash mobchoreographed JT Swing
choreographed.
But at its heart, swing dance,and tango and salsa, bachata and
cumbia, and all these dances areimprovisational.
(29:58):
you don't know what you're gonnaget, and that's why they're so
good for the brain.
'cause the brain is going, what?
What?
What is catching up isstruggling and figuring it out.
And always surprised.
And that's, that's brain food.
Jack and Jill.
You don't know what your music'sgonna be.
You're gonna have a slow one andquick one so that if you're good
at quick, you're gonna have todo slow.
(30:19):
If you're good at slow, you'regonna have to do quick.
Two,
Lisa (30:21):
Oh,
Morgana (30:22):
you don't know what the music's gonna be and it might
suck.
or it might be something you'venever heard before and you dunno
who your partner's gonna be oreven what gender your partner's
gonna be because anybody wholeads is a jack, regardless of
gender.
Anybody who follows is a Jill.
So you may get your wife or youmay get somebody you've never
(30:48):
danced with before.
and, and there are levels.
So I would qualify for like abeginner'cause I have no points
and I've never competed.
And what I've heard from like,the best superstars that I
totally idolize who are so goodat this, that it's like, And
they tell me that the beginnerJack and Jill is the hardest
(31:11):
because it's the most unfair andthe most subjective and
arbitrary.
First of all, you don't know ifthe partner you have has been
dancing for five years or twoweeks,
Lisa (31:27):
wow.
Morgana (31:28):
and judges have different taste.
Some judge below the waist andthey're looking at like the
cleanliness of your pattern andyour timing and some look at
above the waist and they'relooking at your style.
And those are two very differentthings.
So but what happens iseventually, Eventually cream
(31:55):
rises to the top, meaning thatsomebody is so outlandishly good
that you can't not notice, theyget better and better and better
until finally they breakthrough.
But I was at an event in Aprilwhere a guy I know who's a West
coast swing teacher in thecentral Valley up at San Luis
(32:20):
Obispo.
I mean, fricking good.
So good.
Didn't make the next level inthe competition for the Jack and
Jill at that particular eventbecause somebody wasn't watching
him at the right moment.
Who knows?
(32:40):
So you cannot, cannot take itpersonally.
And then when you go to theall-star level, because.
They keep having people get somuch better and better and
better that they keep having toadd new
Lisa (32:55):
New categories up there.
Morgana (32:56):
Yeah.
It's like, oh, whatever.
You know?
It's like there may be one ortwo that are just your favorite,
but honestly, at that level,everybody's so good and so
perfect that it's like, yeah,whatever.
Pick, pick the one you want.
(33:18):
There's a newish dancer, likenot so much new, but she's young
and I saw her for the first timethis year and I saw her during
the Jack and Jill for whateverher division was and I could not
take my eyes off her.
And she won and now she's likepartnering with all the
(33:40):
superstars'cause she's soAmazing.
And she makes it all look sodamn easy and fun.
Her name is Emily, she'sactually doing a lot of
partnering with Ben Morris thesedays.
Cute young Asian woman who islike, I think the next superstar
(34:00):
in my humble opinion,
Lisa (34:03):
What do you think makes her, like, why were you
fascinated by her or watchingher?
Morgana (34:07):
because her musicality is so perfect.
So here's what musicality is.
We all learn basic patterns.
But when somebody can stop or dosome kind of move or add some
little flourish that perfectlymatches the music that they've
never heard before, that's whenwe call it musicality.
(34:28):
And that's like, that's like thenext level.
And as you get better and betterand better, you get counted more
and more on that is just theartistry.
And so her technique is just sosweet.
And her artistic expression isjust so exciting.
(34:50):
You know, it's like cool and hipand funny and, and musical, and
it's satisfying to watch.
And I think that's what all ofthe, the best dancers are.
Like how did they do that atthat moment not break anything.
Lisa (35:12):
I think too, what you were saying before, like the few that
I've watched, there is this likesense of humor in it, like, like
a little like nod to something.
I don't know.
It's just sort of funny when,when they get
Morgana (35:24):
Morris and Tara Trafzer are probably the best at doing
funny, and and that's what I,that's why I love watching them.
Tara especially, she did onewith this young guy named Leo,
where at one point she holds herarm like this and he leaps
through her arm.
He's jumping through a hoop, andthen he holds his arm like that
(35:49):
and just like wiggles her wayout very easily.
And then he spins in this like,Endless pirouette and rips off
his shirt so everybody can seehis like hot chest.
And then she starts doing apirouette and pretends she's
gonna pull it off, but shedoesn't.
It's, it's just such a, youknow, she's fun.
And then she did a dance withBen, which was something about
(36:12):
doing the song talking aboutDoing things wrong.
I don't even remember what thesong is.
And the whole dance turned intothis sort of demonstration of
how to dance badly.
Lisa (36:25):
Oh,
Morgana (36:26):
Just like holding on too hard, having, you know,
turning in.
It just, it, it was such a, itwas just, they're having so much
fun with it and yet they'restill dancing.
Even when they're dancing badly,they're dancing perfectly'cause
they're connected and, and theyknow what they're doing.
they're hitting all the beats,and I think that they, they won
(36:47):
first prize for that bad habits.
That was Google Ben Morris, badhabits, and and Tara.
That was the dance.
Okay.
Lisa (36:55):
I'll put some of this in the show notes, so people want
to see who you're referencing.
Morgana (37:00):
Yeah.
Jordan Frisbee finally.
You know, studying with them foryears, like Tatiana Millman
Jordan Frisbee, Tara Trafzer BenMorris Benji Schwimmer, those
are the names.
There's another one that Ireally, really love and I just,
my brain is not remembering hername at the moment.
(37:23):
I'm not really good at names anddates.
Lisa (37:27):
Well, I think you're doing great, so thank you for all
these names.
I
Morgana (37:31):
The main is just start wherever you are.
Take a class, do a social dance.
Dance with other beginners,dance with intermediates.
Dance with people who are betterthan you.
Dance with people who are worsethan you and try new things.
Lisa (37:42):
Yeah, and just, I think, know that you probably won't be
great at it right off the batusually.
It takes, takes a while.
Morgana (37:49):
Well, and this is, this is the thing.
The beginning is not fun.
The beginning is.
So robotic, it's like one, it'sjust learning to freaking count.
1, 2, 3, and four, five and six.
And all the thing about likeyour frame and the connection,
the good teachers will bedrilling it into from the
(38:11):
beginning, but you may not hearit.
And you just, you and you justget better.
And I've danced with beginnersand I see them get better.
And what really helped mebecause I was terrified of
social dancing for the longesttime because I can do anything
(38:31):
well in a class.
'cause I was a ballerina and wedid class but social dancing's
not a class.
So it terrified me.
I was so afraid I would get apartner who would be
disappointed and I think I didthe first time.
So I ran away and didn't comeback for years.
Who would be judgy or something?
And then I was leading aretreat, a rich witch retreat at
(38:54):
my house back in 2019, and weended at like 5:00 PM on
Thursday so that I could get tosocial dancing that evening, get
to my classes and my socialdancing, starting at seven that
evening.
And one of one of my clientswasn't leaving and going back to
(39:15):
Chicago was where she's fromuntil the next day.
So she came along with us andwent dancing.
And she got up on the socialdancing floor, have having never
danced West Coast swing in herlife, not knowing it at all, and
just danced with people and hada great time and everybody
danced with her and she had noshame and it was no problem.
(39:37):
And it was like, oh my God, whathave I been depriving myself of
for the last three years?
I have, she can do this, I cando this.
Lisa (39:51):
I think sometimes, I don't know, we get so much into our
head that it's a hindrancerather than a help, but.
Morgana (39:58):
Ballet was so perfectionist and judgy West
Coast is so different.
Everybody has, you know,different styles and some
teachers may have Differentbeliefs about things, and you
find what works for you, andthen you toss it out with a
(40:19):
different partner because itdoesn't work with a different
partner.
Lisa (40:21):
I love that there's so much improvisation in it.
I didn't really realize thatthat was a big part of it.
Morgana (40:27):
That's like what it really is.
The, the choreographed part isfor performance, but it's really
a social dance.
Lisa (40:39):
Yeah, I think that's a good point that you've brought
up a number of times toemphasize that it is a social
dance.
Morgana (40:45):
And most of the time nobody's even looking at you
because they're busy off dancingand worrying what they look
like.
Lisa (40:52):
it's about.
Right?
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Well, any final words that youwant to say about West Coast
Swing?
Morgana (41:01):
Yeah, well I think, you know, there's very little more
life affirming than dancing.
And you know, you introduced meat the beginning and my whole
thing is I've been a life coach.
This is my 30th year now.
I focus on relationship withmoney, or at least that's what
people think I focus on, I, it'sreally all about relationship
(41:22):
with life.
And the reason for money is onlyto serve, love, lifestyle, and
legacy, and dance hits at leasttwo of those, you know, right on
the nose.
Love life.
Do what you love.
Love your body.
Love what you do.
(41:44):
And have a great life.
healthy and enjoy your timehere,
Lisa (41:53):
I think dance can be so much about joy.
Just really enjoying, yeah,music, other people, moving, all
those things.
Morgana (42:02):
and if you're not enjoying it, find a different
teacher.
Find a different
Lisa (42:06):
I love that.
Well, thank you so much,Morgana, for speaking with me
about West Coast Swing
Morgana (42:12):
My pleasure.
Lisa (42:14):
And do you want to share your contact information
Morgana (42:17):
Oh yeah.
Lisa (42:18):
to get in touch with you?
Morgana (42:19):
you're curious about what I do and how to slay, your
money monster and change yourrelationship with money from a
monster to a honey.
Like Lee was talking about atthe beginning, there's so much
material for you.
Start with the free stuff atmorganarae.com.
It's just my name with the.comat the end.
(42:41):
Start with the four part videoseries for free and take the
money love quiz.
And based on your responses,there's No way to get this quiz
wrong, just based on yourresponses.
I will send you recommendationsfor what to do next, and I
always include free stuff.
(43:02):
So you know, dip your toe in thewater and see if you like my
approach.
morganarae.com
Lisa (43:09):
Wonderful.
I'll put that in the show notestoo in case anybody's Doesn't
understand how to spell
Morgana (43:14):
you.
Lisa (43:15):
Thank you.
Welcome to the Happy Sweat Life Podcast.
My name is Lisa Rung, and todayI'm very excited to be talking
to Morgana Rae.
Morgana is a number oneinternational best selling
author and a seven figurespiritual life and business
coach for 29 years.
She was voted the best coach of2022 for tangible results by the
(00:31):
Life Coach Code Institute.
A favorite guest on television,radio, and print, Morgana has
guided Tens of thousands ofentrepreneurs, innovators,
healers, and humanitarians toheal the rift between heart,
spirit, and money and to savethe world as only they can.
today we're going to talk aboutMorgana's involvement and love
(00:53):
of West Coast Swing.
So maybe you can sort of tell usa little bit about what West
Coast Swing is.
So for anybody that doesn'tknow.
Morgana (01:03):
Well.
So swing dancing as we see it inmovies, you know, from the like
twenties, thirties, and fortiesas it evolved on the East Coast
jitterbug and all that kind ofstuff.
When it got to the West coast,think in the sixties, And by the
(01:24):
way, Lindy hop and Jitterbug andall that kind of stuff actually
started with West African dance,over to the US and combined
with, you know, jazz.
And then when it got to the Westcoast, it was already, I think
the sixties and they werelooking at, well, how do we do
(01:46):
swing It's dance to rock, bluesand, and different, a different
style of dancing.
So this is, it's swing, butit's, I would say a little
slinkier
Lisa (02:02):
Okay.
Morgana (02:02):
and, and it's not just sixties rock, it's like
contemporary music, whatever ispopular now.
And one of my teachers said thata student of his described West
coast swing dance as If SnoopDogg danced swing.
Lisa (02:20):
Oh,
Morgana (02:21):
So it's, it's, it's different.
There are lots of differentkinds of swing.
There's something called shag onthe East coast that I really,
really, really wanna learn.
It's just not done as much onthe west coast.
So one of the fun things aboutbeing on the West Coast where I
am is because this form of swingdeveloped here.
(02:46):
Most of the world's best dancersof it, world champions,
celebrities in the swing danceworld, live minutes from my
house,
Lisa (02:57):
Wow.
Morgana (02:57):
which is kind of mind blowing.
So my are kind of the, the kingsand queens and celebrities of
the, the form, which doesn'tmean it's only here.
I mean, it's huge in Asia.
There's also a bunch of westcoast swing dancers in France
who blow my mind.
(03:18):
Mostly they married people fromSouthern California and then
added and then took it toFrance, and they're like the
world's best dancers.
And you've got it in Russia andSouth America and.
Once a year.
This month, August, there is aglobal flash mob where West
Coast swing dancers in countrieseverywhere have a day where we
(03:43):
all dance the same dance withour partners.
And it's evolved in recent yearsso that it isn't So strictly,
well men do this and women dothat.
It's more leaders and followers.
the latest thing, which isreally taken off in Europe and,
(04:06):
and is, we're also seeing it nowa lot in the United States is
leaders and followers switchingoff.
So
Lisa (04:16):
During the dance itself?
Morgana (04:17):
During the dance
Lisa (04:18):
Oh wow.
Morgana (04:19):
Where this person is, the leader and then, whoa, wait,
wait a minute.
And now she's leading.
And women can be leaders, guyscan be followers.
Some of the very best, you know,the best leaders learn how to
follow and the best followerslearn how to lead.
And it's, it's also fun to beseeing because I, back in the
(04:41):
eighties, I was a ballet dancer,like that was dance.
And I also You know, did jazzand I did African jazz and I
did, you know, Martha GrahamModern because they incorporated
that at the Boston BalletCompany.
And you know, I just danced, butI was ballet first and foremost,
and ballerinas starved.
(05:04):
Like there were stories of, allyou have to do is order hot
water and then grab some ketchuppackets and presto, that's lunch
Lisa (05:14):
Oh gosh.
Morgana (05:15):
Tomato soup that, so that was the model of dance that
I grew up with.
And now you have all these kids,all these young people who are
taking it and running with itand innovating and it's, it's
(05:36):
all improvisational, which is soweird for my ballerina brain.
And honestly, that's how, why wegot into it.
I don't know if you know thestory.
So
Lisa (05:46):
no.
Please tell.
Morgana (05:47):
back in 2016, I found out that my father had
Alzheimer's,
Lisa (05:53):
I'm so
Morgana (05:53):
and I think that's, I think that's when I found out
it's, no, I think it was earlierthan that.
It was probably 2000 and, well,anyway, so.
My father had Alzheimer's and Iwas visiting a friend in
Northern California, a formerballerina like myself, who said,
Hey, wanna go to a waltz?
(06:14):
And that's totally what you doin Northern California,
especially if you're an exballerina.
Sure.
So I went to a waltz and I endedup dancing with a guy who turned
out to be a Stanford doctor, andhe told me that partner dancing
is bar none.
The number one activity toprevent and reverse Alzheimer's
related dementia.
Lisa (06:35):
Oh my gosh.
Morgana (06:36):
So I went home and I told my husband, and next thing
I knew, he signed us up forTango because that's the kind of
like super loving guy he is.
And you, Lisa, you know that healso came up with the idea that
we get married a hundred timesin a hundred countries
Lisa (06:52):
Yes.
Morgana (06:53):
I met him after I slayed My Love monster the way I
teach slay your money Monster.
So anyway.
He signed us up for Tango.
We were really bad at Tango.
We never really got good atTango, but while were taking
Tango, our teacher said, youknow, you're so terrible at
Tango.
Maybe you should take West Coastswing too so that you're less
terrible at Tango And we gotbetter at West Coast swing, or
(07:16):
at least we thought we did, youdon't know what you don't know.
And actually West Coast Swingand Tango are considered to be
the two hardest partner dancesthat there are.
Lisa (07:27):
Oh, no.
Okay.
Morgana (07:29):
so, but I didn't know that, you know, I was just like
learning how to count six countpatterns in an eight count
music, which is kind of mindbending.
Lisa (07:40):
Yes.
Morgana (07:41):
You grow up with everything as choreographed in
counts of four.
So the thing is, the better youget at something, the more
addicted you get.
And I'm just good enough now.
You, I think we've been dancingfor five or six years now to, to
(08:01):
actually fool people intothinking I'm better than I am.
Lisa (08:04):
I'm sure you're great.
Morgana (08:07):
So yeah, you know, it's a, it's a really, it's a cool
community.
It's a cool culture.
Very different than ballet.
One of my favorite things islike really good dancers.
Of course there are gonna beexceptions and there's you know,
there will be jerks here andthere, but overall there's a
(08:28):
culture where it's like, well, Iremember when I was a beginner,
so I'm going to partner withbeginners.
Lisa (08:36):
Oh wow.
That's so nice.
That's so great.
Morgana (08:39):
You know, because we all pull each that, we all pull
each other up.
We all began as beginners.
And so I will dance withbeginners and I'll dance with
people at my level, and I'lldance with people who are outta
my league I'll learn from it.
And.
That's what social dancing is.
(08:59):
It's social and you learn fromevery partner because everybody
has a very different preference.
They, everybody has theirfavorite default patterns.
Some people like a really kindof heavy lead and some people
like a very light touch.
Lisa (09:15):
Hmm.
Morgana (09:16):
And the feeling of connection the way I know what
my partner wants to do becausethat was the thing I never I'd
be able to do a lot of it.
It's, it's so much in connectionis the pole, but it's very light
and it has so much to do withthe way you hold your shoulder
(09:38):
and your back so that you canfeel the pole and you can twist
intuitively know from where yourpartner is standing in the line
if he wants you to go this wayor this way, or straight ahead.
and, and oh another reallybecause it's improvisational.
(09:58):
I think the biggest trick for meto learn and why I love dancing
with people, I don't know, likewith my husband, I anticipate
him all the time, and I'm aterrible follower because I, I'm
always guessing ahead what he'sgonna do, but with an amateur, I
actually have to wait.
to always hold back just alittle bit.
(10:19):
Followers are typically likejust behind the music and then,
and then you catch up and that'sthe swinging us of it.
It's like which makes it farmore interesting than step,
step, step, step.
It's like step, step, step,step, step to just, you know,
find out what does your partnerwant you to do.
Lisa (10:41):
Wow.
That's, yeah, that'sinteresting.
It, it's funny'cause I, I kindalooked up what the definition of
West Coast.
Swing is, and they said it, it'san elastic look that results
from extension and compressiontechnique of partner connection
is, yeah, yeah.
Morgana (10:59):
You're either apart or you're together, and when you're
together, you're pushing apartand.
when you watch it, and I sorecommend that you go on YouTube
and watch some of these dances.
And my favorites are Ben Morris,Victoria Henk Tatiana Mollman
(11:24):
Jordan.
but Tatiana and Jordan just, youknow, Google that.
By the way, these are all myteachers, starting with Ben
Morris.
And Jordan and Tatiana, they'rejust so much fun and it's so
much more than the basepatterns.
And oh, Benji Schwimmer, who wonI think season two of So you
(11:46):
Think You Can Dance, he'sanother Westie.
and real dancers, you know, drawfrom everything.
So it's, you've got West Coastswing, but then they'll throw in
stuff from Salsa or from Tangoor from Lindy Hop, east Coast
swing, you know, just hip hop.
(12:08):
'cause they're always just,we're just weird.
Free flow, modern.
There's this dancer in Francenamed Emmeline who is she and
her partner are So elastic andthey do all sorts of like, you
know, weird improvisationalstuff and then they land on the
beat and that's that funexperimental place where one of
(12:30):
my teachers had us do thisexercise where you're holding a
piece of tissue paper and so youhave to maintain the same, my
partner's holding one end my,I'm holding the other and the.
The trick is to always keep ittense, but never tear it and use
that as an exercise in a very,very light sensitive follow
(12:54):
where you stay connected thewhole time.
But it's, it's that level oflightness.
Lisa (13:02):
That's really challenging.
gosh.
Yeah.
Morgana (13:06):
fun.
It was wild and I've, I, it hitme last time that I was at.
A swing dance event becausethere are competitions going on
all the time everywhere in theworld, and that's where there's
a lot of social dancing andthere are a lot of classes with
all the best dancers andteachers and superstars and
(13:29):
winners.
And honestly, every one of myteachers now is a world
champion, including Andrew'sson, who was my very, very first
teacher, just like swept all thechampionships last year.
So, you know, they, they all arenow.
And it hit me while I wassitting there that I, I, this is
(13:50):
like my comic-con, I've becomeas like obsessively nitpicky.
Like I can get the inside jokeswhen dancers, Do when they dance
in the style of another dancer,it's like, oh, I can see who
(14:11):
that is.
That's, that's, you know, Tori,you know, there are just so many
like super dancers, but they allhave own imprint and just like,
I could do the same back withballet in the day.
There were certain people whoare like very, you know,
flourishy and, and we have thesame, the main thing is, I don't
(14:36):
believe exercise should everfeel like punishment.
Lisa (14:39):
Right.
Right.
Morgana (14:40):
You won't do it.
I was put into ballet'cause Iwas fat and my mom didn't want
to be embarrassed by a fatdaughter.
What a healthy message.
And so there was always thislike kind of pressure and
heaviness'cause I had to earnlove.
Lisa (14:57):
Oh,
Morgana (14:58):
But I love dance because it's fun and it's life
affirming, and I think, youknow, while we have bodies, we
wanna move our bodies however wecan.
There are professional dancersin wheelchairs who are amazing,
you know, so dance, swim, walk,yoga.
(15:25):
Whatever, move your body whileyou have it, but make it fun,
not a punishment.
Lisa (15:33):
yes, that's excellent advice.
I love that.
Yep, and that's kind of what I'mtrying to communicate in my
podcast is that there are waysto enjoy.
And look forward to you know,exercise.
So that's great.
I was kind of reading a littlebit about the history too.
And one of the things I wasreading that is that they banned
(15:55):
jitterbug, maybe in the films orsomething, because too many
people were getting injured.
And so they sort of did thisWest coast swing, like that had
a slot format to it.
Morgana (16:08):
It does it.
It does.
That's one of the differences isso Lindy uses a circle and West
Coast swing uses a slot.
And in West Coast swing, thewoman really does the heavy
lifting.
So well men will lift a woman,but.
the guy pretty much stands inthe middle steps aside and sends
(16:30):
the woman down the slot and backthe slot.
So we're, a lot of it is justgoing back and forth and, and
then it's everything in betweenthat makes it interesting and
the styling so that you can dothe same pattern a dozen times
and it won't look like it's thesame pattern.
But yeah, that's one of thethings that makes it weird and
(16:53):
tricky and, and specificallyWest Coast swing.
It also, all these socialdances, like you would never
know it, looking at Dancing withthe Stars, but all these social
dances like Tango and Swing,were designed to dance in really
crowded spaces.
So, so like Argentine tango isactually very intimate.
(17:17):
It's, you know, you aren't goingall over the floor because
you're crushed in a little patioand West coast swing.
The slot allows a of people tocram in and also gauge where the
next person is.
'cause sometimes, know, some ofthese dances are a lot of people
in a really tiny amount ofsquare footage.
Lisa (17:37):
Oh, that's interesting.
I never thought about thataspect of it, but yeah, that
makes a lot of sense.
I know you were talking a littlebit earlier about sort of your,
your growing up with dance and Iwondered if you could just tell
that story
Morgana (17:50):
I think one of the cool things about returning to West
Coast swing now is I was adancer for so much of my life
when I was young and then Iwasn't.
And to like wake up and be adancer again is really does feel
like waking up because there issuch an aliveness to being able
(18:14):
to use your body to music.
Like when they teach you thechoreography, it's so dry.
then as soon as music comes on,everything becomes easy and it
all makes sense.
I was honestly, I was put intoballet at seven years old by my
(18:37):
mother'cause the doctordetermined that I had
hypothyroid and like my dad andmy mother in her questionable
wisdom.
Decided to put me into balletrather than actually give me
medicine.
Lisa (18:54):
Oh,
Morgana (18:55):
Yeah.
Which,
Lisa (18:57):
Interesting choice.
Morgana (18:58):
yeah.
I, I think that I always, for avery long time took for granted
that they made, she made theright choice.
And then like I started thyroidabout a year ago, and suddenly
all these like shoulder painsand things disappeared and it
occurred to me, wow, I couldhave skipped a lot of eating
(19:18):
disorder years, mom.
But here's the thing, ballet wassuch a gift.
It really, for all the bloodytoe shoes and.
Hard work that goes into it.
(19:40):
Any kind of dance connects youto your body.
There are so many, honestly.
Hello.
Look at the world today.
Challenges to living in a bodyand in a flesh suit.
So grab the joys where you canfind them.
and it's really hard to findanything more joyful than dance.
(20:04):
It's what we've been doing, youknow, as long as we've been
human
Lisa (20:10):
Yes.
I mean, you see all the littlebabies dancing.
So natural.
Morgana (20:14):
and, and what I love about West Coast, like ballet
clear expiration date.
Like I would enjoy, you know,ballet for middle aged ladies
with questionable knees at thisage, which is so weird'cause I
know how to plie and so I don'tknow why my knees hurt now.
Lisa (20:33):
Mm
Morgana (20:35):
but the thing about West Coast is it's something you
can do with age like Can I dothe deep lunges and dips and,
and pirouettes and fouettes.
By the way, you can do fouettesin, in west coast.
You really can and pirouettesand attitude and all this there
(20:57):
because, so there's so manyballerinas doing West Coast now.
But when you dance, you'redancing on an almost flat foot,
which took me years to figureout how to lower my heel.
Gives you, actually, it's justdifferent center of gravity.
It gives you more connection tothe ground, more balance.
(21:18):
But you can do west coast reallyinto your nineties.
you can, you just strip away.
It's some of the acrobatics andyou can still do this dance
forever.
And I love, love, love dancingwith older partners'cause they
(21:42):
are the best.
They know what they're doing.
Their lead is so clean and soclear, and they are so
economical, you know, with, withwhat they do.
And you really can dance thisforever.
Lisa (21:59):
That's wonderful.
Yeah.
I love dances like that, thatyou can just adapt and change as
you, as you get older andcontinue to enjoy it.
(22:23):
I was thinking too, I wonderedif your ballet, like, helped
with, you were talking about theshoulder, you know, having the
proper shoulder thing, like, doyou feel like that helped you
in?
Morgana (22:32):
I It does.
And it doesn't like, oh my God,yes.
Like, You know, when teachersare teaching you how to turn out
in West Coast swing and show theheel, it's like, oh, honey.
Yeah.
No, not a problem.
My problem is that I keepwanting to extend my leg too
much or and which can trip mypartner, you know?
(22:56):
Because ballet is always mydefault in my body, but there's
so much that, yeah, I know howto spot, I know how to turn.
even in my fifties.
And the hardest part for me isballet.
Your center of gravity is veryhigh, it's very lifted, west
(23:18):
coast is very down.
It's very rooted, and you'rearching your back and sticking
out your butt, which doesn'tprotect your lower back like
ballet does.
So in terms of injuries, Iactually found that ballet
protected my body better thanWest Coast swing does.
Lisa (23:34):
Huh.
That's
Morgana (23:36):
I, I think that's, that's why the knee has been
hurting, and it's not just me.
Everybody seems to have kneetrouble, and I really am not
trying to put that out there aslike, stay away from Do it.
You know how far you take it istotally up to you, and you can
just have so much fun as abeginner.
There are so many beginnerclasses.
I think that it's just sopopular and there are beginner
(24:01):
classes everywhere, and thereare intermediates and advanced
people who are always takingbeginner classes because we need
to perfect our basics.
Forever and go back and justimprove our form.
And especially when you havereally, really good teachers and
(24:24):
there's so many of them outthere because when they're not
winning their awards, how dothese dancers make their money?
They make their their moneyteaching classes.
So if you're in SouthernCalifornia, go to Irvine and
take a Thursday beginner classwith Ben Morris.
You must, must, must, or you cantake online classes with, with
(24:46):
Tatiana and Jordan.
I like the in person because youknow, you get a feeling dancing
with different people and youknow when there are flare ups of
COVID it's also really good thatthere's a virtual community too,
where you your teacher can seeyou on screen and correct your
(25:08):
form.
Lisa (25:09):
Oh, wow, okay, so they're teaching over Zoom.
Morgana (25:11):
Yeah.
It started in 2020.
I don't think it was much, Idon't know if it was a thing at
all before 2020, but in 2020teachers had to switch online,
and so for two years, my husbandand I didn't go social dancing
at all and.
I grew and I was better by thetime I returned.
(25:36):
cause I was, I had anopportunity to spend two years
just learning new technique, newstyles, new basics.
Every week I would learnfollower stuff.
My husband would learn leaderstuff.
And then once a month we wouldhave a guided practice where we
would learn to do stufftogether.
Lisa (25:54):
do you feel like you've developed your own style?
You were talking aboutrecognizing the style in other
Morgana (25:58):
Yeah, I would wonder what other people would think it
is.
I think anything I do is gonnahave that, like floaty ballet
lyricism to it.
and I can get staccato, but it'sstill very, you know, it's
molded by the dance classes thatI took in my youth, so that's
(26:20):
always gonna show up.
Lisa (26:21):
And did, did Devin have any dance background?
Morgana (26:25):
None.
Lisa (26:26):
Okay.
Morgana (26:27):
None.
Nothing.
And the first few years he feltso like he had two left feet.
I mean this.
And he was only doing it for me.
So generous.
And now he's got swag.
He cute, he has charm and he canlearn choreography.
(26:49):
And we've done the flash mobthing, we have done the swing
team thing, which was sounbelievably inappropriately
difficult but fun and grew us,and I got to learn how to do
stuff that I had been wanting tolearn for years.
So, and yeah, you know, it'sAgain, everybody starts as a
(27:16):
beginner.
Lisa (27:17):
Right, right.
do people feel comfortable justgoing alone?
Do you have to have a partnerwhen you get
Morgana (27:22):
No, you totally don't have to have a partner and
you're gonna switch partnersbecause that's how you learn.
And that's, that's the fun andthe excitement is everybody's so
different.
And I will enjoy some peoplemore than others.
And I'm sure some people enjoyme more than others do because
(27:42):
everybody has their ownbackground and they have their
own defaults and preferences.
But remember when I said wayback earlier that it's the
number one activity to preventand reverse Alzheimer's.
It's the not knowing.
It's the being in the moment andputting it together.
(28:04):
It's the.
It is such a form of meditationbecause, and this is why I get
high from it, is you can't thinkabout anything else because you
have to be so present to everysingle moment.
'cause I have no idea what mypartner is gonna lead me into.
And then after that, and thenafter that.
So I have to be waiting andlistening and paying attention,
(28:27):
responding and playing everymoment.
And then you throw in music andmusicality and timing to it
also.
And then the more advanced youget, it's not just patterns,
it's like, and the music swellsup here, so we have to do
something that shows that, youknow, and change the pattern a
little bit and hit the littlebeats and, and it's easier.
(28:54):
the better you get at it becauseyou aren't counting 1, 2, 3, and
four, five and six, which is thebase pattern most of the steps.
You just start to, your bodyjust knows.
And the better, you know, themore time goes on.
And I'm not quite there yet.
(29:16):
I am, and then I'm not
Lisa (29:17):
Yeah, it reminds me somewhat of figure skating.
you have your jump and then youdon't have your jump.
And the more you kind of get thebasics, the more you can
improvise and add on and doother things.
The other thing I was watchingon the videos on YouTube were
Jack and Jill competitions.
Morgana (29:36):
Oh yes.
So this is, this is the coolestthing.
So yes, there are choreographeddances and competitions like,
you know, the flash mobchoreographed JT Swing
choreographed.
But at its heart, swing dance,and tango and salsa, bachata and
cumbia, and all these dances areimprovisational.
(29:58):
you don't know what you're gonnaget, and that's why they're so
good for the brain.
'cause the brain is going, what?
What?
What is catching up isstruggling and figuring it out.
And always surprised.
And that's, that's brain food.
Jack and Jill.
You don't know what your music'sgonna be.
You're gonna have a slow one andquick one so that if you're good
at quick, you're gonna have todo slow.
(30:19):
If you're good at slow, you'regonna have to do quick.
Two,
Lisa (30:21):
Oh,
Morgana (30:22):
you don't know what the music's gonna be and it might
suck.
or it might be something you'venever heard before and you dunno
who your partner's gonna be oreven what gender your partner's
gonna be because anybody wholeads is a jack, regardless of
gender.
Anybody who follows is a Jill.
So you may get your wife or youmay get somebody you've never
(30:48):
danced with before.
and, and there are levels.
So I would qualify for like abeginner'cause I have no points
and I've never competed.
And what I've heard from like,the best superstars that I
totally idolize who are so goodat this, that it's like, And
they tell me that the beginnerJack and Jill is the hardest
(31:11):
because it's the most unfair andthe most subjective and
arbitrary.
First of all, you don't know ifthe partner you have has been
dancing for five years or twoweeks,
Lisa (31:27):
wow.
Morgana (31:28):
and judges have different taste.
Some judge below the waist andthey're looking at like the
cleanliness of your pattern andyour timing and some look at
above the waist and they'relooking at your style.
And those are two very differentthings.
So but what happens iseventually, Eventually cream
(31:55):
rises to the top, meaning thatsomebody is so outlandishly good
that you can't not notice, theyget better and better and better
until finally they breakthrough.
But I was at an event in Aprilwhere a guy I know who's a West
coast swing teacher in thecentral Valley up at San Luis
(32:20):
Obispo.
I mean, fricking good.
So good.
Didn't make the next level inthe competition for the Jack and
Jill at that particular eventbecause somebody wasn't watching
him at the right moment.
Who knows?
(32:40):
So you cannot, cannot take itpersonally.
And then when you go to theall-star level, because.
They keep having people get somuch better and better and
better that they keep having toadd new
Lisa (32:55):
New categories up there.
Morgana (32:56):
Yeah.
It's like, oh, whatever.
You know?
It's like there may be one ortwo that are just your favorite,
but honestly, at that level,everybody's so good and so
perfect that it's like, yeah,whatever.
Pick, pick the one you want.
(33:18):
There's a newish dancer, likenot so much new, but she's young
and I saw her for the first timethis year and I saw her during
the Jack and Jill for whateverher division was and I could not
take my eyes off her.
And she won and now she's likepartnering with all the
(33:40):
superstars'cause she's soAmazing.
And she makes it all look sodamn easy and fun.
Her name is Emily, she'sactually doing a lot of
partnering with Ben Morris thesedays.
Cute young Asian woman who islike, I think the next superstar
(34:00):
in my humble opinion,
Lisa (34:03):
What do you think makes her, like, why were you
fascinated by her or watchingher?
Morgana (34:07):
because her musicality is so perfect.
So here's what musicality is.
We all learn basic patterns.
But when somebody can stop or dosome kind of move or add some
little flourish that perfectlymatches the music that they've
never heard before, that's whenwe call it musicality.
(34:28):
And that's like, that's like thenext level.
And as you get better and betterand better, you get counted more
and more on that is just theartistry.
And so her technique is just sosweet.
And her artistic expression isjust so exciting.
(34:50):
You know, it's like cool and hipand funny and, and musical, and
it's satisfying to watch.
And I think that's what all ofthe, the best dancers are.
Like how did they do that atthat moment not break anything.
Lisa (35:12):
I think too, what you were saying before, like the few that
I've watched, there is this likesense of humor in it, like, like
a little like nod to something.
I don't know.
It's just sort of funny when,when they get
Morgana (35:24):
Morris and Tara Trafzer are probably the best at doing
funny, and and that's what I,that's why I love watching them.
Tara especially, she did onewith this young guy named Leo,
where at one point she holds herarm like this and he leaps
through her arm.
He's jumping through a hoop, andthen he holds his arm like that
(35:49):
and just like wiggles her wayout very easily.
And then he spins in this like,Endless pirouette and rips off
his shirt so everybody can seehis like hot chest.
And then she starts doing apirouette and pretends she's
gonna pull it off, but shedoesn't.
It's, it's just such a, youknow, she's fun.
And then she did a dance withBen, which was something about
(36:12):
doing the song talking aboutDoing things wrong.
I don't even remember what thesong is.
And the whole dance turned intothis sort of demonstration of
how to dance badly.
Lisa (36:25):
Oh,
Morgana (36:26):
Just like holding on too hard, having, you know,
turning in.
It just, it, it was such a, itwas just, they're having so much
fun with it and yet they'restill dancing.
Even when they're dancing badly,they're dancing perfectly'cause
they're connected and, and theyknow what they're doing.
they're hitting all the beats,and I think that they, they won
(36:47):
first prize for that bad habits.
That was Google Ben Morris, badhabits, and and Tara.
That was the dance.
Okay.
Lisa (36:55):
I'll put some of this in the show notes, so people want
to see who you're referencing.
Morgana (37:00):
Yeah.
Jordan Frisbee finally.
You know, studying with them foryears, like Tatiana Millman
Jordan Frisbee, Tara Trafzer BenMorris Benji Schwimmer, those
are the names.
There's another one that Ireally, really love and I just,
my brain is not remembering hername at the moment.
(37:23):
I'm not really good at names anddates.
Lisa (37:27):
Well, I think you're doing great, so thank you for all
these names.
I
Morgana (37:31):
The main is just start wherever you are.
Take a class, do a social dance.
Dance with other beginners,dance with intermediates.
Dance with people who are betterthan you.
Dance with people who are worsethan you and try new things.
Lisa (37:42):
Yeah, and just, I think, know that you probably won't be
great at it right off the batusually.
It takes, takes a while.
Morgana (37:49):
Well, and this is, this is the thing.
The beginning is not fun.
The beginning is.
So robotic, it's like one, it'sjust learning to freaking count.
1, 2, 3, and four, five and six.
And all the thing about likeyour frame and the connection,
the good teachers will bedrilling it into from the
(38:11):
beginning, but you may not hearit.
And you just, you and you justget better.
And I've danced with beginnersand I see them get better.
And what really helped mebecause I was terrified of
social dancing for the longesttime because I can do anything
(38:31):
well in a class.
'cause I was a ballerina and wedid class but social dancing's
not a class.
So it terrified me.
I was so afraid I would get apartner who would be
disappointed and I think I didthe first time.
So I ran away and didn't comeback for years.
Who would be judgy or something?
And then I was leading aretreat, a rich witch retreat at
(38:54):
my house back in 2019, and weended at like 5:00 PM on
Thursday so that I could get tosocial dancing that evening, get
to my classes and my socialdancing, starting at seven that
evening.
And one of one of my clientswasn't leaving and going back to
(39:15):
Chicago was where she's fromuntil the next day.
So she came along with us andwent dancing.
And she got up on the socialdancing floor, have having never
danced West Coast swing in herlife, not knowing it at all, and
just danced with people and hada great time and everybody
danced with her and she had noshame and it was no problem.
(39:37):
And it was like, oh my God, whathave I been depriving myself of
for the last three years?
I have, she can do this, I cando this.
Lisa (39:51):
I think sometimes, I don't know, we get so much into our
head that it's a hindrancerather than a help, but.
Morgana (39:58):
Ballet was so perfectionist and judgy West
Coast is so different.
Everybody has, you know,different styles and some
teachers may have Differentbeliefs about things, and you
find what works for you, andthen you toss it out with a
(40:19):
different partner because itdoesn't work with a different
partner.
Lisa (40:21):
I love that there's so much improvisation in it.
I didn't really realize thatthat was a big part of it.
Morgana (40:27):
That's like what it really is.
The, the choreographed part isfor performance, but it's really
a social dance.
Lisa (40:39):
Yeah, I think that's a good point that you've brought
up a number of times toemphasize that it is a social
dance.
Morgana (40:45):
And most of the time nobody's even looking at you
because they're busy off dancingand worrying what they look
like.
Lisa (40:52):
it's about.
Right?
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Well, any final words that youwant to say about West Coast
Swing?
Morgana (41:01):
Yeah, well I think, you know, there's very little more
life affirming than dancing.
And you know, you introduced meat the beginning and my whole
thing is I've been a life coach.
This is my 30th year now.
I focus on relationship withmoney, or at least that's what
people think I focus on, I, it'sreally all about relationship
(41:22):
with life.
And the reason for money is onlyto serve, love, lifestyle, and
legacy, and dance hits at leasttwo of those, you know, right on
the nose.
Love life.
Do what you love.
Love your body.
Love what you do.
(41:44):
And have a great life.
healthy and enjoy your timehere,
Lisa (41:53):
I think dance can be so much about joy.
Just really enjoying, yeah,music, other people, moving, all
those things.
Morgana (42:02):
and if you're not enjoying it, find a different
teacher.
Find a different
Lisa (42:06):
I love that.
Well, thank you so much,Morgana, for speaking with me
about West Coast Swing
Morgana (42:12):
My pleasure.
Lisa (42:14):
And do you want to share your contact information
Morgana (42:17):
Oh yeah.
Lisa (42:18):
to get in touch with you?
Morgana (42:19):
you're curious about what I do and how to slay, your
money monster and change yourrelationship with money from a
monster to a honey.
Like Lee was talking about atthe beginning, there's so much
material for you.
Start with the free stuff atmorganarae.com.
It's just my name with the.comat the end.
(42:41):
Start with the four part videoseries for free and take the
money love quiz.
And based on your responses,there's No way to get this quiz
wrong, just based on yourresponses.
I will send you recommendationsfor what to do next, and I
always include free stuff.
(43:02):
So you know, dip your toe in thewater and see if you like my
approach.
morganarae.com
Lisa (43:09):
Wonderful.
I'll put that in the show notestoo in case anybody's Doesn't
understand how to spell
Morgana (43:14):
you.
Lisa (43:15):
Thank you.
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