Carrie Lucas
Carrie travels throughout the United States and Canada conducting workshops to, as Carrie puts it "Turn people on to the love of dance. I have a ball in workshops and make sure my students do too." I have made a series of videos to help my students.
The love of dance began in childhood for Carrie. She studied modern, ballet and jazz as a child and then pursued her training as a dance major at the University of Utah. This Salt City native worked with Arthur Murray for several years and as part of the Arthur Murray Dancers on the Merv Griffin Show. Just about the time Urban Cowboy mania swept the country, Carrie decided to, literally, step out on her own. Country dance wasn't at all alien to Carrie, for having spent part of her youth on a horse ranch, she barrel raced in the local rodeos and had her first brush with two stepping at the rodeo dances. "I didn't care about it much back then," explains Carrie, "but, being an old cowgirl, it was really a natural for me." She's taken to it naturally and devoted the last ten years to professional country western dance. Carrie concentrates on teaching, workshops and seminars. She's produced an instructional dance video series on the West Coast Swing for the beginner to expert dancer. Her instruction emphasizes style and syncopation because she says, 'That's how your personality shines through. I teach more than just steps; because of my dance background, I teach body awareness and movement." As Carrie talks about West Coast Swing, you get an inkling of how she considers the dance, which is sure to influence her instruction: 'The West Coast Swing permits more creativity than any other dance because there's so much play in it. It's endless as to what you can create, but there's definitely a masculine and feminine part. The girl's part is completely different from the man's. The beauty is in putting them together so they blend. He's the frame and she's the picture." |
Renowned Judge at multiple
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