Carrie Lucas has had a lifetime background of dancing, which is what makes her such a success today in dance. She has lived in Orange County, CA for the past five years and has accumulated a great number of students as well as achievements. She now plans to expand her horizon and has moved to Corona, a little closer to the country I'd say, and hopes to start her own little Mecca of West Coast Swing dancers.

What is your strongest non-dance quality? I can't think of a part of my character that doesn't relate to the way I move. In life our first movement is to breathe. What are your hobbies? Currently, I enjoy garden therapy. Last year it was jewelry making. Do you need therapy? I need to connect with something non-human once in awhile.

Are you a wiz in the kitchen or would you rather eat out?
Depends on who I am cooking for. Depends on the restaurant. I like ambience.

Favorite movie
A Few Good Men

Favorite television show?
Judging Amy. I love legal arguments. It's more cerebral.

Favorite shows?
Any Rogers and Hammerstein musical.

Has there been a unique moment in your life that sticks out in your mind?
I try to reassure those fleeting ephemeral moments.

What are the most important things in your life?
My children, kindness, integrity, honesty, humor - laughing is good.        

If you hadn't picked up on dancing as a career, what would have been another choice?
Ice skating.

What are your future plans?
To open a dance studio in Corona this summer. Also, I would like to do dance movement with Special Ed. children again.

What was your most embarrassing moment?
I tend to forget those.

What do you do to improve your own dancing?
My love is International Latin. I studied with the late great Pita Siddal. What a wonderful person he was. I am so grateful to have had some of his knowledge passed on to me.

How do you relate what you learned to the "swing" dance?
Very easily. International Latin teaches foot position and centering techniques better than anything else I know. Foot position affects every inch of the rest of your body. It gives you speed, balance and stability so you can center.

Can you expand on that?
Yes. For instance, as bipeds, we balance with the toes turned out. Proper foot positions 1 through 5 give us balance.

What about speed?
Oh yes, speed. Once can be faster with small steps so the body can be over the foot (proper foot position of course). Let us take turning for example. A late turn is faster than an early turn. Sounds backwards, doesn't it? Let me elaborate. You can't step and turn at the same time. You must be over and on the foot, or pivot the foot. This is what rumba walks and turns are about. By giving yourself time to center over the small step you take, you also allow yourself fime to "wind up" the turn. Wind up is the contra body action of the upper torso (the power of the turn). This "snaps" the turn quickly on the end. I see a lot of this from the better dancers in Swing now. The guys "strut walk" the girls into turns. The strut creates a natural occurrence of wind up for the turn. It also looks cute on the girl. I emphasize this technique in my Swing classes.

What techniques specifically do you use for the beginning dancer?    
The unit system, of course. It is a brilliant system created by Skippy Blair. I appreciate her greatly for this. I believe it is the best and for me, the only way to teach people the fundamentals of any dance. In every class, I start with warm-up exercises of going over the rhythms of swing: single, double, triple, subtle triple and hook triple. It's fun and you don't need a partner, yet you learn the rhythms first and your foot position is correct before you put the pattern together. I was a dancer first before I was a teacher. This is how Ballet and Jazz starts: a warm-up at the bar before the floor work and combinations.

What is your background in dance?
Ah, let's see, the start. Four years old - nursery school recital. I was a tree. I really got into being that tree. Funny thing is 15 years later, my first big modern dance concert at University of Utah, I was cast in an ultra modern piece and again I was a tree! This time with lights on my head.

How about the serious stuff?
Yes, the serious stuff. I never stop training! Twenty years of formal training in Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Modern and Ballroom and Country. A six year stretch working for Arthur Murray Studios that taught me the framework and best of all the business of dance.

How is the business end of it working out for you?
Very Successfully! So often dancers are accused of being poor business people because they love what they do. They are artists and maybe a little relaxed or have a hard time being business-like. I try to be professional to create a business system that works for me and stick to it.

How do you see the future of dance?
As long as loyal supporters like John Crist supply the place, we'll supply the dance.