Orange County Wedding Dance Lessons Success Story: Sean and Claire
Orange County Wedding Dance:
Sean and Claire arrived to Bella Ballroom Dance Studio in Orange County, CA for their first time on January 3rd, 2015. While they had just one month before they would leave town for their wedding in Guam, they had big plans to create a triple hitting first dance. Sean and Claire were excited to see what we could do to help them execute their dream first dance despite the challenge of not having a great amount of time. They came to our Orange County Wedding Dance Studio with great ideas for their first dance!
The engaged couple told me that they wanted to perform to a mash-up of 3 different songs for their upcoming wedding. Each song would bring it’s own unique style of dance and energy. They knew that they wanted their wedding dance to be planned from beginning to end. On the introductory lesson and consultation we talked about exactly what they were looking to accomplish with each song, and also covered some fun dance moves that would get them started.
First Dance Lessons Orange County, CA:
The first song of Sean and Claire’s wedding song mash up would be, “Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran. “Thinking Out Loud” was one of the top wedding first dance songs of 2015 and I would say the number one wedding song for a first dance in Orange County. The romantic and melodic song unsurprisingly became very popular for Orange County wedding dances. The song’s music video became equally as popular as the wedding song and probably leant to the music’s popularity as a first dance choice for an Orange County Wedding Dance. In the music video, singer Ed Sheeran dances with So You Think You Can Dance alumni Brittany Cherry. The dancing duo execute a choreography created by So You Think You Can Dance choreographers, Emmy-winners, and married couple Tabitha and Napolean D’umo. Both the song “Thinking Out Loud” and the song’s video choreography resonated for Sean and Claire. They wanted to learn this very choreography for the first part of their first dance. They knew they didn’t want to dance to the whole song, so we found a good place to cut “Thinking Out Loud” to blend into their second song choice. We started Sean and Claire’s choreography just like Ed Sheeran’s music video. The couple walked towards each other slowly into the center of the dance floor. Their first dance continued with a plethora of turns and a mix of ballroom dance and contemporary dance. The dance, like the music video, told a story. Sean and Claire worked hard to nail the trickier parts of the choreography that had quick isolated movements. We were also able to achieve working the bigger movements of the dance into their choreography because Claire would be changing out of her bigger wedding dance into a more dance friendly dress for their first dance performance and reception.
The second song of Sean and Claire’s first dance mash-up would take on a more energetic and upbeat energy. They chose the Michael Jackson and Justin Timberlake version of “Love Never Felt So Good.” We used a section from the middle of the song where the song had already picked up. For this song Sean and Claire broke away from their ballroom dance frame and danced more interactively and side by side. We used moves from Michael Jackson’s classic dance repertoire. The second song would become the first surprise song of their first dance.
After Sean and Claire’s Michael Jackson tribute wrapped up, they would jump into the third and final song of their first dance mix. They chose to spice things up with some Latin flair to Daddy Yankee’s “Limbo.” Their third first dance song would include the unique element of a flash mob! I worked with Sean and Claire to create a fun dance that would be easy enough for their bridal party and guests to join in on. Since the dancers and guests of the wedding couldn’t come to our Orange County wedding dance studio, we created a break down video for the dancers to learn that would be joining in with Sean and Claire. Sean and Claire sent a video of the three of us dancing to their flash mob wedding dance song in enough time for their guests to learn it before the wedding.
Final Wedding Dance Lessons and Performance:
While Sean and Claire’s wedding wasn’t until March 14th, we had to finish their wedding dance lessons in Orange County by February 8th because Claire would be leaving the country then in preparation for their destination wedding. They decided to have their wedding in Guam because it was a good halfway point between California and their home country Taiwan. Guests would be coming from different sides of the globe to celebrate Sean and Claire’s big day. Sean and Claire continued to practice the wedding dance moves they learned in Costa Mesa for their first dance performance in Guam. On their wedding day, Sean and Claire executed an action filled first dance for their guests. They transitioned smoothly from a romantic interpretation of “Thinking Out Loud” to a moon-walking big pose moving “Love Never Felt So Good” to a wedding party filled “Limbo.” All in all, Sean and Claire’s dedication and hard work paid off and they had so much fun sharing their triple hitting first dance. Congratulations Sean and Claire!
Article by Ziva
