Dance Lessons By Cianne

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Dance Lessons By Cianne - Country Two-Step     Niteclub Two-Step     Waltz     East Coast Swing     West Coast Swing     Cha-Cha     Salsa     Cumbia & Merengue

Welcome to Cianne's Dance Website!

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Instructor

If you’re looking to learn to dance in Bakersfield, you've come to the right place. Whether you are an experienced dancer looking for new material or help with technique, a bride & groom preparing for your wedding dance, or someone who's just looking for some exercise or a fun social activity, I promise to offer reasonably priced dance lessons with no long-term commitments or contracts. My heartfelt desire and goal is that my students will be inspired by dance, will grow in their confidence and skills, and will learn to express themselves through moving to music.

Please take a minute to familiarize yourself with the website.  The Questions, Miscellaneous and Places to Dance pages are packed with valuable information and some of them change often, so check them every week to see what's going on in your local dance community.  Some of the things you can access on them are how to find dance shoes and music, wedding songs, etc.  I welcome your feedback on the website - please click on E-mail Cianne to let me know if there is something else you'd like to see.  

Beginning in July 2007 I will be changing locations. For the last 4 years I've taught classes at Turning Point Academy of Dance/Royalty Performing Arts which I'm sad to say is going out of business at the end of June. The new studio is called American Dreams Dance Studio, and is located at 3125 Jewett Avenue, off the Garces Circle in downtown Bakersfield.  Click on the LOCATION page for detailed directions and a map.



Cianne McGinnis

Cianne McGinnis, Instructor

Never having any formal dance training as a child, Cianne’s first foray into structured dancing was in 1977 when, for exercise, she took a class in Hawaiian and Tahitian dancing. Blessed with a natural sense of rhythm and a passion for percussion, within a few months she was performing both traditional Hula and those swivel-hipped, tassels-flying Tahitian dances with the LeiLani Kaliki Polynesian Dance Team.

Recently divorced in 1980, Cianne let some friends from work convince her to join them on an outing to the Funny Farm Saloon on a Friday night. She watched in awe as dancers Two-Stepped and Ten-Stepped and Waltzed, all moving together in perfect time with the music… and she was hooked! Upon learning that there were free dance lessons at Wild Bill’s Saloon, she began taking classes there. She discovered she had a gift for teaching, and very soon was asked to co-teach at that club. Five months later the Funny Farm Saloon offered her a job teaching for them, and the rest is history. She taught there for 7 years, and quickly became Bakersfield’s premier C/W dance instructor, teaching at dance conventions and judging competitions, and eventually choreographing and directing the Funny Farm Saloon Dancers performing team.
In the mid-80s Cianne directed her focus toward West Coast Swing and founded the Bakersfield Boppers Swing Dance Social Club to promote this exciting dance style. At that time she also began her association with Skippy Blair and the Golden State Dance Teachers Association, and spent many years driving to LA to continue learning her craft. With the musical shift to Big Band in the mid-90s, Cianne took a leap into East Coast Swing, Retro, Lindy Swing and Charleston, eventually choreographing exciting routines for her Bakersfield Boppers Lindy Hoppers performing team of young people from 13-22 years of age. The next four years were spent in a hot love affair with Latin dance, including Salsa, Cha-Cha, Cumbia and Merengue which she taught at Rockin' Rodeo's Metropolis Lounge, as well as the dance studio.

Now Cianne is having a fling with Foxtrot, happily and nostalgically dancing to the songs her Daddy used to sing to her when she was a little girl.  Hard pressed to pick a favorite, she loves all forms of dance and enthusiastically encourages everyone she meets to "give it a whirl".

Up until June 2005, Cianne was choreographing and directing a performing team of intermediate and advanced level students who ranged in age from 17 to 60, and who demonstrated Niteclub Two-Step, Country 2-Step, Ballroom Foxtrot, Cha-Cha and East Coast Swing, and West Coast Swing as well.  Due to time constraints (the the difficulty finding male partners), the team (called 'Music in Our Soles') has disbanded, with hopes to someday again be available to perform for parties and fundraisers. 

Widely respected for her ability to teach solid social dance basics, Cianne specializes in leading & following techniques and diagnostic skills, and is quickly able to spot a dancer’s problem areas and suggest a change in technique, often resulting in immediate improvement.

Cianne's love for people and for dance shines through in all her classes, reflected in her fun-loving approach to teaching and her emphasis on technique. If you’ve wanted to learn to dance or to improve your current dance techniques, Cianne is the instructor to call!

 
 

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