Author Archives: Oana Harrison

Committment to Quality

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In a quest for quality, I feel the need to get on my soap box.  There are a few things that should hold true, regardless of the type of business in which one operates:

1. Be reliable

In my opinion, it doesn’t matter how great of a talent you have, if you don’t show up or keep your promises, you are of no value to your customer.

2. Have expertise

Dancing might not be rocket science but if you become a teacher, you owe it to yourself and to your students to train.  Get a certification or at least get proper training from a certified coach.  If you cannot stay in time with the music, you probably should not be teaching  – harsh, I know but unfortunately happening too often….

3. Be accommodating to your customer’s needs and interests

If you are in it for the quick money or to feed your ego, you’re in it for all the wrong reasons.  The main focus of teaching should be providing your students with knowledge and fun.

OK.  I’m off my box now.

Happy dancing!

Holiday eats – Healthy eats

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An apple a day…

Everyone needs to indulge and enjoy some good holiday eating.  However, whenever possible, sneak in a healthy snack.

Easy on the dressing, easy on the dress…

Salads might sound like the healthy option but only if they are not loaded with extras, such as cheese, meat or dressing.  You can easily mix up your own dressing from 1 part water, 1 part apple cider vinegar and 1 part olive oil.  Add 1-2 tbsp of honey, salt and pepper to taste.  Mix well and pour.

Stay away from winter whites!

Choose whole grain flour (pasta, bread) and brown or steamed rice instead of white flour and rice.

Vitamin C-heers!

When enjoying your mixed drinks, try to make your own – that way you can control home much sugar you add.  Use citrus fruit for an extra helping of vitamin C, like this orange mojito, courtesy of cookingchanneltv.com.

Orange Mojito

From Food Network Kitchens

Total Time:
4 min
Prep:
4 min
Level:
Easy
Yield:
1 serving

Ingredients

  • 1/2 orange, cut into 3 wedges
  • 1/2 lime, cut into 3 wedges
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1 or 2 sprigs fresh mint
  • 2 1/2 ounces white rum
  • 1 cup crushed ice

Directions

Put the oranges, limes, sugar, and mint in a large rocks glass. Muddle the leaves and citrus by pressing them with a pestle or a wooden spoon until juicy and fragrant. Add the rum and ice. Cover with a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously, or stir, until combined and chilled, about 30 seconds. (In general, by the time the shaker mists up the drink is ready.) Serve.

Copyright (c) 2004 Television Food Network, G.P., All Rights Reserved.

‘Tis the season – on Thanks giving and Gift giving…

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As Thanksgiving is fast approaching, it is time to give thanks for all the blessings in our lives.  It’s also time for family, joyous decor, gatherings with friends, and gift giving.  With kids nowadays, it’s getting harder and harder to give meaningful gifts.  So, think about giving them something more than “a thing”, like creating memories together or investing in experiences they can use throughout their lives: trips, craft-making, camps, language lessons, dance lessons, music lessons. Also, as one wise person once said: you can’t spell heart, without art!  So in that spirit, I turned your attention to The Joy of Music School and its commitment to provide free music education to children who otherwise would be deprived of an essential life component: art.  If you are in the Knoxville, TN area, consider The Joy of Music School’s upcoming event, Holiday Sparkles and Spirits.  Allow me to share with you the press release about this December event:

Holiday Sparkles & Spirits to Benefit The Joy of Music School

Event Will Feature Performance by Children’s Choir, Unbeatable Gift Shopping

KNOXVILLE, TN — Friends and supporters of The Joy of Music School are invited to a magical evening Friday, Dec. 9, from 6-10 p.m., at Cherokee Mills in the heart of Knoxville. It’s the sixth annual Holiday Sparkles & Spirits, benefiting The Joy of Music School.

Open the PDF file below to see event invite:

 JOM11012 HolidaySparlkes 2011(1)

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As always, the event will feature live and silent auctions of fine wine and beautiful jewelry from around the world. Byt there’s a new twist for 2011. Attendees at this year’s Holiday Sparkles & Spirits will also be able to bid on a wide variety of products and services in categories such arts and culture, travel, food, sports, home and garden and more. There is something for everyone on your list. And while you treat yourself and those you love, you will also be providing music lessons and instruments for local children who cannot otherwise afford them.

There will be a special performance by students in the Joy of Music School Youth Choir. They will be joined by a handful of young soloists from the School. “The kids are so excited about playing and singing at this terrific event,” said Francis Graffeo, Executive Director of The Joy of Music School. “Everyone here is getting in the holiday mood, from the students to teachers to the staff.”

Knoxville’s Superstition Quartet, a lively, all-women a cappella group, will also entertain guests at Holiday Sparkles & Spirits, performing a variety of songs in the four-part barbershop style.

The proceeds from sponsorships, ticket sales and all auction items will help underwrite the children’s studies at The Joy of Music School, a nonprofit organization that opens its doors to kids whose opportunities are limited by circumstances beyond their control, and allows them freely to enjoy the gift of music, and the benefit of a music education.

”Joy of Music School students are unique, talented youngsters who deserve our respect. They are taught by a volunteer music faculty whose devotion is at the heart of our operations. This event raises funds that ensure we can continue to put 75 teachers and 175 students together in weekly lessons and provide for everything their musical imaginations can create,” said Kurt Weiss, President of the Joy of Music School Board of Directors. “But more than that, we must do all we can do to reach the 80-plus kids on our waiting list.”

Tickets for the event are $75 per person before Nov. 20 and $85 per person after. They can be obtained by contacting the School at 865-525-6806.

The Joy of Music School provides free weekly lessons and instruments to disadvantaged and at-risk children. Young people, who would otherwise do without, learn, practice and play in a nurturing environment. Founded in 1998, the School believes that all young people should have the opportunity to experience and create music regardless of income.

Holiday Sparkles & Spirits –a benefit for The Joy of Music School

Friday, December 9, 6-10 p.m.

Cherokee Mills – 2200-2800 Sutherland Ave., Knoxville (free, convenient parking)

 $75 per person before Nov. 20, $85 after (includes heavy hors d’oeuvres and wine)

Contact the Joy of Music School today to reserve your tickets.

Francis Graffeo, Executive Director

(865) 525-6806 / graffeo@joyofmusicschool.org

New Year’s Show

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Here is a link to our New Year’s Eve performance this year.  David and I danced our Foxtrot again and added a nice little bolero.  A little late to post this but better late than never, right? 😉  Enjoy!

http://www.photoshop.com/users/mblair/albums/1b67a4c9b3584184b15030b82678f2f1

Your Friendly Neiborhood Dance Studio

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January 27, 2011 – Studio rented out for a night of dancing, especially catered for the Whittington Creek residents – Oana and David Harrison hosting at Absolute Ballroom (absoluteballroomtn.com); [unbelievably delicious)]cupcakes provided by The Cup (cravethecup.com).

I met Sharon and Theresa while networking at eWomen, a nationwide professional networking association.  Sharon mentioned she wanted us to organize a dance soiree for the residents of Whittington Creek, so Theresa and I got the ball rolling.  And we all had a ball! 

We met at Absolute Ballroom at 7:30pm on a Thursday.  We started off with a nice lesson, introducing the waltz, swing, and tango.  Then we let the music play and everyone got the chance to practice what they just learnt in the class.  After all that hard work (not 😉 ), the cupcakes were a nice touch…

It was a fun night and we are looking forward to more!

A Christmas Classic

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David and I danced a foxtrot on “The Best Things Happen While You Dance” from the movie “White Christmas” at Absolute Ballroom’s Christmas Party this year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78d06yT3isk

A cute/sweet routine, nothing fancy but fun nonetheless…

Yet another benefit of dancing

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There are many benefits to dancing: staying shape while not having to go the gym (ha-ehm, couldn’t be me…), meeting new people, spending quality time with a significant other, etc.  The other day I thought about another benefit of dancing, be it ballroom or otherwise.  Dancing is a way to tame one’s nervousness or anxiety of public speaking or performing.  One learns to use the nervousness to give them energy to go through with the performance.  One will also channel the energy toward engaging the audience.  And yes, I’ve seen it done, so I’m not just talking…  There were several couples and singles who started off awkwardly and pretty much hated performing.  But you should see them now: they are smiling, performing and even winning dance competitions.  It’s great!

It’s choreography

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Ahh, choreographing… a shifty, finikey process but what joy to have the final creation of inspiration to share with the world!  It really helps when the partner is on the same wave-length because often the timing subtleties and the artistic details cannot be easily communicated in plain language: it’s more of a feel and vision kind of thing.  Justin and I are working on a rumba for the upcoming New Year’s Eve show at Absolute Ballroom (www.absoluteballroomtn.com) and it’s been a slow start but a great coming together of little pieces today, shaping up into a very nice routine.  We are both so open to inspiration and to combining different elements of dance, as well as to challenging ourselves.  For instance, there are lifts I thought I shouldn’t do but I should listen to my own advice: “how do you know you can’t do something unless you try it?” (some restriction may apply, of course – just apply common sense…).  The inspiration for us starts usually with a great piece of music.  For this particular one we chose Iio’s “Runaway”.  With a little help from Audacity (a nifty music editing software), I pieced the music just right and off we went.  In Justin’s words “it’s like dancing mad math”, trying to match our choreography pieces to the music counts and the feel of the song.  I didn’t think I loved math but this kind of math, I do.

Grateful

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I am grateful for all the joy that ballroom dancing brings to people, myself included!

I am thankful for all those inspiring dancers who dance with their hearts!

I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Halloween dancing

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I had a blast yesterday, dancing all night long – pretty much a dancer’s dream!

The night started with practice for our Halloween show, followed by teaching a new and very enthusiastic student (a friend of a friend). 

After 8pm, we dimmed the lights and cranked out a great Halloween ballroom dance party at ABSOLUTE Ballroom (www.absoluteballroomtn.com)

 

Justin and I performed a ChaCha on Ne-Yo’s song “Beautiful Monster” and we rocked!  It was so much fun 🙂  Unfortunately, the camera had a bit of a technical failure during our performance, so the only video we have right now is the last practice before the show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avFNne6Km8s

 

After a long party, a large group of students and teachers alike gathered up at the newly opened “Busby’s Tango” (http://www.busbystangogrille.com/).  This is a great concept, of an upscale place, with hardwood floors, lovely decor, yummy food and wines, live and DJed music and lots of dancing.  We celebrated our friend’s birthday and danced salsa, bachata, chacha and rumbas until late in the night (or is it early in the morning?).