My forthcoming book “Dancing Queens & Kings” is calling for participation (Dancing Queens & Kings: Call for Participation (4)). The book is to promote pro/am ballroom dancing by highlighting amateurs, with their teachers (aka “pro partners”) being the secondary beneficiaries. One of the secondary beneficiaries is Slawek Sochacki.
Slawek can dance, as he is a 4-time undefeated US champion in Smooth.
Like many retired champions, Slawek has faced a different challenge over the past few years: “Can he teach just as well?”
Yes, he can!
Currently, Slawek is arguably the best Smooth teacher in America: He has produced a stream of champions over the past few years. Three of them (Lou Nielsen, Patricia Schneider, and Irene Fong) are highlighted in this post, thanks to their participation in my forthcoming book.
1. Lou Nielsen
2. Patricia Schneider
3. Irene Fong
4. Discussion
Pro/am ballroom dancing is very competitive. It is hard for a teacher to produce one champion, but Slawek seems to be running a champion-production factory!
Here are some commonalities among Slawek’s three champion students:
- They are all long-time students.
- Slawek has molded them into champions over time.
- They get along well. For example, they are now in their 50s and 60s, but Slawek manages to dance with them in different categories at the major competitions.
Someday, Slawek may reveal his teaching secrets publicly. Meanwhile, follow him and learn more about him by reading the writings of his students!
5. Closing
Slawek is arguably the best Smooth teacher in America today!
It is the teachers like Slawek that make champions en masse. The champions like Slawek’s students make my forthcoming book fantastically interesting.
I look forward to having more and more amateurs like Slawek’s students participate in my book in the coming weeks.
Together, let us make this book a huge success!
