So this one dance studio nearby uses the "Lesley Hill" syllabus for ballroom dancing. It's a big thick black binder of colored pages with steps named things like "Champagne Glide" or "Pony in a Circle" or "Conversation".

Am I even spelling or calling this syllabus by it's right name? Has anybody heard of this syllabus before? Why do they use this one over, say, DVIDA, ISTD, etc.? I'm just curious. This thing goes back to at least the early sixties, I think.

I used to wonder why they danced so ...differently, but I'm thinking that might be part of it.

Early 60s.... more like 40s... some of those names are from Peabody and also waltz.. I worked for a studio way back when, that used those waltz names ( Champ. etc ), and the P. in a C. ,is still used in peabody ( has to be an E. coast studio ) .

It's a KY studio. They come from... well, as you've gathered... an "old school" method of thought. They seem to be *very* rigid in their school of thought and although they're very nice and friendly, they weren't entirely welcoming to more modern ballroom technique.

Ooh, wait- was it Lauren Heil maybe? It was some off-the-wall, way outdated somethingorother.

Her name is Laure Haille.. she was a friend of mine... she possibly wrote the manual they were using.

She had been one of the contributors to the A/M teaching manuals written in the 50s.

The Champ. Glide I believe, was a F/A variation

Curious.

I'm trying to piece together our local dance history and why some tribes branched off and prospered, and others still bounce during samba.

This studio guards their LH syllabus like it's sacred text and won't tell anybody about it. We only found out because one of the former teachers from the seventies let it slip, then said "Oh! My! You can't EVER tell anybody that!"

I hope a self-flagellatory albino monk didn't chase her.