RODNEY ERIC LOPEZ
mad hot
Educational Institutions
Looking for a unique and effective PD on classroom management? Want a memorable family or student engagement experience? Invite Rodney to work with your school community!
As a school leader, you're looking for new ways to engage and inspire your veteran educators. Or searching for an experience that will positively impact team morale at the beginning or middle of the school year. Perhaps you want an enticing way to get families into the school and excited about interacting with their children.
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Featured in the hit documentary Mad Hot Ballroom, Rodney is an arts educator of international renown. He inspires and engages educators, students, and families through a variety of offerings that bring people together through the power of social dance, including:
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Using the techniques of positive social dance instruction for better classroom management
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Family dance day workshops to create memorable intergenerational dance experiences
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Informative workshops on the history of Latin vernacular dance and its importance in the history of the United States
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How to incorporate more positive movement in classrooms
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Contact Rodney to learn more about the best fit for your school.
We’ll couple dance with the following conversation topics:
Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way!
The most well-known and yet commonly misunderstood aspect of ballroom dancing is the concept of lead and follow. It’s a source of endless discussion in dance classes and among couples taking dance lessons together.
This session will demystify the concept and explore what it means to actually do both and how the cues of lead and follow can create greater harmony and cooperation in a couple’s relationship.
The Band (or DJ) is Playing. Are You Both Hearing the Same Music?
This session looks at what it means to listen. Not just listening to your partner when you’re speaking, but listening to the changes in the rhythms of life.
Is there a child on the way? Career change, retirement, or relocation? All of these and more can positively or negatively influence a relationship. Through this session, couples will learn to “dance to the same music” and work in harmony through dynamic communication.
Ouch!
Everyone learning to dance gets their feet stepped on. Couples step on each other’s feet, too. While most people understand that mistakes happen and forgiveness is essential to successful relationships, there are times when reestablishing boundaries is important.
How can we gracefully navigate our way out of the uncomfortable situations that often come up in relationships, like apologizing for hurting your partner’s feelings or the resentments that appear when you’re not feeling listened to? Through dance, we’ll explore these questions. Rough and aggressive movement has no place on a dance floor and it shouldn’t be the norm in a relationship.
Floorcraft
Floorcraft is the term dancers use to describe how well a couple navigates the dance floor. Whether you're a competitive ballroom dancer or just having fun at a local lounge, it's not always easy to move around without bumping into others.
How are you and your partner navigating the other influences that show up in your life—expected or unexpected? Children, in-laws, neighbors: Are you and your partner united in dealing with them?
Same Old Song and Dance
Is your love life in a rut? Maybe some of the former spark is gone. Social dance is exciting because of its variety. Sensual tango, swaying foxtrot, energetic swing—there are so many rhythms and styles to choose from! Let’s explore how to use them to rekindle the flames in your relationship?
Practice Makes Perfect
Some people are satisfied with taking a free dance lesson at a summer festival and calling it a day. But those that look really good on the dance floor and get the most enjoyment are those who stick with it—not only by taking lessons, but by going out and doing it.
Our relationships need the same kind of attention: daily and weekly exercises that keep your relationship fresh and fun.
Rodney was hired to coach award-winning actors, Paul and Mira Sorvino in support of Diabetes CoStars, an awareness campaign to encourage those with diabetes to engage in a healthy lifestyle. Rodney worked with the famed father and daughter team for a week, teaching them to dance Swing, Salsa, and the Waltz. Here are some of the highlights of their Waltz lessons, including the final dance!