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RpMerleon Studios was featured in the Wedding Waltz article in Sunday Times, Lifestyle section on 25 Jan 2009. William and Valerie from RpMerleon Studios were one of the couples featured as they were being trained by RpMerleon Studios for their wedding dance in Mar 09. The full interview details are shown here as there were was a limitation of space in the newspaper to cover the full interview.
Q:How many of such requests from couples does RPMerleon receive a month?
Ans: It’s more seasonal than monthly requests and just for last year 2008 alone, we taught a record 45 wedding couples, both international as well as local couples. Majority of the wedding couples do take our advice and enrol early for RpMerleon Studios’ partner dance courses months ahead of their weddings. January to August tend to have more wedding couples signing up for our group courses. RpMerleon Studios also receives many last minute urgent private class requests like one to three weeks before their weddings throughout the year. We do our best to give appropriate advice for those wedding couples who plan to do a wedding dance ie. How to maximize their dance lessons, when to start private lessons for special choreography to their chosen wedding song, requisite dance floor layout, wedding dance gown design to lookout for, hair decorations, wedding atmosphere, wedding band music etc. Another very important aspect that we take care of is the emotional and mental aspect. We help manage couples expectations of each other and the dance, so that the lessons and practices go well and the whole process is enjoyable and stress free.
Q: Which type of dances are more popular among couples?
Ans: Couples with less than 2 months to learn a wedding dance & requested for the traditional close hold as depicted in the movies will most probably learn the easiest Rhythm dance which majority can master in a very short time, else it will be another easy dance like the Disco Rock.
Couples who learn 4 months in advance will end up with a more graceful routine as they already understood the fundamentals and will be quick to learn the beautiful movements better & faster and will most probably end with the Slow Waltz & American Smooth or the Rumba.
Couples who learn more than 6 months in advance will get the more elegant choreography & will most probably be able to perform 2 wedding dances, a main dance follow by a minor dance towards end of wedding banquet & they will likely dance 2 diverse dance types, a fast and a slow one, could be Latin Cha Cha Cha + Slow Waltz or the Salsa + Rumba.
Those who learn a year or more in advance will be the best as these couples managed to build up their dance technical knowledge by having weekly classes plus took our advice by taking part in lower levels dance competitions will end up with the most exotic choreography as their joints & muscles are strong & stable to perform the more complex moves. This last category of wedding couples would want a very polished performance choreographed exactly to each beat of their chosen song for their once in a life time wedding dance.
Majority initially asked for that dance that they watched in the western period movies where couples twirl round the ballroom in ball gowns & tuxedos with elaborate hairdos and very happy orchestra music made famous by composers Johann Strauss & Johann Strauss Junior; ie the Viennese Waltz. Others wanted to dance like Jennifer Lopez & Richard Gere in the Movie “Shall We Dance?” or like some other movies. Yet some others chose their favourite songs and wanted a choreography based on their song, which could be a mixture of dance types and these couples require more lessons to meet their goal. Other popular wedding dances are Tango & Rock n Roll.
Q: When did this trend of couples learning how to dance for their wedding start? When did it start to get popular?
Ans: Perhaps 4-5 years ago started having more local wedding couples wanting to perform a wedding dance. Within these 2 years even more local wedding couples are turning up for dance courses. All along RpMerleon Studios has many international couples learning their wedding dance here, perhaps due to the cosmopolitan working environment in which many professionals are posted here to work so they learn here but do the wedding dance back in their home counties as it’s their custom.
Kekeke…I would like to think that my husband & me helped to popularise the trend as we did 4 wedding dances during our wedding in 1996 with me changing into 4 different costumes & dance shoes to suit 4 different dances as we were avid dance competitors too! We also had a large 1,200 sq ft dance floor inside the ballroom which is very large, even by today’s standards. Many of our wedding guests remembered our wedding by our dances even till now, more than a decade later.
Q: Why do you think that there has been a trend of couples who want to learn how to dance for their wedding?
Ans: Some couples told me they wanted something special for their wedding guests to remember them by instead of the usual wedding banquet program and many probably influenced by the western movies too. To some it was the fun, laughter, frequent encouragement kisses, hugs & praises heaped upon each other that they enjoyed while learning a wedding dance. Yet some said it symbolises their love for each other, hand in hand they conquered the wedding dance together which they thought was a near impossible task so everything is possible from their union onwards.
There was this Indonesian couple (Singapore PRs) who danced to a Slow Waltz song sung by the bride’s father with violin accompaniment by the bride’s sister in their Indonesia wedding.
A French couple learnt to dance the Viennese Waltz within 4 months to a popular traditional orchestra piece in a castle wedding in France.
An air-stewardess wanted to Slow Waltz down the red carpet with her groom instead of the traditional grand entrance with dry ice.
Yet another groom learnt Salsa from us as his bride love to dance while his fiancée learnt in India & both danced beautifully on their wedding day in India!
A love story that spans across 4 countries where a Thai guy while studying in USA, fell in love with a lovely USA gal with Taiwanese roots. Both chose to work in Singapore & viola, took wedding dance lessons from Pele of RpMerleon Studios before having their idyllic outdoor wedding in Thailand, dancing next to the ocean!
This other couple said that they gathered their guests round them while they danced under the stars at Botanical Gardens to which they received rave comments from their guests and multiple encores were requested which made their dream wedding dance come true.
An Indian-Chinese couple’s dream was to dance both an Indian dance and a contemporary Argentine Tango-Salsa for their dream wedding. Turned out the chosen Salsa song was Latin Rumba followed by Salsa and I incorporated some Argentine Tango variations like the “Ocho” & the bride’s dream of dancing Argentine Tango in a Salsa song was fulfilled. As they have 1.5 years of dancing background, many highly technical but extremely beautiful moves were taught to them as their muscles/joints are strong enough to tackle the difficulties. They danced beautifully and now on their honeymoon.
Another trend we see is that more couples are going for quality. It is not uncommon to see couples devoting a lot of time and resources to ensure that they put up an excellent show for their weddings. Many couples come to us because they know we were trained in UK and USA by many of the world’s top professional dance trainers, on top of being champions in many international & local dance competitions and as such we can impart quality dance techniques to them.
Q: Who are the couples who usually come asking for such dances? Could I get a general demographic profile and their overall age? (i.e. are they young professionals, local etc)
Ans: All ages, all races and all nationalities but more & more mid twenties to mid thirties couples are coming forward. Wedding couples we’ve coached were Germans, French, Russians, English, Irish, Australians, Austrians, South Africans etc. Recent trend also have Asian wedding couples learning in RpMerleon Studios like Singaporeans, Malaysians, Indians, Indonesians & Mauritius etc.
Most are well educated professional couples each holding their own jobs and they enrol at RpMerleon Studios because they prefer our central location which is only 3 minutes walk from CityHall MRT to The Adelphi & our teaching medium is in good English as our Trainers are mainly degree holders with many years of managerial experience in MNCs so we do understand our students’ thought processes and needs. About 40% are Caucasians, 60% Asians. 80% professionals, 20% others & students.
Q: Do they bring along friends or relatives to learn along with them to prepare for the wedding? Who do they usually bring? (i.e. Best man, bridesmaid etc) What is the reason why they do so?
Ans: Oh yes, many do ask their good friends to learn with them so that after the wedding couple’s first dance, the floor is opened for their friends to dance. Many others do invite their fellow dance course mates to attend their wedding & later dance on the same floor too. Got best man, bridesmaids, siblings & their partners/spouses, colleagues, childhood friends etc. Mainly the wedding couples wanted to get their guests more involved in their wedding rather than just eat & watch.
This Singaporean+Indonesian couple brought their parents to learn how to dance the social waltz with each other and how to change partners from father & daughter to bride & groom and later the wedding couples dancing with their parents. Many of these parents are very game to try dancing, some even wanted to do more by twirling their daughters all over the floor! Well, there’s a great significance to all brides dancing with their fathers as the bride is daddy’s gal and when father hands over his gal to the son-in-law for their first dance as husband & wife, daddy is entrusting the groom to take care of daddy’s gal from now onwards.
How long is the duration of these classes last?
Ans: We usually cater to whatever limited time the wedding couple has. More time dance more and less time learn less. Each couple is very different and have different expectations. Some needed more private lessons, some less and can still look very good as they practice daily. Those who started more than half a year early will be encouraged to start with the group courses first to save money, each of which is 8 weekly hourly classes. Many couples also take up our Technique classes which help give them the look and polish of accomplished dancers. Some couples do enrol for a few dance courses concurrently to feel which they have more aptitude in. We also encourage couples to prepare themselves for the actual event by going for dance competitions and examinations to help build up their confidence. They will be encouraged to take up private classes about 3 months before their wedding to choreograph according to their chosen song. Basically, the earlier a wedding couple starts learning their wedding dance the better as dancing is a practical sport that becomes better with frequent classes and self-practices.
Q: How much are these classes?
Ans: Full-time students get the greatest discount of up to 26% off the course fees while others who pay up more than 8 days in advance will get a 10% early bird discount. Normal course fee is S$115 per participant per course and one-time-Enrolment fee of S$25 per new participant applies. S$290 per 3 hours or S$480 per 6 hours per couple for personal lessons, additional S$35 per session for private studio usage. Wedding dance is not expensive as this is the only couple activity or couple hobby that lasts well after the wedding, in fact right up to their diamond anniversary and above. Many want to learn dancing to better their posture so as make powerful presentations to advance in their career. Many MNCs do appreciate employees that are able to function in a company dinner function.
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