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Monday, July 28 2014 / Published in Sidelines Feature

Jane Savoie Waltzes from Dressage to Ballroom Dancing

Jane and her dance partner competing. Rhythm dances are all about energy and tempo — just like dressage.

Jane and her dance partner competing. Rhythm dances are all about energy and tempo — just like dressage.

By Sue Weakley

Dressage guru Jane Savoie is known for dancing with horses having won three National Freestyle Championships, but now she’s branched out into another form of dancing: competitive ballroom.

She took it up two years ago and now, at age 65, Jane is the poster child for maintaining an active lifestyle.

“I think that it’s so important for people to not feel like, ‘OK. I’ve just gotten my Medicare card. How could I possibly start a new adventure like this? Especially one so physical?’” she said. “I think it’s encouraging for people who are in my age group who maybe have stopped dreaming a little bit to realize that there’s no expiration date on having a dream and going for it and staying fit and staying vibrant.”

Jane is no neophyte when it comes to staying busy.

She has been a member of the United States Equestrian Team and competed for the U.S. in Canada, Holland, Belgium, France and Germany. She was the Olympic dressage coach for the Canadian Three-Day Event Team for the 1996 Atlanta and the 2014 Athens Olympic Games. She also coached several top dressage and three-day event riders in their preparations for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and, while in Sydney, she helped rider Susan Blinks secure a bronze medal for the U.S. dressage team. She has written five books and has collaborated on eight more.

And then she started dancing.

“This started a couple of years ago when I was at an expo in Virginia and I was talking to someone who came by my booth,” she explained. “I said it was on my bucket list to be in Las Vegas as a showgirl for a week. I thought that would be really fun to be a senior citizen showgirl. I’ll train for a week and they can put me at the end of a chorus line and they can hide me behind a palm tree. Then this person said, ‘You really should be on Dancing With the Stars.’”

That got Jane thinking and with that in mind, she started dancing lessons.

“I got completely and totally addicted to it,” she said. “It’s so much like dressage. The parallels are always freaky. The contact and the connection and the power coming from the standing leg and not the moving leg. Collection. Engagement. The parallels are so crazy.“

She added that she enjoys the creative and artistic aspects of ballroom dancing.

Jane and Moshi

Jane and Moshi

“I look at a dressage arena and it’s like a canvas,” she said. “I’m painting a picture on a canvas. When I look at a dance floor, it’s also a canvas. It’s like living art.”

She said the talented dance instructors at the Fred Astaire Dance Studio in West Palm Beach, Florida, thought it would be good for her to try a variety of eight different dances to see what appealed to her. However, with her detail-oriented dressage mindset, she wanted to focus on just a few dances so they happily customized and tailored Jane’s program to suit her goals of concentrating on a few dances and doing them well.

“I said, ‘You have to understand. After 55 years on a 20-meter circle, I guarantee I will not get bored,’” she said. “They found out what I wanted and adjusted it to the way I wanted to be taught. They found out I really love drilling down into the details and the nuances. We dissect stuff and talk about what happens when you engage a certain muscle on your right side and what that does to your left side. I’m 100 percent mentally and physically engaged in what we’re doing.“

She hadn’t planned on competing, but after attending a competition, she fell in love with the gorgeous gowns and costumes.

“It’s like dressing up,” she said. “They do your hair and make-up. It’s like being Cinderella.”

She’s found that she especially enjoys competition and that there are levels of expertise and competition, just as in dressage. She also appreciates the performance aspect of ballroom dancing.

“Each dance has a particular character and you’re basically acting when you do these dances,” she said. “Waltz is very dreamy and like a princess, foxtrot is kind of cheeky and fun, and rhumba is very sexy and sensual. Every dance has a character so you not only have to connect with your partner but you have to connect with the audience because you have to show the character of the dance within your attitude and your face.”

Jane added, “I wanted to dance for the same reasons I wanted to do dressage. And now, I’m completely addicted to dance.”

Jane hopes to realize her dream of competing on Dancing With the Stars and has a Facebook page devoted to the cause, Equestrian Jane Savoie on Dancing With the Stars (www.facebook.com/JaneSavoieDWTS).

 

Jane riding Moshi with a side-by-side comparison of Jane dancing. The lateral leg pairs are identical.

Jane riding Moshi with a side-by-side comparison of Jane dancing. The lateral leg pairs are identical.

 

All photos by Rhett Savoie, unless noted otherwise

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Tagged under: Ballroom Dancing, dressage, Jane Savoie, sidelines-magazine

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A column from Liz Halliday-Sharp herself The spor A column from Liz Halliday-Sharp herself 
The sport of eventing is a demanding and mentally challenging discipline that requires a combination of physical and mental fortitude from both the rider and horse. While having a coach can be incredibly beneficial, self-coaching can also play a crucial role in a rider’s success.

I think that given the opportunity, most riders would like to be coached every day. The reality of life in the horse world, however, is that the majority of us need to absorb as much from the lessons we have on a limited basis and then practice those skills at home to improve.

When I am riding, I try to have a plan for the horses each day and focus on what I’m looking to achieve. It’s important to be aware of the steady improvements rather than trying to solve everything all at once. This is especially important when teaching horses new movements or exercises that they might struggle with, and we need to give them time to learn and understand what we are asking for.

I have a couple of quotes that I use regularly when I’m teaching, and these are mottos that I hold myself to in my daily work as well.

The first is, “If you do what you have always done, you will get what you have always gotten.” This is a quote that was said to me many years ago when I was still motor racing and I keep it in the back of my mind each day. It’s easy to get stuck doing the same thing every day with your horse and bad habits are hard to break, from both riders and horses!

This leads me to my next quote, which is, “If what you are doing isn’t working, try something else.” It really is as simple as that! Many riders I see keep asking a horse to do something the same way over and over with an ongoing negative response and they wonder why things don’t get better. In these circumstances, I recommend that the rider change something, even if it’s wrong.

Read the full article by clicking the link in our bio! Don’t forget to keep your eye out for our April subscription!
📸Photo by Alex Banks Photography
The✨April issue✨ of Sidelines Magazine is here The✨April issue✨ of Sidelines Magazine is here and we are so excited to feature three-day eventer Liz Halliday on the cover! Big thanks to photographer Melissa Fuller for the beautiful photo of Liz and Cooley Nutcracker- Liz Halliday-Sharp - HS Eventing. Liz and her horses have taken the eventing world by storm - and find out how Liz is at the top of the sport as a female eventer! As the horse world gears up for the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event 2023, it's the perfect time to enjoy our eventing issue!! We also feature eventer and woman entrepreneur Frankie Thieriot Stutes, who is not only an eventer, but also runs Athletux and FRANKIE CAMERON handbags and accessories. And don't miss our eventing story on Robert "Bobby" Costello, who will be leading the US Eventing team to the 2024 Paris Olympics- and US Equestrian has named Bobby the eventing technical advisor/chef d'equipe!! Liz, Frankie and Bobby all have GREAT stories - don't miss any of them and don't forget to get your tickets for the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day event! We are also excited to introduce you to hunter-jumper rider Casey Lorusso Smith, who is not only a talented rider but also a psychotherapist and incorporates horses into her career. If you are up for adventure, then read the story on dressage rider Priscilla Baldwin who certainly doesn't let any grass grow under her feet! We also head to the west coast to catch up with hunter-jumper trainer Jim Hagman of Elvenstar Farm, we feature beautiful art by equestrian artist Tammy Tappan, and we get to know Miranda Jones and her family. Miranda is not only an attorney who spends a lot of time in the courthouse, but she's a rider and spends lots of time riding, and is joined by her daughters also! We are excited to feature Stephanie Lightner in our Unbridled column, and don't miss our columnists George Williams, Robert R.L. Jacobs and Margie Sugarman! It's a great issue - and you can read it online, but don't forget to go to the website and order a subscription and get every issue delivered to your mailbox!! Enjoy this issue and enjoy the ride: Link in bio!!
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Marie Meyers has been around the world because of Marie Meyers has been around the world because of dressage, but it’s her farm in Moorpark, California, that has captured her heart. The farm and the business that thrives there represent Marie’s lifelong journey—a journey made up of good friends, spectacular horses and relationships made to last.

Marie was raised in Southern California, and spent her childhood playing just about every sport under the sun, but she didn’t discover riding until she was 14 years old. “I loved animals so much, so I started taking lessons. I did jumping at first, but I was very bad at that, for sure!” Marie laughed.

After some time, Marie moved on to take lessons at Foxfield Riding Academy and began riding dressage. “I fell into dressage by accident,” Marie said, “At the beginning, I thought it was extremely boring, but then I got hooked. By the time I graduated from high school, I had plans to travel to England to work for Franz Rochowansky, a former head of the Spanish Riding School.”

In 1988, Marie’s hard work paid off, and the pair was selected as alternates for the 1988 Summer Olympic Games. “They didn’t take the alternates that year, so we didn’t go to Seoul, but the experience, the training and the European Tour afterwards set me up for the 1990 World Equestrian Games in Stockholm, Sweden,” Marie said.

In addition to having success representing her country, Marie was busy with her life—marriage, a business, teaching lessons and clinics. 

Learn more about Marie in this month's edition of Sidelines Magazine. Click the link in our bio for more 🦄

📸Photos by Lindsey Long Equine Photography, www.lindseylong.com

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