In the Spotlight with
Howard Smallowitz

Howard Smallowitz has taught many styles of dance here at Go Dance, however, he is notoriously known for being “the funny guy who teaches the swing class.” He is quite a character as you will find out when you read my interview with him.And he loves to share his jokes, so when you run into him at the studio, ask him if he knows any good jokes and then brace yourself!

Howard, where are you from originally?

I hail from the hamlet of Brooklyn, New York, an area renowned for its country-western dancing – NOT! It’s long been said that beginning dancers make mistakes, while experienced dancers merely syncopate. When I mess up I prefer to think I’m neither making mistakes nor syncopating; I’m just dancing with a Brooklyn accent.

How did you come to live in Austin?

After spending most of my life in New York, I decided I wanted to live someplace sunny, where people said “please” and “thank you” on a regular basis. So one summer I quit my job, got on a bicycle and pedaled 4,000 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina to Los Angeles California. Along the way, I discovered Austin, so I packed up and moved here. I didn’t know a single soul when I got here. That was 20 years and 40 pounds ago.

What do you do for a living (career)?

Most people can’t say that they have one job that they like. I am fortunate to have two jobs that I love! Both allow me to travel the world. Both allow me to pontificate in front of rooms full of people. During the day, a very large company known by three very large blue initials pays me to play with its computers. At night, women pay me to dance with them.

How long have you been dancing and teaching?

I didn’t walk onto a dance floor until 1997. It took me three months before I stopped feeling like a complete idiot. After six months I could ask a stranger to dance. After a year, I was teaching.

How did you first get involved in dancing?

The answer to that one is obvious: I learned to dance because I like to fish.Huh? I was invited to go on a fishing trip with a group of people I barely knew. Someone in the group had also set up some dance lessons, and they asked me to tag along. I never really clicked with those folks, but the rest, as they say, is history.

How did you come to work at Go Dance?

I was taking lessons at Go Dance, and the former owner needed a male instructor with a big personality. Somehow I came to mind.

What do you enjoy most about teaching?

It’s been therapeutic in helping to get over my natural shyness of speaking in front of people.

How does your public speaking contribute to your group classes?

My “day job” requires me to travel all over the world training IT architects in systems engineering techniques. I am exactly the same guy whether I’m in front of a room teaching a group of engineering geeks how to do a monte carlo analysis of an IT project estimate, or a bunch of, well, engineering geeks how to do a slip pivot.

What is your most memorable dance moment?

My most memorable dance moment was also one of my first dance moments, and I’ve told this story lots of times when I teach. The very first dance class I ever took was a Salsa class, and I was AWFUL. What saved me is that we were short by a few women, so every now and then the instructor would rotate partners and I had no one with whom to dance. Yes, I learned how to do quick, quick, slow, quick, quick, slow that evening. But I learned the most important lesson of the evening when I wasn’t dancing, and had to stand around and watch everyone else. What I learned is that THESE PEOPLE SUCK! I thought it was just me. That gave me the confidence to keep doing it.

What do you enjoy doing when you are not working or dancing?Hobbies?

Today I looked out of my office window and saw a breeding pair of dendroica coronatas. Am I a nerd or what? Thank God for dancing, or I would never meet any girls.

What words of wisdom do you have to share with us?

Forgive someone. It will do you good.

You’re a hoot Howard and Go Dance wouldn’t be the same without you!

Thanks for sharing!