In The Spotlight
with Doug Rothert

 

 

Doug Rothert grew up in East Lansing, Michigan and went to college at the University of Michigan. He moved to Austin for his first job out of college with IBM in 1993 and has been here ever since. “I really like the high tech, eclectic mix that is Austin. I've worked for IBM in wide ranging roles for the last fifteen years including development on LAN Server, Netscape for OS/2, IBM's version of Java and organizing a custom Linux distribution for the retail sector with Novell (IRES/NLPOS). Currently I am a Senior Software Engineer working in the Tivoli market management group.

What brought you to Go Dance?

I was considering new experiences and personal challenges. I tried Go Dance from a friend's recommendation and found the experience a unique way to meet new people and insightful to further myself.

Was it difficult to take that first leap into dance lessons?

I am an extremely shy, introverted engineer with a phobia of driving and crowds. I am very expressive and open in one on one situations, but crowds and social environments are daunting. For me, facing these challenges head on and acclimating myself slowly has been helpful to control fear and improve my ability to socially engage with other people. At my first Salsa Social at the studio, I paid my $5, changed to dance shoes, freaked out, changed to street shoes and ran away. I can safely say that I don't do that anymore but its definitely more comfortable to social dance in the studio than in a club. Dancing with people in a class situation is more comfortable yet, with continuous positive reinforcement and working with the friendly staff at Go Dance has helped me create the skill base to assist me with social dancing.

 As an engineer I have strong logic skills for memorizing patterns, learning terminology for dance movements (critical for my memory), and knowing precisely where to start and stop on the floor. And I'm not afraid to ask questions. I still have difficulty with the more instinctual pieces of dancing and not losing my head from the stress of the situation, especially as I try something new and challenging.

How has attending Go Dance changed you?

Aside from helping me out socially it has also challenged and improved my mental and physical fitness. Those points have motivated me to keep pushing myself.

 Last year I was out for 4+ months from a back injury - I tore three discs in my spine, one of which herniated a month later when I pushed myself too far dancing with a non-prescription pain relieving patch on my back. The upshot of the recovery was two steroid epidurals with four months of physical therapy and I'm back dancing. Dancing was one of my goals during recovery and part of the reason I keep up 30 to 45 minutes of physical therapy every day on my own. If there is a moral to the story, it’s try to avoid pain killers while dancing, use them when you need to relax and recover, and keep your muscles (especially core muscles) as toned and flexible as possible to avoid injury.

You’ve done showcase routines, how did you feel about your performance and would you do one again?

I have actually done three showcase performances - one individual routine with a teacher (Salsa) and two group routines (Salsa and West Coast Swing). If you have the resources and the time I do recommend an individual routine for the most intense education but I think everyone can benefit from a group routine. The resource and time required are not as high and you build a unity amongst the team as you practice and perform together.

What do you enjoy doing when you are not at Go Dance or working?  Have any Hobbies?

I'm a fairly serious computer hardware nerd - I have built probably a half a dozen machines or more, I haven't done serious software programming in years but I've put together things from little Micro-ATX machines (7"x7" fanless computers w/o moving parts) to multi-terabyte storage arrays and quad core servers in my house.

Any final words?

Patience in dance is underrated as a whole. I've danced with many beginner followers and they always assume I'm bored out of my mind or frustrated with them and that is never the case. You learn something from every partner and you dance at the level appropriate to the class. You can always focus on your own technique or styling, etc... dancing the most basic patterns. Same goes for an advanced follower and a basic leader. It is very rare but in nearly three years I've run into it - a follower who voices her frustration for not being led into more advanced patterns. That criticism can be difficult to overcome. I would suggest everyone apply a generous dose of patience with the skill level of their partner.

You're awesome Doug!  
Thanks for participating in our Spotlight!