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Bruce Couillard & Laura Withers
Bruce and Laura met in 2009 and were engaged to be married in 2010. Although they have moved out of Connecticut to pursue Laura's medical career, they will dance at their wedding in 2011 in Connecticut. They met because of dance and great music.
Bruce Couillard
I play saxophone, and for years I'd watch from stage while people were dancing to the tunes. I decided to try swing dancing myself, and became immersed in CT's East Coast Swing & Lindy dance scene. In early 2006, Susan Chen invited me to classes that had just begun in Fairfield; it was there that I first met Erik Novoa, and began learning West Coast Swing. I've been a part of Erik's dance community ever since, and he and Anna are two of my best friends. Dancing has introduced me to more friends and fun than anything else I've done, and continues to make my life better.
In 2009, I attended Midsummer Night Swing at New York Lincoln Center with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, and the introductory swing dance lesson taught by Erik and Anna. Erik said to change partners every few moves, "or if you find someone you like, you can stay with them." In the next moment, I found Laura, and we stayed together. We're still together!
Laura Withers
I had just moved to New York City and was hoping to make some friends who dance. I had taken some ballroom for about a year in Florida and knew I wanted to keep dancing. Alone and a little nervous I went to an outdoor, live music and swing dance at Lincoln Center. Erik and Anna were teaching the free group lesson before the live music started. I paired up with a stranger and we did the steps. Then we were instructed to rotate partners and I paired up with another stranger. This guy could dance! And he was cute! And he was fun! We did the steps and were told to rotate partners again... except that we didn't rotate. We danced the rest of the lesson together.
Eight months later Bruce and I are engaged. We go to Erik's lessons for West Coast Swing and Hustle regularly. (I live in Connecticut now.) I have gotten to know a wonderful dance community, learned some new dances that are great for social dancing and found an activity that my fiancee and I can enjoy together for a lifetime.