In 2005, Marcus Coker, the Owner and Lead Instructor, founded Momentum Dance Concepts (“MDC”) in Van Buren, Arkansas. Momentum Dance Concepts teaches social partner dancing, which includes mostly West Coast Swing, East Coast Swing, Nightclub Sway, Lindy Hop, Charleston, Salsa, Two Step, and all the ballroom dances (Foxtrot, Waltz, Cha Cha, Rumba, Tango). Marcus began dancing in 1999 when he was invited to a swing class by a group of friends. Two years later he began teaching. It is MDC’s mission to provide quality dance instruction in a relaxed and fun atmosphere, and to develop talent, grace, and skill while building confidence and ability.
Marcus’s desire is to share his love and passion for Ballroom, Lindy Hop, and all types of social dancing with his students while at the same time teaching unique patterns, strong basics and solid technique.
It is Marcus’ personal belief that dance offers much more to people than patterns and steps. He believes dance is a way to enhance self-expression, confidence, personal health and relationships.
Marcus and his friends started Southern Fried Swing, the area’s first annual Lindy Hop convention, in 2009 as a way to grow the Lindy Hop scene and give back to the community. At last year’s event, Marcus and Janie performed the Charleston with the Chick-Fil-A cow.
Although Marcus is known to teach throughout the local community and choreograph routines for many organizations, his strongest concentration is on his students who take lessons on a weekly basis. In addition to teaching and choreographing dance, Marcus is a freelance writer and photographer for @Urban Magazine in his spare time.
From Marcus’ viewpoint, MDC is separated from other dance studios by their strength 
which lies in teaching social dancing, as opposed to competition dancing, which means they are pretty laid back. They are concerned with meeting their students where they are and helping to take them to where they want to go. Their main goal is to be patient with people and simply have fun while still teaching good technique and musicality. Plus, their studio, located in an old building with high ceilings and brick walls, is funky and unique, an environment that fosters creativity and expression.
Marcus’ proudest moment occurred recently when he performed a lindy hop routine with his dance partner’s eight-year-old daughter. It has been a joy to watch his dance partner grow, push to learn, and have things finally “click.” His partner started bringing her daughter to class, and, perhaps because she doesn’t have all of the hang ups that adults have about looking good or “I can’t do this,” she picked up on things really quickly. Marcus and his partner’s daughter dressed up like Munchkins for their performance, and his young dance partner had the biggest smile on her face the entire time. It was pure joy, which is one of the gifts of dance and being “in the moment.”
According to Marcus, aside from technical problems (like not keeping your feet under your body when you spin or letting your foot turn in when you do a crossover break), the biggest problem that he sees dancers make is quitting too soon. It seems that people have an expectation that dancing is going to be easier than they thought. As a result, they get frustrated with themselves, compare themselves to others, and are not patient with or dedicated to the process. All of these things are absolute killers. When Marcus started dancing, twelve of his friends started with him. They were all gone within a year. So, he believes the biggest difference between the average or mediocre dancer and the exceptional one is that the exceptional one has not quit. They have kept working, remained curious, and refused to get stale. They keep at it, a little at a time, and find the fun in the process.
Momentum plans to start a weekly dance that is not associated with teaching lessons. It will just be an opportunity for the community to get involved and have something else to do.
Marcus says it was ignorance that caused him to start a studio. (haha!) He was teaching a few classes a week at a local fitness center and a friend kept encouraging him to open his own place in a building the friend owned. Marcus did not know any better, so Marcus and his friend spent the summer getting it ready, and here they are. You never know where life will take you!
Marcus believes that people should know about dance and not by watching dance shows on television. He believes that anybody can sit on a couch and say they love dance. But it takes so much more courage, especially as an adult, to step outside your comfort zone and be vulnerable by trying to learn something new in front of strangers or even your partner. However, he believes that the benefits to dancing are more than he can list. It can absolutely set you free and change your life. Of course, that is a scary trip, but well worth it. And whether it is their studio or somewhere else’s, you need to find a place that is patient, encouraging, and knows what they are doing. Their goal is to make the client better, which means it is fine for students to go other places and learn other things.
The biggest things Marcus would like people to know are that they are smart, their bodies are smart. Anyone can learn and anyone can improve. The main obstacle you will face is your own thinking, so the sooner you can just dance and shut that down, the better. His dance mentor says, “Let dance love you.”
If you would like more information about Momentum Dance Concepts, visit their website at www.itsaboutmomentum, call them at 479-285-9090 or email them at marcus@itsaboutmomentum. You can also “Like” them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, watch them on YouTube and check them out on Flickr.
Please post a comment if you have had any experience with Marcus Coker of Momentum Dance Concepts.
Written By Cyndi Marziani
Owner
BDancewear.com
