History of the Body School

Benny Tolmeyer was a brilliant teacher/coach. He was a master and had an innate ability to make the most complex of information simple and easy to understand, in addition to making it fun and harmonious with self and partner. Due to this ability, he was revered by many and often talked about as being the best teacher/coach in the world. Lessons were always taught with fun, laughter, jokes, and stories.  

He took Maja under his wing and taught her how to think, be, dance, teach, and adjudicate. It was clear to Maja that there was some kind of a system to what and how he was teaching. When Maja asked for him to teach her his system he laughed and told her there was no system, just a series of principles. 

Over the years Maja wrote several books with notes of the lessons she took with all the teachers/coaches. Maja started organizing the notes and showed Benny how she had organized the notes. She showed him how she had organized the notes into 4 categories. Maja had named 3 of the four categories into the Traditional School of Thought, the Round School of Thought, and the Square School of Thought. She wanted Benny to be part of the naming the organization of his information. Benny was impressed with how the system was presented and together they decided to call the system the BODY SCHOOL OF THOUGHT or the short version of the name the BODY SCHOOL. 

Videos of Benny Tolmeyer

Insights to the Body School

The system is put together as an upside-down pyramid or a tree. The base has a few rules and as the knowledge increases so does the complexity of the system or branches of the tree. The system is built on basic principles taken from the scientific disciplines of science, anatomy, kinesiology, physiology (including walking and healthy movements), and social psychology, as well as philosophy and energy work. The principles are put into 20 basic rules. 

Each of the 20 basic rules breaks into sub-rules and then more sub-rules for a total of 7 levels. As the dancer progresses in knowledge, awareness, and skill, level they progress up the levels. On the 3rd level there are more than 400 rules and on the 6th level there are more than 8000 rules. 

It is not necessary to know all the rules to be an excellent dancer. A beginner may be considered a good beginner dancer with knowing just 50 rules. It is also important to remember that great dancing is about doing and not about knowing. Dancers who teach should know many more rules than their students as not all students learn the same way.

Body School Dancers

List of Body School Dancers

This is a list of just some of the dancers who have used the Body School to improve their dancing. They are listed in the order they were introduced to the Body School. 

International Standard:

  • Glenn G Weiss and Maja Servé
  • Erik Hansen and Marion Nielsen
  • Peter Chen
  • Takeshi and Erina Nakanishi
  • Tiffany Fung
  • Chris Ford and Christine Zona
  • Frank Flores and Carol Flores
  • Tarmo Jorgi and Kristi End
  • Svetlana Iskhakov
  • Michal Towliszew and Tiffany Fung
  • Suneth Jayamanna and Ashley Eastin
  • Lindsey Dechant
  • Chad Lakridis & Brisa Manis

International Latin

  • Riccardo Cocchi and Yulia Zagoruychenko

American Smooth 

  • Edward Simon and Michelle Officer

American Rhythm

  • Dan Rutherford and Nicole Carroll Rutherford