These are often asked
questions of people who want to learn to dance:
1) What if I have
two left feet?
2) Do I need to
bring a partner?
3) What are the
best dances to start with?
4) Do couples
have to rotate partners?
Answers:
1) What if I have two
left feet?
Find someone with
two right feet, so together, you'll save a lot of money
when you buy shoes. ;-)
Actually, it seems that most
people think they have two left feet. I think it's because we often compare ourselves to our superstar
brother, sister, or friend who seemed to be born
dancing. Or maybe you didn't realize that your first
dance frustrations were with dances that most people find
challenging (like West Coast Swing, Salsa, or Argentine
Tango).
The good news is, even if you are not a
creative "freestyle" dancer, you still might have the
traits to be a good partner dancer.
What are the traits
of a good partner dancer?
Let's see. I know it helps
if you have a good sense of humor so you can laugh when
you "zig" and your partner "zags".
That's probably the main quality. A good sense of humor,
and then just keep showing up. It might sound too
simple but, in 14 years, I honestly don't know of one
person who kept showing up that never learned to dance.
2) Do I need to bring
a partner?
No, not in any
beginning class that I know of.
3) What are the best
dances to learn first?
The dances done to
music you like; and/or the dances where you say "I wanna
dance
like that"; and/or the dances that are done in social scenes
you want to be part of; and/or the music moves you to
want to dance.
Maybe you think the cutest gals
or guys are at the Country or Salsa or Ballroom dances,
etc.... and you want to meet them. Learning to dance, with its rotating of partners
during lessons and mixers, is a good way to meet that
cute guy or gal. Or bring your own guy or gal. Easy dances are also
a good place to start.
A lot of people find these
dances are very user-friendly:
Jitterbug (fast big
band swing), Rumba & Nightclub Two-Step (romantic slow
dances), Waltz (at its most basic level it could be as
simple as walking), Cha Cha (when taught without
numbers), Zydeco & Merengue (two of the most forgiving
dances).
Those are just my observations. Go where
your energy leads you. Go toward what excites you.
Whatever lessons you
take, don't compare yourself to others. Beginners often
don't realize that the "geniuses" in their beginning
class may have taken that same class several times. Or they might not know that the "fast learners" are
often intermediate dancers that the teacher has invited
to the class in order to have equal numbers of guys and
gals. Or they might just be intermediate dancers who
are very social and want to meet the beginning dancers.
Frequently beginning dancers are intermediate/advance
dancers in other type of dances, they learn more quickly. So avoid comparing yourself to others. It's often
apples and oranges. Besides, you may find some dances
extremely easy to learn and other dances not-so-easy. That's just the way it is and you'll never know til you
try 'em.
4) Do couples have to
rotate partners?
No, you don't have
to rotate, however, it's a good idea to let the
instructor know beforehand.
Rotation of partners
is a teaching tool that most Instructors use because a
learning problem may be a shared problem that will be
corrected with a different partner. Instructors may have a separate
row for couples who aren't rotating. You might like to
know that it's common knowledge that rotating partners
does make you a better social dancer. But that's up to
you. You may be on your first date or your honeymoon or
you just don't want to rotate partners for whatever
reason. No big deal. Do whatever you'd like to do.
A couple weeks ago
I came up with a third alternative that's pretty darn
cool. You might want to try it. Here's how it works:
If you don't wish to rotate, stay with your partner as
long as you are learning the material easily. If you
get stuck, join the rotation. By the time you return to
your original partner you will both know how to do
it. Then stay together again until you get stuck. It's the best of both worlds. But again, let the
instructor know if that's your plan.
By the way, this
also applies to most "mixers". Mixers
are dances that ask you to change partners frequently
during the song so as to encourage dancers to "mingle". As long as you both
agree to it, you could just keep your same original
partner if you'd like. Or mix it up sometimes and not
mix it up at other times. Whatever makes you happy.
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Who am I?
I produce dance
events. Lots of 'em. Over 1700 in 14 years. I deejay
most of the events but hire bands for some. I also hire
talented teachers and sometimes I teach the beginning
dance lessons myself. Almost all of my events
have from 1 to 5 dance lessons prior to the actual
dance. That's probably why the events are so popular.
They take place primarily at Monroe Hall & the Finley
Center in Santa Rosa and attract from 70 to 150 dancers
at every partner dancing event. Depending on the
season, I put on Ballroom, Swing, Country, Zydeco,
Nightclub Two-Step & Salsa dances.
SteveLuther@ap.net
707-529-5450
Santa Rosa, CA
