Dance Choices
I am so confused! For the past two years I’ve been concentrating on learning a variety of swing & country dances. About a week ago, the ballroom dance club held a 2-day dance workshop. I signed up for the Saturday classes in which they taught ballroom waltz and the rumba. After the workshop, they held a ballroom dance with a free Bolero lesson.
I loved them……………….I mean I really loved them! I am so confused now! Which direction do I go, what do I learn next……….help me please. I’m afraid to try anything else new, or I’ll just be more confused. I want to learn them all! I love every kind of dance I’ve ever tried, well maybe with the exception of one, but I’m not going to tell which one that is, because I know many who do love it. So even if I eliminate that one, there are dozen’s more I love. I know there are many dancers who stick with just one dance and become very, very good at it and I do envy the fact that they are so good…………but………..I love too many to just pick one or even two. I guess I’ll just have to resign myself to being a jack of many dances……master of none! Not sure that is all that bad.
Can’t speak from a ballroom perspective but in my dance experience diversity in your study/training is a good thing. New styles and concepts can teach and inform your dancing in your area of expertise or focus. Dancers with a diverse background bring more to the table, I think, whether it is in professional work or just for fun. As for determining your focus, the only way to choose is to experience many styles. As you study it will probably become clear what you are best at and/or most passionate about. Again, this is my experience in concert dance forms, but the same may be true in ballroom.
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Ras#2 - AKA Cindy Reply:
February 20th, 2009 at 9:03 pm
Thanks so much for your comments. I’m kind of new at this whole blog thing so I apologise for taking so long to respond. I still have my same 2 favorites but I probably haven’t danced the new ones enough for them to replace the top 2 but they have completely replaced the bottom 2 as favorites. What kind of dancing do you do? Sounds like your a professional dancer. I certainly wished I had started dancing much much sooner. Better late than never though. I’d be interested in knowing about your dancing history.
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Nichelle Reply:
February 26th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
I perform primarily modern/contemporary dance but like most theatrical/concert dancers I started when I was young taking ballet, jazz, tap, etc. at my local dance studio. I have my degree in dance and I teach, perform (when I can – I’m a mom now too), and write about dance at my blog and elsewhere. I have no real experience with ballroom at all, just what I’ve gleaned here and there in jazz classes (which is rooted in vernacular/social dance but translated to the stage).
So that’s a little about me!
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I’ve been taking dance lessons for about a year. I started with Ballroom: foxtrot and waltz. This year I started taking some Latin classes. I started with ChaCha and I love it! I want to take at least 2 more classes in ChaCha… enough so I’ll remember some of the moves. Then I want to take Salsa and some swing classes. My goal is to know several moves in each major dance type (Ballroom, swing, Latin) so I can dance to most any song that’s played at the dances. With only waltz and foxtrot, I was very limited in what I could dance to.
My dance studio owner recommends foxtrot to everyone, as it’s the most versatile of the dances since you can dance to the most music with that step.
So my plan is to develop the basics across the various types of dance… I hope this helps.
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Ras#2 - AKA Cindy Reply:
February 20th, 2009 at 9:08 pm
Thanks for your comments. Don’t you just love dancing. I’ve only got about a year on you. Love Cha-Cha myself. Like to practice more on the hip movements which go with it. Haven’t done much fox trot but I think its pretty much the same (but opposite) steps as in Country 2-step. Isn’t it slow slow quick quick? What got you to start dancing?
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Hey there! I can understand your indecision somewhat because I myself went from Argentine Tango to Salsa/Bachata to Latin ballroom, and finally standard ballroom.
It’s true that it’ll be extremely difficult to get very good in all of them, particularly because the whole style and feeling of say the latin dances, is completely (and i mean completely!) different from the standard dances.
But within each category they are really quite similar. For example if you choose to immerse yourself in standard ballroom, a lot of instructors build you up from Waltz because the frame, posture, and many of the movements between Waltz, Foxtrot, Vienese Waltz, etc are similar. So your big decision is probably which “category” to get into.
In my opinion if you’re into exciting beats with fast movement changes, latin ballroom’s the best; if you’re into flowy dances that glide you across the floor, standard ballroom’s great; and if you mainly want to dance at latin clubs, salsa / bachata / merengue will the great
regards.
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Ras#2 - AKA Cindy Reply:
February 20th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
Hey Sam, thanks for your comments. With the exception of Cha-Cha which is one of my 2 favorites (still), I haven’t done alot of other Latin dancing. Definitely like the whole hip-action part and would like to take some lessons from an instructor here who can move parts of his body I never even knew moved! Very sexy! Haven’t done much fox trot but I think its kind of opposite footwork from Country 2-step which is really my other favorite. Like to try the quick-step too…….ahhhh, so much to learn, so little tiem. How long have you been dancing and what got you into it?
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Sam Reply:
February 21st, 2009 at 12:46 am
Hello!
I’ve been dancing more seriously for around 2.5 years now, ever since I decided to try out argentine tango with a friend – that dance REALLY got me hooked on dancing. I’ve done mainly standard and latin ballroom so I’m completely unfamiliar with swing & country… I don’t even know how 2-step looks! 
:) And yeah it’s really fun to watch the experts to latin. It’s like every part of their bodies is made of rubber that they can mould and move any part around at will… Do you take part in competitions and such?
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Ras#2 - AKA Cindy Reply:
February 22nd, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Competition?! Don’t think I’m even close to that. Been dancing about 2 years , myself and I got the bug after some guy in Fort Worth tried to teach me the Texas 3-step. Boy of boy, that had to be a lesson in patience! How is the dance community where you are? Typically seems to be a shortage of men here. and while the community is growing, albeit slowly, new women far outnumber men. What about you, have you participated in any type of competition? Do you attend any dance festivals or such around the county?
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