Comments on: Dance Choices

By: Teacher

Teacher — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 17:41:26 +0000

After teaching and competing for over 30 I have learned that if you just concentrate on the three basic dance type you will quickly become able to dance to any music you may encounter.

Dances, where some one holds you, fall into just three basic types.
1. Smooth – FoxTrot/Country TwoStep, Waltz, Tango, etc
2. Latin – ChaCha, Rumba, Merenge, etc
3. Rhythm – East Coast Swing, Weast Coast Swing, etc

It is the first dance I have listed above you should concentrate on.

If you learn to do the East Coast Swing you will have all of the basics needed to do any Rhythm/Swing Dance taught.

If you learn to do the ChaCha, not front to back version as is common in bars, you will have all of the basics needed to do any Latin dance.

If you learn to do the FoxTrot/Country TwoStep (same dance) you will have most of the basics needed to do any Smooth dance you may encounter.

Waltz is actually a seperate Smooth dance and is possibly the second most difficult dance to master.

If you want to do any of the Tango dances, learn the Slow Waltz first! You will be amazed at the difference it will make in your Tangos!

There is a free lesson series available from DanceTips(tm) (not a web site) you must use their Yahoo email.

The DanceTips(tm) series is free with no strings or hidden requirements. They teach you how all dances are simular and can be easily learned with little time and at no cost for the lesson or any materials from they may send.

They use the easiest learning method ever found.

Country dance instruction unfortunatly has declined since the introduction of line dancing and Ballroom has always been directed to pull people into competition which is generally not compatable with social dancing.

As you may guess I prefer to dance in contact with my partner.

The main choice to first make is do you want to go out social dancing? Or do you want stay in a studio preparing for a once or twice a year competition?

The choice is always yours, enjoy whatever you choose.

By: Nichelle

Nichelle — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 19:12:03 +0000

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!

By: Sam

Sam — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 08:52:55 +0000

Hello again! I hail all the way from sunny Singapore; the dance community here is also growing slowly. Basically there was a tremendous Salsa craze here for a while that’s becoming a latin ballroom craze heh… and yes there’s a shortage of guys too I haven’t taken actually taken part in any ballroom competitions (preparing for my first one – Waltz – in a few weeks!); only performances and festivals and such. One memorable one was an Argentine Tango milonga that Javier and Andrea came to visit.

So you mainly do swing dances? I really have to check those out. Most of the swing dances aren’t very popular in my country…

By: Ras#2 - AKA Cindy

Ras#2 - AKA Cindy — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 21:41:44 +0000

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?

By: Sam

Sam — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 07:46:06 +0000

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?

By: Ras#2 - AKA Cindy

Ras#2 - AKA Cindy — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 04:16:33 +0000

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?

By: Ras#2 - AKA Cindy

Ras#2 - AKA Cindy — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 04:08:30 +0000

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?

By: Ras#2 - AKA Cindy

Ras#2 - AKA Cindy — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 04:03:40 +0000

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.

By: Sam

Sam — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 16:08:25 +0000

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.

By: Kathy

Kathy — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 03:51:21 +0000

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.

By: Nichelle

Nichelle — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 16:13:21 +0000

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.