Practicing at Home

[muirhejs]

Hi everyone,

I appreciate all the feedback in the "Ballroom Software??" thread, and I'm beginning to understand that no matter how much I look, software in general is poorly suited for learning how to dance-- there are simply too many considerations that need to be accounted for.

This being said, I want to work diligently to refine and improve myself in-between group and/or private lessons; I'm probably going to begin moving into a 1xMonth private lesson and 4xMonth (decent) group lessons.

What does everyone do to learn/refine/practice at home in-between lessons, particularly if your space is limited? My wife and I will practice together to a degree, and I have taken a look at books and videos available at my local library. What other suggestions are out there?

Best regards,

John

[saludas]

I suggest paying for floor time at a studio for your practice sessions. it is discipline to get up, make a shcedule, go somewhere, know that you are paying to be there, and actually do it.

You'll notice that all the serious dancers will be at studios.

A studio environment provides you with adequate space for practice, it provides you with the proper flooring, mirrors, etc, and if you practice at the right studios, you get to look over to others lessoning and practicing to inspire and give you the visuals you will surely miss at home.

You'll spend many thousands of dollars creating the proper practice environment (floating large floor, mirrored walls, sound system filled with the right music) when you can rent time at $15 / hr. 2 hours a week for 50 weeks is $1500, which would barely pay for mirrors.

[NielsenE]

Well, I think a beginner can still get a lot of utility out of some practicing at home. If your kitchen or family room is large enough to run though step patterns, that's a great tool to ******* your memory between lessons/privatets. You can often still do some basic "technique" drills in the comfort of your own home -- waltz box steps controlling rise and fall, or rumba boxes/z's (dependning on int'l v amer) don't need a lot of space and normally can work on lineoloum (sp) or carpet

Also, many studios don't charge floor fees to students on contract, sometimes there's black-out periods of course, etc so check with your teacher.

[b19wh33l5]

My girlfriend and I started doing some small practice stuff in my apartment when we first met. We SOON found it to be EXTREMELY limiting in the little space an apartment provides and knew we would have to find something else.

We both live a short distance from the University of Pittsburgh, so we decided to look around there and see if we could find more space to practice. We happened to find an aerobics room that is completely vacant on Sundays that we could use, complete with full length mirrors on the walls! So I put a bunch of mp3's on my laptop, grabbed my portable speakers and some dance dvd's, and we practice in there for free. A real dance studio would probably be the best thing, but we just can't pass up the fact we pay nothing to use this space on campus and any dance studio would require at least some money.

Just another thought, I know some dancers who spend practice time on a basketball court at their local YMCA.

[Tilly]

I'm quite new to ballroom dancing, but I think this is a thread I can probably contribute to.

I've spent much of my life so far figure skating which, as you can imagine, is not easy to practice at home.
I found the most constructive way to spend my "at home" time was to work on strengthening exercises and stretching, and to focus on my technique (my arm positions for example, and memorising the "feeling" when the weight was over the correct parts of my foot - that sort of thing).
I also see huge benefits in mentally moving through routines (and marking them out in super tiny steps) to the point that when you get onto the rink (or ballroom floor) it's second nature.

I hope that's of some use to someone anyway.

xxxxx

[latingal]

I want to work diligently to refine and improve myself in-between group and/or private lessons; I'm probably going to begin moving into a 1xMonth private lesson and 4xMonth (decent) group lessons.

muirhejs, it's a good plan to practice between your private and group lessons. Many dancers that I know are heavy on the lessons, but light on the practice and in my opinion they do not progress as fast as other dancers who practice diligently between lessons.

Some suggestions for you, take notes on the subjects you've been instructed in directly after your classes (I maintain a dance notebook). It will help to remind you what you should be working on between lessons. If you can, I would recommend upping your private lessons to twice a month. Four weeks between private lessons in which you get direct feedback on what you're working on currently is perhaps too much time.

Also, what style or styles are you planning to learn?

What does everyone do to learn/refine/practice at home in-between lessons, particularly if your space is limited?

I, as mentioned by saludas, tend to practice at the studio and pay a floor rental fee when I do. I have a set practice schedule working on the five dances in International Latin; I set aside time for basic technqiue work, work on routines/steps and general issues in connecting movement, and then specific areas that my teachers have pointed out that I need work on.

As for practicing at home, I limit it to movements that need little space and no specific requirement for floor surface. For example, I'll practice body movement for rumba in cucarachas or on a forward/backward walk or break. I may do some exercises for my feet ankles to maintain the bounce in samba, etc.

Hope this helps some....

[fascination]

I practice standing up straight....using and isolating my back muscles...doing chaine's with balance, staying forward while pivoting or moving backward...controlling my movement....ensuring that my arms stuling comes from my center........doesn't matter where

[Another Elizabeth]

You can also just listen to dance music and imagine yourself dancing to it. Especially if your goal is to improve your ability to string figures together, mentally visualizing yourself moving around the floor, in time with the music, while being aware of where you "are" in relation to the room and to your partner is a very useful exercise.

[WorksForShoes]

When DH and I first started, we got nearly a year out of practicing 2-3 times a week in our fairly large living room. At first you will probably find that you own a space that will accommodate 2-3 basic patterns strung together, then you will find you can only practice the new step of the week from your group lessons, then you will be down to practicing individual elements (balance, sway, etc.). You will also find you can't practice certain things well, like foot technique on carpet. But you can always practice something, and some practice is better than none (see all the threads about practicing in empty grocery aisles with a cart for a partner!).

Also, don't forget to have an occasional evening where you just put on some music, push back the furniture, and dance rather than practice. You're doing this to have some fun, eh?

[hamstersphere]

You can also just listen to dance music and imagine yourself dancing to it.

Unfortunately, this can be rather problematic if you're in your car. Have had a few narrow escapes ... :)

[old dog]

When looking for practice space, consider a church. If you are a member or regular participant, it should be easy to find some decent floor space that is available at odd times -- a meeting room, classroom, fellowship hall, even a foyer or narthex can work. Some churches have a gym or auditorium with a stage that is infrequently used. If you don't have a church home, pay a visit to your neighborhood church. You may be surprised at how receptive they are to hosting serious ballroom dancers looking for a space to work on a wholesome activity.

Odd or non-traditional floor surfaces can be a challange. A tight-weave, level-surface commercial grade carpet that you might find in a church can serve pretty well as a practice surface. Experiment with shoes to find a combination that works well enough for practice. I have some old gardening shoes that have smooth, semi-hard plastic soles and lots of laces for good support that work very well on carpet and a few other odd surfaces, (but they don't look very cool).

Glad to see that you realize the importance of practice. Regular, well focused practice -- for even a few minutes a day on less than ideal surfaces WILL make a difference in your progress.

A final note on foot-placement diagrams: I don't recommend using them for the basic patterns/figures -- especially as a beginning dancer. One result I've seen is a tendency to move with a jerky "plodding" motion in order to get the feet "where they are supposed to be." After one has studied (with a good teacher) and has practiced the basic elements of dance movement (involving all parts of the body), such diagrams can be useful to help understand what is going on in more complex figures, but the chart will not tell you 'how to do it.' Even Alex Moore's classic diagrams and his detailed descriptions will not do much for the beginning dancer (IMHO).

Good luck in your endeavors and good dancing!

[tanya_the_dancer]

I practice things which do not take a huge amount of space. All exercises my pro gave me, turns, elements. When I competed in rhythm, I practiced rhythm patterns at home. I do have hardwood floors throughout in my house, though. I had them put in for two reasons - I do a crappy job taking care of carpeted floors (so bad that when we rented a house first year we moved here, we lost most of our security deposit because of stains we left on the carpet) and I wanted to be able to dance at home. Obviously I cannot do a full-sized waltz at home now, just don't have enough space, but I still can do a lot.

[saludas]

Carpeting and nonwood floors should be very suspect. Unless you are a very beginner and have not learned how to do anything more than take steps, you'll injure yourself on these ungiving surfaces when you try to turn on them. And NOT turning correctly (to avoid knee injury) will simply ingrain poor habits.

Also look out for the 'church basement' floor, which is invariably on concrete. This will destroy your back.

[misteria]

practicing is important and I do practice a lot. I have set times for lessons with my coach, and practices with our whole team. I practice in the fitness room whenever it's free, and that's when I focus on routines, bigger movement,etc. Besides that, I pracice things like balance and different shapes in my room.
What also helps, is doing different stretching excercises either at home or in the gym.
Oh, and I walk around with my MP3 player and count the music.

[DennisBeach]

We have been practising at home once a week since we started 5 1/2 years ago. It is a bit of kludge because of space, but is beneficial. If the move takes move space than we have, we practise parts of the move and hopefully can do the whole thing when we go dancing the next weekend. We also practise technique improvements along with moves.

Ironic things is a bult a room in the basement were our children could ride hot wheels and paly with balls. We called it the ball room, now it is the ballroom, since it is our primary practise space. When we started it seemed pretty big, but as our movement improvement, it became a bit cramped. Occasionally we also take the cars out of the garage and use that.

[WorksForShoes]

Lately, we've been using some of our at-home time to discuss our impressions of different patterns as we step through them, which we can pretty much do anywhere we have about 6 feet of space. It is hard to explain online, but these discussions and brief step-throughs (sometimes together, sometimes alone) of a pattern really help each of us understand what the other is thinking at each point, which points are difficult, and what forces are really at play for each of us. Then, if we discover a problem we can try to apply the rules we know to fix it and "check our answer" with our instructor next time.