New to the forum - and seeking information :D

[Azrael]

Hi hi! My name's Adam. I just joined the forum a few hours ago.

Quite a few things I have to say. Firstly, I only just recently got into dancing in a big way. I'm 19 and at college, in my second year. Before I arrived here (thats just over a year ago) I had never really been to clubs at all. So naturally, I was a very bad dancer from the start, at least compared to everyone else. A combination of Youtube, Audition Online (dance-related online game) and a dance-crazy friend of mine whose a girl, are the things that seem to have gotten me interested. I feel like I'd really like to become highly competent in more than one style of dancing, for many reasons - but mostly because I've found myself immensely enjoying it lately.

A few more things I had to go into detail about (sorry for the long post):

This term I'm taking breakdancing, street dancing, jive and salsa lessons with the college. These are 1 hour a week, although Breakdancing and Jive are only for 5 weeks out of this term (which is 10). So I feel like I really need to learn more outside of lessons. Which is one of the reasons I signed up here.

I already did some breakdancing last year and was not very good for it, except for basic footwork and toprock. The other styles, Ive never tried before.

One thing that Ive been wondering is how you actually dance to music in clubs. This in the UK usually consists of club music, indie, a bit of cheese and some well known hits. Nothing which has a specific dance style related to it. And as such, most people improvise using a bit of hip hop, and general 'moving-feet-to-the-beat' styles of dancing. There are no real guidelines for me to put myself above the others in the clubs. So I'd love some advice (if possible) on where to start looking for a way to perfect my style in this case, as I really have no idea what to be doing :(

Last question:

Ive been a bit of a dance fanatic around my friends, in person and on msn. While most people find it a good thing, there are some people who just keep telling me that dancing is a girl thing. I know thats not true, as Im sure a lot of people here would agree, but I was wondering if there were any certain styles aimed at guys when dancing? Im particularly looking in the sense of freestyling, here. Speaking of which, Id really love to get started on this idea of freestyling - where would be the best place to start?

Sorry again for the long post. I will probably be around alot in the meantime, checking out tips and contributing where I can. I hope to get to know more people here in that time :)

Thanks!

Adam~

[meow]

Hello and welcome. I'm sorry that I can't help you out with the info you are seeking as I live in Australia and am into Ballroom and Latin. But, I'm sure there are many who will be able to assist. Hope you enjoy the DF ride.

[Spitfire]

Azreal, before I got into ballroom and swing I would dance at clubs and it was always free style do your thing to the music type of dancing. I would have to guess that's still the current trend in the UK as well as here in the USA. As you say there are no guidelines here.

Yes, there does seem to be a prevailing attitude that dancing is not suppose to be a mans thing, but the reality is quite different within dance circles. I don't know that any dance is more oriented or suited to the particular gender.

[Azrael]

Thanks for the replies ^^

Im glad this topic survived - When I posted it yesterday it wasn't showing up in any of the forums, so I thought Id accidentally lost it.

I'm going to spend a few hours on here today, as I have a really big night out tonight, followed by 2 clubs. Hope it goes well ^^

[delamusica]

Hi Azrael!

Sometimes posts by new users take a little bit of time to appear (gives our mods a chance to keep the spam away!).

If you do a search for "prom" or "school dance," you'll find some advice for how to do some basic club dancing, but it sounds like you've got more of an idea of what to do than most of those posters!

Great to hear that you're getting more involved in dance despite the stigma - yay for guys that dance!! Women like it when guys dance - spread the gospel. :)

Welcome to DF - hope to see you around!

[SDsalsaguy]

Sometimes posts by new users take a little bit of time to appear (gives our mods a chance to keep the spam away!).
Yes, that's exactly what happened. Once we saw it was a legitimate post, it went active.

[Rugby]

Welcome Adam. If anybody tells you dancing is for girls then tell them where else can you get very close with a lot of ladies you don't know and be asked to do it again.( and not get slapped ). Besides, what a way to meet women. Dancing is the El Dorado of single women for men and you dicovered it, though I am sure you got into dancing for more than that. Boo hoo to the other men who were not wise enough to figure it out. Don't be sorry for the long posts. Compared to mine you barely said a word. Dance Forum needs a smilie on a soapbox.