Some tips please :-)

[-=RoCkY=-]

Hi again.I just want to fnd out something quickly from u all.I hope not that this question is lame or has been asked before but here goes.

When I am alone,what is the best way that I can practice dancing alone like steps and all those stuff.

And one more question,Is it really good to listen to music often and learn the music first before u learn the dancing and steps or is it the other way around?

One more general question.Are most of u professional dancers who make a living off it or just do it for fun or competitions or what?

What modern kind of music that u guys like would u recommend for foxtrot music and hustle music?

[BrookeErin]

I can really only respond to one question....

I'm certainly not a professional dancer... I'd consider myself a street-style salsera, who recently started taking classes. I basically only dance at clubs. I also dabble in belly dancing, and have taken a variety of other types of dance classes in my life. I think you'll find that DF is pretty diverse...

[cl5814]

Hi again.I just want to fnd out something quickly from u all.I hope not that this question is lame or has been asked before but here goes.

When I am alone,what is the best way that I can practice dancing alone like steps and all those stuff.

And one more question,Is it really good to listen to music often and learn the music first before u learn the dancing and steps or is it the other way around?

One more general question.Are most of u professional dancers who make a living off it or just do it for fun or competitions or what?

What modern kind of music that u guys like would u recommend for foxtrot music and hustle music?

A big south african welcome to the DF, Rocky.

I think knowing some of the music you will dance to before you learn the steps might be easier for you to get the feel of the dance.
I think most people on this forum are hobby dancers. We have a few professionals on this board.
The best music i can suggest to you is to take a look at the ballroom music cd's. Sites like dancevision.com allow you to listen to snipets of songs before you buy.

[pygmalion]

One more general question.Are most of u professional dancers who make a living off it or just do it for fun or competitions or what?

What modern kind of music that u guys like would u recommend for foxtrot music and hustle music?

There's some of everybody here. Dance pros, partner dancers, non partner dancers, dance teachers, studios managers, high level dance competitors, people who want to dance but haven't started yet, social dancers, newbies, people who've been dancing a million years :wink: ... We cover the gamut of dancer types, I think. :wink: 8) :lol:

And modern dance music for foxtrot? Hmm... :? Hustle is easy -- about half the stuff they play in clubs here is great for hustle -- the "dance mix" of almost anything pop top-forty will have a hustle beat. (Not hip-hop. Pop.)

Aarrgh. In terms of modern music, I'm not so sure. What do you mean by modern music? :roll: :lol:

[ChaChaLicious]

heres my suggestion on how you you can improve your dancing when your alone. what i do which personally improves my dancing, is going over the steps of my routines in my head. then i'll put on the music whether its the cha cha or the jive and go over the steps to the music without actually getting up and dancing. also, what helps is going over steps/technique in front of a mirror when your alone, at your own pace. take about an hour or two a day (aside from being in a dance studio ) and just relax. take in all the information which your teacher presents you each day, and just keep going over it.. over and over, until it looks something your teacher would say is PERFECT.... that usually helps me when i walk into my dance studio, knowing that i went over everything i was taught from the previous lesson, and knowing that i didnt forget it. and the next time, you just incorporate everything you learned prior to, and that same day into that daily routine... in no time, will your dancing improve... dont over exert yourself and try to have fun!!! Enjoy yourself!!!

[tacad]

Yeah, we've got all knds of dancers here.

Michael Buble is very popular right now for foxtrot style songs. I think he may be singing Frank Sinatra style songs though as opposed to anything modern but I'm not sure.

After I take a lesson I write everything down that I can remember. It may take 20-30 minutes sometimes. Then at home I practice what I wrote down.
My instructor breaks down the movements and I practice these each week. I might spend 10-15 minutes, say, on the cha cha basic. One step at a time, getting the hip motion. No hurry. I don't try to do it fast. Then I'll work on the steps some. The basics don't really require you to have a partner to work on them since the moves are not complicated. But then it does take some time to learn to do these with a partner as I have to wait and do them with a partner in class or in social dances. So it does require patience. Dances like waltz where you are closer to your partner have taken more time to get then the latin dances where you are farther apart.

This has worked well for me with rhumba, cha cha, waltz, and foxtrot. I did try it with salsa but the complexity of the moves confused me. I did run them through in my head but I was less successful.

Good luck!