Is better better to study one dance or variation ?

D

dancingirldancing

Member
Hi,

Is it better to study one dance until you are very good at it or to study multiple dance.

I mean if you are doing latin, is it better for you to dance rumba for lets say 3 months and then move on to other dances or is it better for you to better your other dances at relatively the same time.

This is in a private lesson situation.

Considering that you already know all the dances and just need polishing.
 
I think it is good to work on all the dances pretty much simultaneously, because you'll discover a lot of parallels that you apply and practice across the board. Like, you might to Rumba for a couple of lessons, and then work on Cha Cha and Samba for a few, then go over to Jive...just keep cycling around through them.

Of course, I wonder if my answer depends on where you are with your dancing. Like, if you are a total beginner or are learning new routines, might it be better to focus on one dance for a while?
 
I would not do just one dance for three months. There is a lot of information that crosses from rumba to cha cha. I would probably start with rumba, do maybe 2-3 lessons, introduce cha cha, do a few lessons of that (while going over the rumba), and then move on to samba. In my experience, jive and paso are saved for last, mostly because if you're a beginner competitor, one or both are not included in scholarships/championships.
 
I would learn all simultaneously since basic technique are inter-related, unless you are absolultely beginner and you think you might be confused, then you can do one at a time.
 
I would definitely recommend sticking to one style.

As for the dances, in Standard at least, I would recommend sticking with one dance for a few months before switching - unless you are spending more than a couple hours a day on it, in which case you may need to change during the day to stay interested.

This is for competition; if you also want to dance socially, you'll want to learn at least the basics of several dances fairly quickly.
 
As most have voted, I would say study related danced simultaneously.

Dance is not steps/patterns...it is movement/s. You will discover that certain/many movements crossover dances. You will also be able to more quickly realize technique/style differences when training in this manner. My humble cents' worth.
 
mamboqueen said:
I would not do just one dance for three months. There is a lot of information that crosses from rumba to cha cha. I would probably start with rumba, do maybe 2-3 lessons, introduce cha cha, do a few lessons of that (while going over the rumba), and then move on to samba. In my experience, jive and paso are saved for last, mostly because if you're a beginner competitor, one or both are not included in scholarships/championships.
Click to expand...

Except in Australia - Jive and cha cha are always done at the lowest level of competition :-) Very seldom get anything else. - mummsie
 
I haven't been dancing for long and we've covered all latin except Paso Doble during my lessons either spending a couple of lessons doing one dance or splitting the lessons eg Rumba/Chachacha. I've found it easier to learn this way as somethings are similar between them and probably as I improve in one style it helps with others. Initially things went really slowly but currently on the steep part of the learning curve :). Also, I tend to get frustrated at times if it is not going right so it is easier to try something else, practise at home and then come back to the problem the next lesson. :rolleyes:
 
I would do one style, maybe two, but not one dance over that long period of time. I find that I either get bored or frustrated or some combination of the two if I keep working on one dance for that long. There are a lot of similarities between the dances it's not bad to work one say rumba for a couple lessons, then cha cha, then jive, and samba, etc.
 
I would recommend doing rumba and chacha at the same time because of the similarity in movement..... except that rumba is more grounded and slow alowing for delicate body movements while chacha is faster with more emphasis on perkiness. Paso is completely different from rumba and chacha. Its posture is quite different and there are no hip movements. Samba is like it is in its own categories with completely different hip actions from rumba and chacha.

So, I would tackle rumba and chacha first, then go on to the other three (paso, samba, jive) separately.
 
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