Which of these ways is the best way to learn dancing?

[morgrob]

I also think that learning multiple dances at one time helps you remember things in the long run. If you master lets say, cha cha, unless you practice it all the time, by the time you master your 5th dance it has been a long time since you've done cha cha (especially for social dancing). Like others said many things can be done in multiple dances, which is helpful. It also just more fun to at least know a couple of steps in each dance so you can get out and do them.

 

[jennyisdancing]

I think it's much easier to learn a dance when the full class period is focused just on that one dance. If you want to learn more than one dance at a time, you could always take more than one class a week (if you have the time and money). I usually go to my studio one night per week but I take two classes while there - usually an hour of salsa and then an hour of swing, for example.

 

[ash_sk8s]

My studio does dance-specific classes as well. I like it that way. However, they do also have a general beginning ballroom class that teaches I think 3 dances.

 

[waltzgirl]

I wouldn't conclude that your studio isn't good. IME, very few studios teach multiple dances in one group class session. As Chris said, that works either at the very, very beginning or at a very advanced stage. In between, to really learn at the advanced beginner or intermediate stage, you really need to spend some time on each dance to learn enough to dance it socially or in competition, whichever (or both) your goals are.

The best group classes I've had were 3-month series of weekly classes focusing on just one dance. That was long enough to cover the whole bronze syllabus.

In private lessons, it's typical to spend time on more than one dance in each lesson, though that too depends on your goals and stage of development. There is a time for that exhausting hour spent on just one step!

 

[jjs914]

I think if it's a 45 minute or hour long class, it's actually probably the norm, in most cases, to teach one dance per class period. I wouldn't place a judgement on the studio's value based on that. I think you can use that info to judge whether or not the studio's method's fit with the way you learn...which is a personal thing.

Now, where the old studio had two hour classes, I can see that it would make sense to do more than one dance. That reminds me of the way we learned as beginners when I joined my college's team. We had multiple hour long classes (an hour for beginners, an hour for intemediate, etc.) and so we could cover more than one dance over the course of a night. Also, especially in the first months, we might cover more than one dance in an hour session to give a taste of the different dances and get people started.

 

[morgrob]

I think it also depends on what your goals are. If you want to compete, I think careful study of an individual dance is more important. If your goals are purely social, there is nothing wrong with working on a couple of dances at the same time. My goals are purely social, and where I take lessons, each 12 week course is 3 or 4, but most are 3. We often spend time on all three or just two of those dances in a 70 minute lesson. We have taken lessons for about 2 years now, and I feel like, as long as you practice and keep up, you can maintain those steps. If you want to get awesome at a dance, then I think careful studying of a single dance may pay off. I just think you need to evaluate your goals. If you are happy with where you are going, then that is all that matters.

 

[wooh]

Starting out, the structure of lessons, your future goals, whatever, that's not what's important at first. Find a place you feel comfortable getting your feet wet. Feel comfortable with the staff, feel comfortable with the other students. There's no place that's perfect, but for that beginner stage, it's really all about getting comfortable doing something new with a bunch of strangers around you.