Best Methods for Practicing w/ a Partner

[b19wh33l5]

My girlfriend and I started social dancing together when I met her at a club one night and asked her to dance. We found that we share a lot of the same interest in dancing and music, and our styles seem to click really well. So, we decided we would like to start practicing together once a week outside of social dancing to improve our skills.

The plan is to go to the local university on Sundays and practice on one of the basket ball courts. We would make notes of things we felt we needed to "hash out" based on our social dancing that week, discuss them, make a list together, then work on them during this time. We would also use this time to work on stuff we learned in workshops and group classes. In addition we would do some regular dancing to music, but allow ourselves to stop in the middle of a dance if something does feel off. If all goes well we would like to start taking some private lessons after our schedules free-up this spring and we would spend time working on that material as well.

Right now we are in the process of getting some CD’s together so we will have a variety of music to dance to, and we still need to find out when the basketball courts on campus are free. So in the mean time I have a few questions for all of you who do put in practice time with a partner:

1) What do you do during your practices?
2) Do you outline specific goals for each practice session? Do you set them together, individually, or both?
3) Are the ideas my girlfriend and I have for our practices good for improving our dancing? Anything to add/subtract?
4) What things can we remember to do/avoid so that we do not create un-needed hard feelings/tension at any time before/during/after we practice?
5) I have been, and she probably will be, competing in jack-and-jills. Is there anything we should specifically focus on while practicing to help us do better at competitions?

 

[Joe]

It all depends on the two partners.

 

[Laura]

What do you do during your practices?

Dance and see what needs working on, then work on it. Sometimes do drills if we have any to do that help something that we're working on.

Do you outline specific goals for each practice session?

It depends on where we are in our learning and competition preparation cycle.

Do you set them together, individually, or both?

Either can suggest something to do, and people might have different goals, but in the end both partners have to do the work.

Are the ideas my girlfriend and I have for our practices good for improving our dancing?

If you think they will work for you, then they are good! And as you practice, you can change your methods and ideas. It's all very fluid and is designed by you two. It's not like lifting weights where people do a set bunch of exercises with a set number of repetitions.

Anything to add/subtract?

Try to avoid being so methodical that it takes all the fun out of the practice session. In my opinion, practice can and should have an element of enjoyment in it.

What things can we remember to do/avoid so that we do not create un-needed hard feelings/tension at any time before/during/after we practice?

When two people of similar experience and ability levels work together, it's helpful to keep in mind that probiems in the dancing are rarely totally one person's fault, and that the other person isn't doing something wrong just to make you mad. Everyone is trying to get better, and sometimes it's a bumpy road so try not to take anything too personally.

I have been, and she probably will be, competing in jack-and-jills. Is there anything we should specifically focus on while practicing to help us do better at competitions?

Since Jack-and-Jills are where you randomly draw a partner, you should each try dancing with as many different people as you can as often as you can. So when you go dancing outside of your practice sessions, don't just dance with each other.

 

[DennisBeach]

We practise new manuevers we are learning, technique improvements, enhancements to manuevers and anything we are having problems with. On the dance floor you have distractions and we need to get to a point with each manuever by practising, so we can do it at a dance despite the distractions.

Practising is definitely valueable. Particularily after you just learn a new manuever, routine or technique at a lesson. It can drastically reduce your learning costs and accelerate your improvement.

When we taking private lessons, whatever the teachers taught us, pretty much dictated most of what we practised. We both bring up things we feel we need to practise.

One key item is having an way to settle disagreements on items. When we disagree on something we would take it to the teacher or go back to the video to resolve it, rather than fighting about it.