how long does it take...

Josh said:
I am asked by at least 7 out of 10 new students in their first exposure to dancing questions like, "how long will it take me to be good at ...?" There is NO answer to this question because it is based in subjectivity, because "good," "proficient," "competent," and all other adjectives vary depending on who's defining them. And as all who have been involved in dancing (or any other endeavor for that matter) for a while realize, there is NO end to the learning. It NEVER stops. And to complicate things, how "good" a person may want to be will likely change as he or she evolves in the learning process, so it really doesn't matter at all "how long" it will take now, because as their goals change, so does the time necessary to achieve those goals.

Tell your friend "8 months" so she will shut up and get started, and then revel in your cleverness.
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my friend is a very accomplished dancer...it was more a hypothetical with regard to what the average forum member thought on the subject :)
 
Tell her to join us, fasc!!! then she ask us all the hypothetical questions she wants!!! and we will have trouble giving her straight answers again :)
 
Warren J. Dew said:
Of course, different peoples' definition of "accomplished" is different, too.
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I don't even think I can define "accomplished" since it's been a moving scale for me. I used to believe people who competed silver were accomplished dancers. Nowadays, I don't quite know if that's enough to call someone accomplished. My standard of what I think is accomplished increases with my own level of knowledge and understanding. By the same token I probably will never consider myself accomplished.
 
Warren J. Dew said:
Of course, different peoples' definition of "accomplished" is different, too.
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Exactly Warren--to some, winning a first place out of six couples in a bronze final is accomplished, to others, just dancing in blackpool would be accomplished, to others, making the quarterfinal would be a lifelong dream, to others, only a spot in the finals is worth of being called "accomplished." That was the point of my whole last post...

Now, on to ponder the other unanswerables... perhaps to visit the forest and spy on some unsuspecting falling trees and listen intently for silence or sound....
 
While perfection is a lifetime search, the specific ability to dance successive SQQ figures with full, unhalting, well timed movement is a more achievable and recognizable goal. In efficient circumstances it can be achieved in months, but its also possible to place moderately well in competitions for years without developing it.
 
I think about 1 year since that is how long it took me.

However I have extensive previous dance background so I am not sure if that helps.

I guess age also matters a lot in this case.

But I would defind proficient as a lady by being able to follow well reasonably proficient lead without losing posture or balance.
 
ftr...I think this person and myself as well, are well beyond looking at success in terms of placement at comps (as most of us know how relative that can be) or levels of steps (which may or may not have a thing to do with skill)...in fact, doing bronze steps at a very high level in intl FT is their Q...precisely because it is difficult and is something worked on forever by serious folks
 
Josh said:
Exactly Warren--to some, winning a first place out of six couples in a bronze final is accomplished, to others, just dancing in blackpool would be accomplished, to others, making the quarterfinal would be a lifelong dream, to others, only a spot in the finals is worth of being called "accomplished." That was the point of my whole last post...

Now, on to ponder the other unanswerables... perhaps to visit the forest and spy on some unsuspecting falling trees and listen intently for silence or sound....
Click to expand...

I don't think "proficient" and "accomplished" are synonyms. I think I view proficient as a point when one needs to make changes to move from OK to good (or from good to better), not from bad to OK.
 
I think the effort is a little front loaded for guys and back loaded for ladies.

after 3 months for a lady or 6 months for a guy you can dance better than 80% of the population.

after 1 year for ladies and 2 1/2 years for guys, you can dance better than 90%.

after 3 years for ladies and 3 years for guys, you can dance better than 95%

after 5 years for each, everyone wants to dance with you.
 
that's a nice gradient, kayak. good point... the ramp-up tends to be more significant for leaders.
 
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