Learning to dance
- Thread starter MTS
- Start date
Ballroom Guide
Member
Hi MTS, here is my advice.
Firstly, one of the biggest complaints teachers have about their students is that they spend a lesson teaching them something, and the next lesson they come in with the same problem. This wastes the student's money and the teacher's time. This sounds like common sense, but make sure you practice what your teacher taught you before you go in for your next lesson. Practice it until you feel you can do it without thinking about it, or until you feel you just can't do it and need help figuring out why.
Secondly, ask for homework. You know you need to get sharper Rumba walks. You know you need to control your rise and fall. However, you shouldn't be paying your teacher to supervise your drills. Instead, take a few minutes and ask your teacher for homework between lessons. Based on your dancing, he will say things like "practice like this, for 10 minutes per day."
Thirdly, if you want to get the most out of your lesson, take a video. There is so much information coming at you that you aren't expected to retain it all, but going over the video the next day will serve two purposed: 1) it will help you remember things you will have forgotten, 2) it will give you a good look at your own dancing, so you can see what your teacher is looking at. Especially if you get a private lesson from a really, really good visiting teacher, you will want to review that lesson in months or years to come.
There are hundreds of really smart and really experienced dancers on this website, so you've come to the right place to ask your question!
Firstly, one of the biggest complaints teachers have about their students is that they spend a lesson teaching them something, and the next lesson they come in with the same problem. This wastes the student's money and the teacher's time. This sounds like common sense, but make sure you practice what your teacher taught you before you go in for your next lesson. Practice it until you feel you can do it without thinking about it, or until you feel you just can't do it and need help figuring out why.
Secondly, ask for homework. You know you need to get sharper Rumba walks. You know you need to control your rise and fall. However, you shouldn't be paying your teacher to supervise your drills. Instead, take a few minutes and ask your teacher for homework between lessons. Based on your dancing, he will say things like "practice like this, for 10 minutes per day."
Thirdly, if you want to get the most out of your lesson, take a video. There is so much information coming at you that you aren't expected to retain it all, but going over the video the next day will serve two purposed: 1) it will help you remember things you will have forgotten, 2) it will give you a good look at your own dancing, so you can see what your teacher is looking at. Especially if you get a private lesson from a really, really good visiting teacher, you will want to review that lesson in months or years to come.
There are hundreds of really smart and really experienced dancers on this website, so you've come to the right place to ask your question!
MTS
New Member
Thank you for the advice! I'll take it to heart when I start up lessons again! I love the idea of having myself recorded at every lesson. Great advice!
MaggieMoves
Forum Master
+1, especially on the homework part. Doesn't matter what level you're at, great technique goes a long way socially or competitively.
Ask for harsh criticisms too, and don't take them to heart when you receive them. I can't stand sugar coated responses.
Practice with other people too outside of the lesson. You never know what your instructor could be compensating for until you dance with someone else.
Ask for harsh criticisms too, and don't take them to heart when you receive them. I can't stand sugar coated responses.
Practice with other people too outside of the lesson. You never know what your instructor could be compensating for until you dance with someone else.
Spend time outside of lessons on all of your technique. Do 3 step turns to the left and right. Do Spiral turns to the left and right. Practice your body flight and leg swing in smooth. Practice your cuban motion. Good places to practice body flight are pushing the cart at the grocery store. Stand up straight, use your leg swing and push the cart evenly without a grip. The cart should glide with you. You can even practice shifting your weight from one foot to the other (focus on keeping your weight over the inside edge of the ball of your foot) while you are having a conversation and noone will even notice.
What @cornutt said. In the swing-dancing world, we frequently have people who have never partner danced before come to the hour-long pre-dance intro lesson, then have fun at the dance. It does help that even with just an hour's lesson, they can dance to almost every song (minus the occasional non-Swing [Waltz or the like] and perhaps superfast/superslow songs) rather than hearing "this is a Rhumba" or "this is a Foxtrot". Advanced dancers who know multiple styles of Swng dancing will dance whatever style they want, modulated by their partner's knowledge and the particular song -- you'll probably see more Balboa than Lindy at 250 beats per minute and the reverse at 150.
Juneysl
New Member
That's really good advance, being a very beginner, I often struggle to remember some steps or get them mixed up, having a video record will help so much. Also I realize my movement looks different when it is in a video compare to when I look at myself in the mirror. It always doesn't look as good as I thought I am can spot things I am not doing right much easier.
s2k
Well-Known Member
I had the pleasure of listening to Judy Hatton speak at a post-competition congress a few years ago, and her topic was having goals and keeping a notebook, a "dancer's diary," if you will. Writing down what happened in your practices, at your lessons, with your coaches, your low points and your highlights. Mine's adapted to being a day runner sort of thing, with calendars for long-term goals and dates of comps, etc. I also find this method helpful in focusing our practices: what went well the last time and what we need to work on for the next time. I also put my solo practice notes and my yoga/workout notes to track my stamina in there as well. The one I use is this one. Good luck!