New Dancer In Need Of Help

M

malvagna

New Member
Hi all,
im an 18 year old male from new york. im just finishing up high school. for 8 years ive been a martial artist. it led me to breakdancing, which in turn lead me to theatre. i love dance. plain and simple. recently however ive wanted to take it further, learn the intricicies of salsa, and swing. thanks to martial arts, theatre, and dancing, i have a pretty decent concept of rythm, and i can move well, as well as backflip, etc. im in decent shape, but my head is going in a million directions. i was hoping you all could point me in the right direction. should i find a partner and look at schools? should i go alone? what art should i learn? etc etc. any help would be awesome. its not easyto talk about it with my 18 year old football playing friends hahahaha. ciao.
-chris malvagna
 
malvagna said:
Hi all,
im an 18 year old male from new york. im just finishing up high school. for 8 years ive been a martial artist. it led me to breakdancing, which in turn lead me to theatre. i love dance. plain and simple. recently however ive wanted to take it further, learn the intricicies of salsa, and swing. thanks to martial arts, theatre, and dancing, i have a pretty decent concept of rythm, and i can move well, as well as backflip, etc. im in decent shape, but my head is going in a million directions. i was hoping you all could point me in the right direction. should i find a partner and look at schools? should i go alone? what art should i learn? etc etc. any help would be awesome. its not easyto talk about it with my 18 year old football playing friends hahahaha. ciao.
-chris malvagna
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You sound like my instructor. He teaches Martial Arts as well as Ballroom Dancing. He learned everything about Ballroom Dancing, and he has said that his Martial Arts training has helped him in his dancing career. So, I say go with whatever kind of Ballroom Dance you want to learn and have fun with it! I'd say though start with a few lessons of the different kind of Ballroom Dances first before getting a partner. That's what my instructor did anyways, and that's what most people do unless they lucky enough to have a partner before they enter dance.

Welcome to the forum!:D
 
malvagna said:
what are different kinds of ballroom dances, i definatley want something younger and a little quicker.
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Well, we have young ages at my studio. The youngest that I know of is 17 years old unless he's had a birthday, and he does every kind of Ballroom Dance, and I know this because he's been my partner a few times when needed. So, don't worry so much about the age issue, because young kids as old as ten even do these types of dances.

Anyways, my advice to you is to maybe watch a few movies about Ballroom Dancing to see what our dancing is like. Dance With Me is a movie that is well done, and that's actually what got me interested in Ballroom Dancing when it came out back I think what in 1997? Dancing With The Stars doesn't come on until the fall, or I would tell you to watch that show to get an idea as to what we do.

Maybe someone else has a better idea? ;)
 
dirty dancing... the original. patrick swayze is what got me interested, i know its lame, but thats particularly what i wanted to try. but i do want to try it all.
 
malvagna said:
dirty dancing... the original. patrick swayze is what got me interested, i know its lame, but thats particularly what i wanted to try. but i do want to try it all.
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Hey whatever floats your boat is what I like to say! I used to be friends with someone that knew Patrick. She had an obsession over him though to the point that you would think it was stalkerish lol. But from what I hear is that he is a very nice romantic kind of guy. You can't go wrong with Patrick that's for sure! :p

Oh and I was going to tell you that when I first started, I tried all of the dances. Now, I know which ones that I want to pursue further. For instance, I just don't like Tango even though I know I get it. I thought that was one dance I would love to do! For me though, the sexier the better it is with me, because it's like I get to come out of my shell and be a different person for the time being. So, you might be surprised when you try the different dances! You'll never know for sure which dances will suit you until you try them all. That's what I think anyways! ;)
 
Welcome to DF malvagna!

Good to hear that you are interested in furthering your dance interests. Are you interested in competing and/or social dancing? Are you more into club dancing or dancing in the "ballroom style" (ballroom here meaning not only the slower partnered dances like waltz but also the partnered dances for latin i.e. cha cha cha etc.)?

Let's see, if we're talking patrick swayze in dirty dancing and want "hot", you should probably look into international latin or american rhythm. If I remember correctly one of the routines in that movie was mambo? And that is one of the american rhythm dances. International latin is more known as a competition style of dancing, american rhythm (though also done in competition) has more of it's roots in social dancing. International latin is really hot, but it takes some time to learn (and like many other art forms, usually starts out slow with basics)!

You might also be interested in salsa, done both at clubs and their own competitions...

My recommendation would be either to go to a competition and watch the pros or top amateurs compete in the different styles, normally International Standard and Latin, and American Smooth and Rhythm. You may also see theater arts and salsa performed there. If there isn't a competition around you anywhere, perhaps you can go to a studio that specializes in ballroom type dancing - did I read correctly that you're in New York? Plenty of studios there from what I've heard! Watch some of the dancers there and ask some questions....

Post more questions if you need more info....and again welcome!
 
p.s. malvegna - I think you asked in one of your posts what the different dances were (for competition they are):

International Standard - waltz, tango, foxtrot, vienese waltz and quickstep

International Latin - cha cha cha, samba, rumba, paso doble and jive

American Smooth - waltz, tango, foxtrot and vienese waltz

American Rhythm - cha cha cha, rumba, bolero, swing and mambo
 
how refreshing... 18-yr-old not asking about grinding!
have fun exploring ballroom - in NY your choices are unlimited
 
Malvagna, I did pretty much the same thing. I trained pretty extensively in the martial arts - my base was in chinese kenpo, but i cross trained in Muy Thai, western kickboxing, boxing, submission wrestling, collegiate wrestling, brazilian jiu jitsu and some others - However, after a while I needed a change and I found salsa dancing. I absolutely love it. i also do some east coast swing. I'm just starting east coast swing so I can't really compare which dance I like better. But learning the martial arts and learning how your body moves is definately an advantage when learning how to dance.

You asked which style of dance you should learn - well, I can't say that one style is better than the other. It really is just about preference. you will see a lot of similarities in martial arts and dancing - here is one of them. There is not one martial art that is for everyone - nor is there one style of dance for everyone. However, my personal preference is for salsa dancing. I love the music and I love the feel. Its a very challenging dance. There is also a lot of room for creativity - to customize your style for yourself. And in salsa there are pretty different styles - on one or on two are the biggest differences.

Good luck - and you are starting a wonderful journey!!!
 
If you goal is social dancing. Swing or salsa are your best bets. 2 of the places we go have quite a few young people who are into ballroom dance. But most young singles tend to go to swing or salsa clubs/dances. When you are dancing with a lot of different partners. It is less confusing if you are doing one dance, rather than a large variety.
 
DennisBeach said:
If you goal is social dancing. Swing or salsa are your best bets. 2 of the places we go have quite a few young people who are into ballroom dance. But most young singles tend to go to swing or salsa clubs/dances. When you are dancing with a lot of different partners. It is less confusing if you are doing one dance, rather than a large variety.
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You make a very good point! Even though I have been dancing long enough and have done my first show and everything, I still get confused about the dancing. For instance, I get the Fox Trot and I think it's the Country Two-Step that I get confused? They are both teh same type of dance but backwards in my opinion. I wanted to do the Fox Trot instead of Country in other words lol. (I just learned a couple Country dances, so I'm not sure what they are called just yet! Sorry!) So, we made up our own dance since I kept messing it up lol! But I am glad that I know them all though. They are all such fun, and you get to dance more when you go to parties if you know how to dance them all lol! ;)
 
good news everyone! i went for my first class today, it was free, which was especially appealing, and we learned introductory roomba ( not quite sure how its spelled). it was great, i was pretty nervous, but the instructor was great, and everyone there was helpful. definately will look into it more. it was very easy. either way, i figured im less into competition, and more into social dancing, are there clubs that are known for swing and ballroom dancing?
 
Hi malvagna! Sounds like you had a good time at your first class. If you're more into social dancing than competition, than american rhythm is the style for you (since you wanted to learn the more upbeat dances for social dancing). As I mentioned earlier it consists of the dances; rumba, cha-cha-cha, bolero, swing and mambo. At some point you may also want to learn salsa, nightclub two step, samba, and the basics of waltz and foxtrot. That will give you the majority of dances that you will find at "ballroom parties".

Good luck to you....I hope other forum members (from New York) will be along to post some info. on the best studios and clubs (or ballroom parties) in the area!
 
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