Newbie Here.

B

Basketball Ref

New Member
I found this forum yesterday and have been reading alot of threads and just wanted to bounce some ideas off you guys and gals. I have lots of experience using forums to improve at things. For example I ref High School basketball and I'm an active member on a large forum in that area. I also play competive old man tennis and use a forum over in that world. So for me forums are good. :cool:

My wife and I are really,really new. So I'm trying to find out if our plan of attack is a reasonable one.

We are signed up for the Social Confidence group class. It seems to be the standard of 1 Smooth and 1 Rythm, one hour a week per dance.

We go to the classes before the "Dance". An hour of Waltz last night followed by an hour of NC 2 Step.

So we have our group class for 2 hours a week.

We're thinking of 2 privates a week. Is that about right ?

We want to be good at this and would have liked it to have happened yesterday. ;)

Practice, should we practice at the dance studio or where ? And how much practice is enough to make solid steady improvement ?

Any thoughts and insights would be greatly appreciated .

Thanks
 
Welcome BR, :)

This plan sounds good for two people who are just starting out. How often you should practice depends on your own learning pace and your studio is probably the best place in general, is there a local USADance chapter in your area? Do you want to compete?

And btw, I'm a basketball fan.
 
Private lessons are definitely the fastest path towards improvement. Make sure to talk to your private teacher about your goals and plan things out. Pro will help you decide which classes are a help, what to practice, etc.
 
I would recommend private lessons(2 week seems fine) and you might even want to consider one hour long lesson together and then each of you taking a half hour private separately to get some one on one with a pro...but two a week is plenty...particularly if you are also going to groups and parties...I would also think that you should match the number of practice hours to the number of private lesson hours per week...good luck
 
studio practice is always best if you don't have a good space for it at home...and as long as you can set boundaries with anyone else there who might want to socialize while you are trying to practice...obviously you can, if money is no object and you determine you need more, up the number of private lessons and create dance space in your own home....resistance is futile
 
lastly...ballroom dance is an art...it does take a while...so be patient even though you want to be good immediately...it will save you alot of frustration to be very mindful that there are some limits to how fast one can improve...(there are people who would have a spasm if they read that I typed that)....lol...but it is important to be patient while being ambitious and determined...and welcoem to DF
 
Welcome, basketball ref.

Ask yourself the following questions:
- Are you dancing just for social-style dancing with your wife? Or...
- Do you have any aspirations to do show dances?
- Do you have any aspirations to compete? If so, with your wife, or pro-am?
- Do you/wife have a style of dance you prefer and want to focus on?

Talk to your professional about where you want to go in dancing. They'll help you craft a plan.
 
fascination said:
you might even want to consider one hour long lesson together and then each of you taking a half hour private separately to get some one on one with a pro
Click to expand...

That can have its downsides as well, especially for a beginning couple; you may hear different explanations, and that can cause arguments.
 
true...hence that word MIGHT...but I am of a mind that arguments among dancing couples are pretty much unavoidable...it is the amount of respect they bring to the dispute that really matters
 
Welcome to DF Basketball Ref!

Basketball Ref said:
We're thinking of 2 privates a week. Is that about right ?
Click to expand...

For a couple just beginning, but have ambitions of progressing in ballroom, I think this is a good number of lessons to start out with. I would recommend being very careful with the teacher you choose for your privates. Depending on your goals in dancing, the caliber of teacher you choose - even at the beginning of your dance experience could be important.

And do take some time to think about your goals, do you want to learn steps and/or learn about the technique? Do you want to dance socially and/or competitively? Answers to these questions may put you on a different path at some point.

Basketball Ref said:
Practice, should we practice at the dance studio or where ? And how much practice is enough to make solid steady improvement ?
Click to expand...

Practice at the studio unless you have some other large space with a wood floor available (some people have access to free time in aerobics studios at their gyms etc.). Practice hours at studios may be charged at a certain dollar rate per hour/per person or couple, or could be a one time charge for the day or month, or be "free" with dance packages or purchased group classes.

As for practice, plenty of practice is required for solid improvement. You'll find a wide variety of practice to lessons ratio depending on the individual. But my opinion is that you need AT LEAST the same amount of time but most likely MORE than the number of hours you take privates a week as you start to progress. If you get a teacher who is in synch with your goals and knows you will be practicing throughout the week, I'd hope that they would be giving you plenty of information to work on in your practices.

Also consider establishing an amount of time practicing solo at the beginning of your practices with your partner before coming together to work as a couple (for the rest of the practice). This allows both of you to concentrate first on the things you individually need to improve (the roles in ballroom can demand very different skills from each partner and sometimes basic technique is better practiced alone).

Best of luck and let us know if you have further questions!
 
Welcome!

I think 2 private lessons per week to start sounds right. It's not about how many lessons you have to take, it's how much you can get out of the lessons.
 
Hi there - look around and you will find virtually all your questions already answered - and if not you will find umpteen experts to answer them for you :)
 
I have found that I was not really ready for good private lessons until I burned the basics into muscle memory. So i would recommend no more than one private a week with some practice each day. If you are short on Fund$, stick with group until you have the basic movements of the dance. Then you will get a lot more from a good teacher in private lessons.
 
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