Practice routine advice

D

DoubleBurt

Member
Hello!

I started taking ballroom lessons about a month ago. My goal is to be able to lead clearly and eloquently. I prefer the smooth dances but latin is fun too!!

Anyway, im currently in the process of working on my dance frame, and positive/negative connections so Im still quite the beginner. I would love to take lessons every day but i can really only afford 1 private a week.

My question is this, does anyone have any good media sources for training at home? And are there any does and donts that you guys could share? I want to progress as quickly as possible but I dknt want to learn bad habits in the process.
 
It's totally possible to progress on one lesson a week, especially with solo practice.

Most instructors are quite happy to show you a few exercises to practice - usually built on basic steps or movements, these exercises will at first form the core of what you work on and later will become a regular part of your practice or warm up routine. You can also sometimes pick these up at group classes where they are often used as a warm-up. There's no need - at least, not yet - to feel like you need to practice anything complicated or even to dance a routine. Basics will build up your fundamentals, which always pays off. And the more clear and precise you are in your fundamentals like weight transfer, the easier it will be to follow you.

Going over what you covered in lessons so you don't forget and have to repeat things the next week is also of value. At this point, I wouldn't worry about "practicing wrong". Most teachers would rather have you practice something that they can correct than to forget everything from week to week and have to start over. And with a weekly lesson, there's little risk that you'll ingrain a bad habit so deeply that it can't be quickly fixed.

Some of my favourite exercises (that I can explain in writing) include:
- delayed waltz box, taking 2 bars for each box and making the rises, lowers, and closing of my feet slow and controlled and covering the whole time
- rumba basic, concentrating on clean weight transfer and precise foot placement
- foot rises, either showly or to a cha cha rhythm to build strength and balance
- tango walks, again concentrating on weight transfer
- using a resistance band looped around each wrist and behind my back, then taking frame and doing simple movements. I used to let my hands drift behind me, and this cured me of that :)

Good luck!
 
Back in syllabus I would reference DanceVision videos quite often. They're easily found on YouTube.

If you're able to do one private a week, my best advice is to always return the next week having made improvement over any corrections from the previous lessons. Some things will take longer than others (like frame), but as long as you're practicing in a way that you're making progress, that's the simplest rule of thumb to follow.

Don't forget to have fun!
 
Oh im having fun no matter what :)

I guess im at an awkward point where I have no fundamentals to practice other than posture and like body block isolations, so I was just trying to find a media source that will teach/drill some fundamental aspects of dance.

Ill check out DanceVideo and work on the delayed box step while focusing on posture and rise/fall. Might avoid rumba right now as I dont really understand the rumba and wasnt planning on focusing on it. Is this a dance I should prioritize more highly?
 
Good point... I should have specified that I'm a 10-dancer (well, a standard dancer that is toying with becoming a 10-dancer), so a lot of my exercises aim to build skills for the whole of those dances, with particular emphasis on the things at which I am terrible :) Your exercises may well be different, but it's the idea that practice doesn't have to be anything super complicated for it to be effective that I wanted to convey.
 
video clip on your cell phone (or other device) the very thing you believe you would like to practice at home, e.g., suggestions from the teacher for posture exercises demonstrated by the teacher, footwork, weight distribution, etc etc etc.
My DH progressed just taking group lessons,,,he didn't drag out his cell phone every time,,,but for those "weak" areas he believed he had he asked for a demonstration so he could film it and did so in his, once in a while private lessons as well.
He worked alot on his foot placement (heel lead, or ball of foot,etc). I believe, if you also use the search bar, there may be other threads where your post is addressed by others in previous time frames, much like goggle, depends on how the question is asked.
 
I like ballroomdancers.com . They have syllabus steps for every dance with video demonstration and lots of good technique info as well. I also like the Dance Vision DVDs, specifically the ones more on technique exercises rather than DVIDA syllabus. I agree with others that asking your teacher at the end of class...'what should I practice for next week' is a great idea. Group lessons can also be very useful when you are first starting and much less expensive than private lessons
 
Time spent being conscious of your posture and how you roll through your entire foot as you walk is never wasted. You don't have to actually be dancing to do this. Make it part of your everyday life and before you know it, you'll be like us, sneaking open Twinkles down the hallways and supermarket aisles :D
 
Its like a pro of being a dancer? So light on ur feet u can twinkle down aisles and steal twinkies without attention.

Modern day ninja
 
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