The Beginners Guide To Ballroom Dance Lessons
Step 1: Forget Everything You’ve Heard
The excuses [we’ve listed some here] that hold most people back can be discarded and forgotten forever.
The Truth Behind Two Left Feet
- Two Left Feet is an assessment that non-dancers make that implies a permanent malfunction
- The expression is actually a feeling.
- It is the feeling of having taken very few, or no dance classes at all
Bottom Line: Learning to dance is a process. The Two Left Feet label halts that process from taking shape due to its “permanent malfunction” quality.
Another Angle: Kids who are learning to ride a bike are at the beginning of a process, but no one labels permanently. They are just encouraged to give the process time and repetition. Same with dancing.
[We felt so strongly about Two Left Feet that we wrote a poem about it]
Step 2: Harness Your Motivation
Maybe you are in crisis mode:
- Office party is around the corner, live band, lots of dancing, plenty of people to impress
- Wedding reception for a family member is coming up. “What do I do on the money dance?”
- Dreading the thought of standing at the buffet all week on your Caribbean cruise while people enjoy Latin dancing.
Perhaps you want to re-invent yourself:
- Learning to dance is a goal that’s long overdue
- Newly single and want a skill upgrade
- Realize that you’ve been stuck in a cell in the shape of your cubicle
- Want to improve your health, or lose weight
There are plenty of people that have thought about learning how to dance, including you. What’s going to get you through the door will be your motivation.
Note: You don’t need to have fantastic dance goals to take ballroom lessons.
Step 3: Make Contact On Your Terms
Call, E-mail, walk in, or comment on an Instagram post – however you’d like to start the dialogue is fine (a letter may be a bit time consuming). The nice thing is that the person corresponding with you will be, drumroll please, a person. An actual dance professional that will:
- Help you integrate your first dance appointment into your crazy schedule
- Assist you with any questions
- Will be there to greet you when you arrive
Note: Your fire for taking ballroom lessons can get doused if you put too much time between your first contact and your first dance appointment. We recommend 2-4 days if possible.
Step 4: The Essentials
There are a few things that you’ll need to have for your first ballroom lesson
- Directions to the studio
- Shoes that will not slip off of your feet
- Maintain full radio silence regarding your dance lessons with any pessimistic people in your life for at least a week
[Read this for more tips on those fun pessimists: Keep Your Dance Lessons A Secret From These 5 People]
Note: You do not need dance experience, dance shoes, or a dance partner to take a dance class.
Step 5: The Information
No amount of research, not even a ballroom blog article (wink, wink), can deliver the experience of taking a dance lesson. Even the greatest, most vivid, explanations pale in comparison to the first hand impressions you receive from the instruction, the environment, and the way it all makes you feel.
Bottom Line: Everything dance related makes more sense when you’re on the dance floor.
Final Thought
There’s nothing permanent holding you back from becoming a ballroom dancer. Sure, there are people that see ballroom dancing lessons as an activity as comfortable as public speaking while skydiving, but not you.
The worst thing that can happen is you’ll book a class, learn how to dance, and permanently lose the ability to use excuses like “Two Left Feet” for the rest of your dance party life.
Isn’t that a leap worth taking?
Blog Credit:
http://www.arthurmurraylive.com/the-beginners-guide-to-ballroom-dance-lessons
Arthur Murray Dance Studios of Etobicoke 