Learning How to Dance

Hi,

I know some good clubs to meet women that match my personality. Sometimes in fact, they even come up to me and ask me to dance. This is where my problem occurs. I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DANCE!! Where can I learn some basic movies so that I can at least look competent on the dance floor?

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Hello!

One of the reasons why it's so difficult to get information on dance moves is that dancing is a very personal thing. Unless you're into doing some form of organized dance like line dancing, ballroom dancing, etc., you're not going to find such information. If you are however, many bars and clubs offer free dance lessons. As well, there are dancing schools that will teach you many basic steps.

But, what if you’re into music that doesn’t have real “steps”? That doesn't mean that you're out of luck! Here are some things that will help:

1) Determine what types of music you like and work on dancing to familiar tunes. If you like Country/Western music, line dancing is your choice. If you like rock or blues, free style is your bag.

2) Learn to "count". All music has a natural rhythm. Almost popular music is written if "4/4" time. This means that it is counted as "1..2..3..4..1..2..3..4..", with the "1's" being on the natural beginning of a phrase. In fact, if you listen closely, you'll notice that music is made up of patterns that just get repeated over and over again.

Professional musicians learn to recognize the musical "parts". This isn't difficult as most songs only have 2 or 3. These are called the "A", "B", and "C" parts. Think of this as a "verse", "chorus", and possibly a "bridge". If you learn to recognize these parts, you can learn to change your dance steps to match!

3) Once you get a feel for the count, and the musical parts, find a simple step that matches. This doesn't have to be complicated. Try lifting one foot up and then putting it back down for every beat. Then switch to the other foot and do it again. Hey look! You're dancing!

When it comes to your arms, they are used to balance. Think about walking - when you have one foot forward, the arm on the same side is backward, and vise-versa. Dancing is like this too. Use your arms to give you balance. The more movement you make with your feet, the more your arms have to move to "counter-balance" your moves.

4) In general, the best dance music has about 120 beats per minute. That is, one beat every 1/2 second. Why is this important? Because it's a natural feel that let's you move easily find a "groove" to dance to. If you learn to count, all you have to do is figure out how many beats there are in some period of time, and you'll know the music's "tempo". Then, look for songs that have about 120 beats per minute.

5) Relax! Dancing is a very personal thing. If you can dance well, you have a leg up. But, if you learn to express yourself though dancing, you'll look like you dance well! More important, if you find that you enjoy it, you'll do well - and believe me, you'll learn to enjoy it once you start.

6) Finally, watch other guys when they dance. Most of them look ridiculous! But then, that doesn't stop them! When you're dancing, nobody else is watching you, they're too busy keeping track of themselves!

Best regards...

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