Teach Me Just 1 Dance At A Time!!!!!

When you first start taking lessons in ballroom dance (or social dance) you probably think that you would do better conentrating on just one dance.  I hear this constantly from beginners.  They just don't understand why I seem to deliberately confuse them with other dances.  It seems like they start doing the basics of one dance, gain a little bit of confidence, and are finally able to do those basics but not consistently without mistakes.  So why muddy the waters with a totally different dance?

Over the years I have tried different formats for my students, trying to discover which works the best.  Experience has proven to me that concentrating on solely one dance, no matter the dance, is not the best approach.  Beginners especially reach a point of overload --- because dancing is a physical activity.  Any physical activity requires practice and with ballroom dancing we are talking about two people learning to move together in harmony. 

Let's say you want to learn to play golf.  You take some lessons from a pro, get some tips on stance and swing and hold and timing.  Great, but taking lessons doesn't make you a good golfer ---- practice and consistent effort is required.  You may know in your head what you are supposed to do, but the old body may not cooperate!!  It takes hours on the golf course, more lessons, and helpful hints to improve your game.  You are dealing with your own physical movement and an inanimate object ---- it's just you and the golf club out there trying to hit that little ball.  How likely is it that you will do absolutely everything the golf pro suggested and do it perfectly?  Not very likely.  That's because you won't remember everything that was suggested, you will not be able to absorb all the information given to you.  Some things will register, some things you won't even hear, or if you do hear it you may not fully understand how to put it into practice.  When you are first learning something you have limited experience and may not be able to relate the information to the little bit that you know.  You hear it, but don't fully understand the implications.  It's all too new.

Now imagine that you are learning to play golf with another person holding that club with you!!  Now it becomes even more complicated because now we are talking about two people trying to absorb information and trying to physically perform ---- and trying to coordinate everything and move in tandem!!

If learning to dance were like learning in a classroom maybe the average student would do better to concentrate on one dance at a time.  But in dance class you aren't sitting taking notes and memorizing details.  You are memorizing and having to get the information into your brain and travel on down to those tootsies!  And hope that your partner has done the same!!

It's all new to you, the patterns are new, the experience is new, and your brain can only absorb so much.  You have to take in a limited amount of information, but then give your muscles time to use it with practice.  You have to have time to practice the basics, the fundamentals of the dance, and have time to learn to adjust to your partner and adjust to the rhythm of the dance. 

The wonderful thing about ballroom dance is that all the dances are related to each other in some way.  When you learn a Left Turn in Fox Trot it is the same Left Turn you will learn to use in Slow Dance, Merengue, and Waltz.  When you learn a basic Box Step in Waltz, it is the same footwork you will put into practice in Rhumba, FoxTrot and Samba, and eventually even in Tango --- that half box gets around!!  Although you are learning a different dance with a different rhythm, your body is building muscle memory by repeating the same movements over and over.  When you learn the Slow-Quick-Quick of Rhumba you are helping yourself to prepare to learn the Quick-Quick-Slow of Salsa, and for those same rhythms to be used in other dances along the way.  When you hold your frame in one dance, you are practicing closed position in other dances.  Every time you put effort into practicing one dance, you are really practicing other dances at the same time.  

The Basics or Fundamentals of each dance are called Basics because they are the easiest for beginners.  If you were to concentrate on just one dance you would be forced to move beyond those basics before you are really mentally and physically ready.  I have tried doing 6 or 8 weeks of one dance, and in classes that were not beginners.  Every person there reached a point of overload by about the 5th week.  It really is best to learn a limited number of patterns and then have time to assimilate what you've learned without additional stuff to worry about.  Every good cook knows that sometimes a sauce needs to simmer slowly and let the flavors develop and blend.  It's the same with dancing!!!  When you are in class learning the basics of Waltz, those basics of Rhumba are on the backburner simmering away.  You and your partner learn the basic steps of Cha Cha and the triple steps and hand leads of Swing are blending and burbling on the backburner of your mind.  So-----keep learning the basics of the various dances and realize that you are actually letting it all "simmer"!!! 

Do You Hop When You Hustle??

When I was newly divorced I attended a dance in the area and was thrilled to be out on the dance floor once again.  Someone asked me to dance the Hustle.  I didn't know the dance, but figured I could follow.  I did follow without much of a problem ---- in fact, every time he hopped on the "&1" I hopped right along with him.  Leaving the dance floor, I decided I absolutely hated the Hustle because that horrible hop made me feel totally ridiculous.  Oh, I would  dance it if asked, but just couldn't get motivated to hop along.

Soon after that dance, I attended another and met my dance partner, Steve, who just loves the Hustle.  He was working on a syllabus and launching a business as an independent instructor, so we worked on Hustle.  And that hop was definitely not supposed to be part of the dance!!  What a relief!!  Now I could love Hustle too.

Most people look at Hustle as a dance similar to Swing.  I guess it is, because after all it is derived from West Coast Swing, a sort of "spinoff".  But the dance has evolved through the years and now in many ways is related to FoxTrot.  When doing the Hustle you should be using heel leads and walking steps, just as you do in FoxTrot.  You want fast turns of course, but done smoothly.  Think elegance on the floor as the leader leads and the lady follows.

That's the fun and the challenge of Hustle.  Intricate underarm turns done quickly and smoothly, one following right after another.  The Leader has to know how to correctly lead the turns and the correct time to lead the turns.  Sometimes you are dancing to fast music ---- it is especially important for the Leader to have relaxed arms that allow the Lady to perform the movements asked of her.....no strong-arming and no pushing, pulling or knocking her off balance!!  The Leader uses "fingertip leads", with tone in the fingers & wrists, but not in the arm.  Ladies need relaxed arms too or they will make those turns much harder on themselves than need be. 

I recently danced Hustle with several men who had all taken lessons at the same studio.....each one thought he was supposed to force the woman through those turns & moves and it was brutal --- and at times actually painful!!!  I cannot stress enough the need for light relaxed leads that happen on the correct count.  The beauty of Hustle is that the patterns & movement facilitate the turns if done correctly.  If done incorrectly it can feel a lot like wrestling!!  Maybe that's why we have a pattern called the Hammerlock?

Huslte is a popular dance with the West Coast crowd.  They like to style it up when they Hustle and the style is always the arm stuck straight out.  Hey, I'm all for styling, but am not a fan of the straight arm.  I personally think it takes away so much of the elegance of the dance, and instead would opt for a softer arm.  There is a beauty to the give and take of partners on the floor, the lead and the immediate response, the seeming effortlessness despite the fast turns, whether you are dancing the slower 3-count version or dancing to the steady rhythm of the 4-count.  And whatever you do -------DON'T HOP!!!