Ready to learn how to dance any pattern without losing your footing? Now that we know the shoes to buy, the posture to strive for, and the muscles to strengthen, it’s time to try some exercises that build your dance balance for all the main movements in ballroom. Continue reading "Exercises to Improve Dance Balance"
Ballroom Dance to Improve Balance
Dancing or no, balance is the difference between looking graceful or awkward. I’ve often heard the best way to improve balance is simply by practicing the activities that challenge you in the first place. Fair enough… But a few fundaments won’t hurt either. Continue reading "Ballroom Dance to Improve Balance"
Goal Setting To Your Dance Dream
It’s great having an objective, a destination that excites you on your journey of dance. The next stage is to choose smaller goals to act as waypoints towards your dance dream. Without them, your dream is likely to stay a dream. And that makes you nothing but a dreamer.
Although using the SMART method we discussed earlier is an excellent way to get started, there are still plenty of pitfalls that can frustrate you and even cause you to give up on your dance dream. Use the checklist below to stay on track. Continue reading "Goal Setting To Your Dance Dream"
Ballroom Dance Music Structure: Variations
We’ve looked at how to understand and anticipate how most ballroom dance music is structured, so we can improve timing and musicality. But most songs won’t follow those rules perfectly. Today, we look at some of the little variations made within ballroom dance music structure. Continue reading "Ballroom Dance Music Structure: Variations"
Spotting Patterns in Ballroom Dancing Music
One of the most frustrating barriers to becoming a great ballroom dancer is a lack of feeling for ballroom dancing music. You can know the moves, the technique, all of it, but if you can’t step on the beat or recognize where the ‘1’ is, everything still feels awkward. Continue reading "Spotting Patterns in Ballroom Dancing Music"
Great Ballroom Music for Practicing
If you're reading this, odds are you like good ballroom music. Whether it’s for a performance, a social, or for practice, your favourite ballroom music energizes you, makes you want to strength further, push harder, dance fiercer.
All too often, I hear the same tired favourites when I go to dance halls and socials. So today, I’m sharing some of my top favourite ballroom dance songs in each genre, and why I like each one. I hope they inspire and delight you. Continue reading "Great Ballroom Music for Practicing"
Guest Article: Saying “Sorry” in Partner Dancing
Partner dancing is a joy, but we all make dance mistakes. Followers may miss subtle (or not so subtle) cues. Leaders may send mixed messages, or they may forget what the signal is for a certain move. Even couples that have been partner dancing together for years continue to learn to lead and follow each other. In any case, it can be difficult to know what really happened. In a rear-ender collision, the car that plows into the car in front is technically responsible but the car in front may have stopped really suddenly – both are really ‘at fault’. Continue reading "Guest Article: Saying “Sorry” in Partner Dancing"
How to do a Dance Turn: Reverse and Natural Turns
Wrapping up our series on how to do a dance turn, we’re targeting the reverse and natural turns, those smooth and elegant rotations of the smooth/standard arena. Before we get into how to do these dance turns though, what’s the difference between them? Continue reading "How to do a Dance Turn: Reverse and Natural Turns"
The Secrets to Making a Perfect Dance Turn
Whether it’s a slow waltz or a blazingly fast salsa, turns, spins, pivots and other types of rotations are a part of every dance style. Want to improve your balance, make snappier dance turns, or just sound smart talking about them to your buddies? Let’s start by taking a detailed look at a how a dance turn actually works. Continue reading "The Secrets to Making a Perfect Dance Turn"
You and Your Dance Partner: Common Leads and Follows
You’re finally ready to start moving with your dance partner to some of the more common ballroom patterns. These patterns are used in multiple dances, but the leads and follows are virtually the same. I recommend you make sure you know the footwork already. Follower instructions will be italicized after the leader’s instructions. Continue reading "You and Your Dance Partner: Common Leads and Follows"