There is an amazingly great feeling that you will experience when you feel like you belong on the dance floor. You can dance all night if you wish. As you find yourself not intimidated by any dance, and you dance non-stop, people tend to give you space to dance. Some will sit down to watch you. But most will clear a space for you to dance because you know what you are doing, and you can dance. Learning to dance well takes time, and is expensive.
First of all, as I already mentioned, you need to accept that it will take at least a year to a year and a half just to become comfortable. There are frustrating moments in learning. It’s heard work. And as I mentioned, it takes time. But the moment that you are on that dance floor, you know that you can dance. Much like the feeling you have the first time that you ride solo on your bike. Nothing matches this feeling. Suddenly, all that you put into learning to dance well to get this far becomes insignificant compared to how you feel at that moment. I’m not saying this because dancing is my life. Any student who has reached this stage has literally echoed the same sentiments.
Being a good dancer is an amazing feeling. I learned and noticed that once people become good dancers, they typically tend to stand differently and walk differently. Also, I noticed that as people become good dancers, their outlook on life changes. Sometimes even their wardrobe changes. It’s almost as if they become introduced to themselves and learn to appreciate themselves more.
I use the term “becoming a good dancer”. This term is very relative, and depends on whose perspective we are looking at. Most newcomers think that a good dancer is a professional. Perhaps in some ways that is accurate. But in reality the majority of people have not had formal dance instruction. And so a good dancer to that frame of reference is someone who can recognize what dance the music is. A good dancer is someone who doesn’t think of which pattern to do next, or which patterns belong to which dance. They don’t have to count the beats to themselves, and are able to carry on a conversation while dancing.
In conclusion, to me, a good dancer is someone who is comfortable on the dance floor. Their dancing looks natural, and feels like they’ve been dancing their whole life. A good dancer looks comfortable on the dance floor. Usually to reach this point takes an average of one and a half years. This is based on coming in to at least one private lesson, one group class, and one practice party per week. There’s actually a term for this level of dancing, which I’ll explain more in the next blog.