The Essential Attitude for the Beginner Social Dancer

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On 2nd May 2013 I conducted a survey of dance teachers to see what they thought their dance students struggled with the most and what they thought students should do to have the fastest increase in dance skill. I had conducted surveys on students in the past and men and women about the issues they had. These were very informative, but the perspective of teachers had been ignored.

The results of the survey of the dance teachers showed that practice was most important. It also found that a sense of partnership between the teacher and the student was essential for the speedy development of dance skill. This might not seem too surprising - if you practice, then you will get better. However, it is good to know that if you think that there is something about you that limits your ability to dance, then you're probably wrong. As long as you put the effort in, then you can become better. This practice can be made even more effective if you communicate with your teacher about what works for you and what you need to work on to become better.

As useful as that was to know, a conversation with a dance teacher about the results on the Facebook page revealed a nuance that was perhaps even more useful. It is however a nuance that is perhaps more specifically related to beginner dancers. It was all about attitude. In fact, it was an attitude that one teacher said was the key to anyone becoming a great dancer.

To understand what this attitude is, let's first cover the attitude that can stifle your development as a social dancer. Many students think they should be better and worry that others are watching and judging. This is problematic because it can rob people of their motivation to practice. They feel that the effort is wasted on them because they do not improve as fast as they think they should. Worse than a lack of effort and practice is that some people or come to class less because they are sure that they are not improving as fast as they think they should be.

When you stop practicing and stop going to class, pretty soon you start to forget what you have learned. Now that you're dancing even less well, after forgetting things you have learned, you feel even more certain that you do not dance well. You might start to think that maybe you're just not meant to be a good dancer. You will then worry more that others are judging you, and you might decide that being a dancer is not something that fits with who you are.

Then you drop out of social dance all together. Not because of any real reason, but because of how you feel.

If you, or anyone in this situation, had been able to push through these feelings, then you would have become great dancer. And that's the attitude that you need as a beginner dancer to become the dancer that you want to be.

Accept that you can only progress as fast as the practice available to you allows. Any limitation in progress is not a result of any innate fault in you. It is a result of a lack of time, lack of focus or uncertainty about what exactly needs to be worked upon. As long as you can focus on developing your skills, you will get better, and to the level you want.

Finally, some things to keep in mind if you ever feel like maybe dance is not for you:

• People on dancing with the stars are practicing around 8 hours a day for a whole week - do not ever use that as an indicator of how soon you should dance that well.
• No one is actually paying that much attention to you - most people only judge the high level dancers.
• If you want to know the past, look at your present life. If you want to know the future, look at your present - the way you dance now is simply a result of your past efforts, and that's all. Your future dance ability depends upon what you do now.

Focus on you; not others. Put the effort in to improve; do not assume it should come naturally. Keep the goal of great dancing in mind; do not obsess over where you are not. Do these three things and you have the attitude that is the key to better dancing - you will get there.

All of the above was written with the beginner dancer in mind. However anyone who is considering a change in dance level (maybe a move to dancesport) or dreams that they have plateaued could face similar issues. The above might also be useful if you are in such a situation.

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