What separates great dancing from average dancing?
It is the mastery of fundamentals.
Too often when people start learning how to dance, they want to get to the more complex moves right away. They want to get the basics over with as quickly as possible and move on to “cooler stuff”. Of course the Rumba walk pales in comparison to the glory of the triple spin! READ THE REST
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[Video podcast #3]
Do you want to start dancing to the right beat of the music?
In this video I share 3 tips to help you. Let me know in the comments what you think.
WATCH VIDEO NOW…
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Last week Kim and I had lessons with the fabulous Markus Homm. I thought I’d share an important practice tip we learned from him. But first some background. Markus Homm competes with his partner, Ksenia Kasper, in the International Latin professional division (representing Germany). They are one of the world’s top couples, currently 7th in the world! Watch their video at the end of this post.
WHAT IS THE TIP? (Click here…)
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With over 20 million viewers, 11 seasons and 207 episodes under their belt, ”Dancing with the Stars” is one of America’s most popular TV shows. Before I get to the problem (also before people throw tomatoes at me), I’d like to say that I think Dancing with the stars is one of the best things that ever happened to the dancing industry. I am grateful to its existence because it introduced Latin and Ballroom dancing to the general public. CONTINUE READING…
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Happy new year! I am happy to announce that we have a total of 20 online dance lessons available on our website now. Each video is carefully crafted to make sure that you can learn how to dance with ease and simplicity. Our new year resolution is to keep improving our systematic teaching method and provide even more value to our members. And while I am not saying that Passion4dancing’s videos should be your only way of learning how to dance, they make a great supplement…
OUR 2011 PLANS (CLICK HERE)
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This is a guest post by Jenny Wells.
Your first wedding dance is going to be something you remember for the rest of your life. This is the first time you and your husband will step out on the dance floor and get to share some time together. READ THE REST
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Finally I have added a forum here! It will be a great place for members to hang out and help one another with any dance related matters. Visit the forum here and start a discussion.
READ MORE
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1. Someone who cares about your dancing goals and teaches you in accordance to them. A good dance teacher will not try to push their own agenda on you. For example, if you are a social Salsa dancer and that is all you want to learn, your teacher shouldn’t push Dancesport competitions on you. Surely a teacher can give you suggestions and recommendations but not force anything you don’t want to do. CONTINUE READING
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This is an article written by Dan Pittman. Enjoy!
Dance students naturally want to get the most they can from their lessons, but often lack a clear understanding of how to do so. In fact, any student’s progress depends mostly upon how they approach and use their lessons. Fast, complete and efficient progress will result only from a logical and structured approach to learning. CONTINUE READING
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From a teacher’s perspective, the best student to have is one who has a clear goal. A student with a goal will usually be more prone to take lessons consistently, practice and therefore improve. It is no surprise that teachers everywhere, myself included, love those kinds of students. I get inspired and energized when I work with them. It is important to note that it does not have to be a competitive goal, any person can have a goal that suits their needs.
Here are 5 examples of goals one might have:
1. A social dancer who wants to be able to dance an entire song without stopping at the next studio party.
2. A Pro/Am competitor who has a goal to compete on date X.
3. A wedding couple who wants to prepare for their first dance.
4. A student wanting to lose an X amount of pounds.
5. A couple who wants to perform a choreographed show piece at the next showcase.
As you can see, these 5 examples are extremely varied. What the goal is isn’t as important as just having one!
So do you have a goal?
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I want to share the teaching system I am currently using in each online dance instruction video. I would love to get some feedback on how you enjoy the methodology and whether or not you think I am missing something.
The main teaching structure:
1. Demonstrate the dance move TO COUNT.
2. Breakdown MAN’S STEPS.
3. Breakdown LADY’S STEPS.
4. Explain the TECHNIQUE used and offer extra TIPS.
5. Explain the LEAD. CONTINUE READING>>
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Whether you are a new or existing student looking for a dance studio, a new partner, competition result, or you simply want to get more involved with your dance community, I have got great news for you. You can now find all these services online! Currently, there are many websites providing this information, but in my opinion, only few provide quality and user friendly content worth checking out. Below I outline my favorite websites for dance studio/instructor search, dance partner search, Dancesport news/results and dancing forums! READ THE REST
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In this article I clarify 3 myths about learning how to dance and give suggestions about what you can do to get the most out of your ballroom dancing lessons.
1. You either have it or you don’t
Misconception number one is that you have to be born with some extraordinary natural ability to dance, CONTINUE READING
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One of the questions that I hear most frequently from people inquiring about dance lessons is “How many lessons do I need to be able to dance”? The short answer is many! I must admit that this is the only question that I, a professional dance teacher still have difficulty answering because of how “naive” the question itself is. You see, learning how to dance is a process not a destination. I get a little queasy when I hear a new student anxious to put a number on something that is so individual and not very quantifiable. CONTINUE READING
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