u/mercury0114

So I started noticing the following, and it's a bit of a mystery to me:

1. I dance with some follower who is quite new to WCS, but has a solid previous dancing background. The dance feels great, I can lead many different things, we improvise together, and the follower looks good in each move, because the followers body is well developed for dancing in general.

2. Then I dance with a follower who is seriously competing, and... something is not there. E.g. we have a connection, but not because the follower is searching for a connection, rather because the follower is applying some rules that help to build a connection.

Has anyone else noticed such things in their dances?

I started attending a few Latino Solo classes at a fitness club. The instructors are ballroom dancers, and in each class we do some choreographic sequence.

But instructors almost never correct students, we just repeat the choreo and that's it. And I'm wondering why:

1. Do they think that letting everyone to dance and move their body is more productive than interrupting with corrections.

2. Or 20-30 students is a lot to help everyone, and they haven't found a way

3. Or they think that students are hopeless (I can recognize that some students are dancing badly and never improve), and it's not worth their time to correct them.

4. Or they're concerned that if they correct someone, they'll hurt their ego, and he/she will not come again.

5. Or because it's a fitness club with plenty of classes, many people come to try a class only once and never come again, so it's not worth to help them.

6. Or they prefer that students attend paid dancing classes in their private schools.

7. Or they're running those classes for years, and simply have lost energy to help, they only run the class formally

8. Or something else?

I started dancing many years ago from improvised social dancing, learning to lead and follow. Looking back, I'm not sure if this was the best way to start dancing, but I can't change the past.

I went to many classes, studied technique, danced a lot, did fitness, and over years developed my body for dancing. When I understand a move that needs to be done, I can do it well.

However, recently I started attending choreographic solo dancing classes. For me, it's difficult to quickly catch the sequence of moves that the instructor shows (e.g. "left hand up, right leg to the side, then fold forward", etc).

1. Is such a struggle normal in the beginning?

2. Instructor has adviced me to frequently take any solo choreo class, and mentally focus on how to move. I'm wondering, maybe it would be better to choose one dance only, e.g. jazz only, and attend only jazz classes? Or does a concrete dance doesn't matter much, as long as you attend choreo classes regularly?

I have a serious dancing background coming from other dances. I know how to lead. If the social party was a complete impro without rules, I would feel confident.

But Zouk has specific steps, and so far I know only two: basic and lateral, and a few variations of these two steps.

When learning my previous dances, I was adviced to do little in the beginning, and focus on quality more than quantity.

I was thinking to do the same in Zouk, and little by little, evening by evening, add a new step to my leading vocabulary. Also, when doing simple steps, try to vary sizing, strength of the lead, connection, etc, to add some variety into my dancing and make it more musical.

Would this approach work for Zouk? I feel that ladies simply get bored after a minute or so, repeating the same steps all the time, even if the lead is clear.

Many ballet performers look very flexible to me, and I'm wondering how have they build such a flexibility. One lady who studied ballet since childhood told me that, for example, all children in her year have learnt to do a full split withing max 2 years, including the boys.

I started doing stretching only in adult age, and I'm completely inflexible naturally. I found yoga as the main discipline that actually helps me to progress - each year I can fold/bend/stretch more and more, and I am able to do more and more difficult poses.

I think I'm practicing yoga well overall: practicing almost daily, never lazy in classes, always trying to go deeper when I can, listening to instructors for technical advice, and always scouting for more difficult classes when I feel that the current class is getting easier.

But after 5 years of such Yoga, I am still quite far away from doing a full split.

So now I'm wondering:

1. Either what my friend told is not true in general

2. Or ballet dancers have a completely different approach to stretching that is actually more effective

3. Or being a child in stretching puts you at a significant advantage.

4. Or it's just my body and not much to be done to speed up the progress

Any thoughts?

If the answer could be (2), maybe someone could explain the difference? Ideally someone who is also practicing Yoga.

Suppose I start to compete in a newcomer division, and let's say I receive 3 points.

Will I be (a) transferred to novice having those 3 points in the novice section, or (b) will I be Novice with 0 points?

If the answer is (b), then what is the value to start in a newcomer division?

Can someone recommend a good YouTube video, where an instructor leads 1h workout to practice Pirouettes. 30 min. could also be enough.

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For comparison, there are some nice Yoga/Pilates workout videos, lasting whole hour.

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I'm searching for something similar to practice Pirouettes, but most videos that I've found are only 5min. clips explaining technique. Instead, I'm looking for a workout video.

I live in the city centre, and everything is close to my home. I go to work, gym, dancing, etc. with my bike, or with public transport, the commute takes 20 minutes at most.

So I don't have a car, because I don't need it. I have a license and could buy some car, but what for.

Would such lifestyle be a concern for ladies? If yes, why?

I had a girlfriend between the ages of 26 and 28, and after we broke up, I have been single for the last three years.

I find it difficult to date women. Somehow, after one or two meetings, they usually decide to distance themselves from me. It is also hard to convince a woman to go on a first date with me, which has become frustrating.

However, aside from dating, I think I live my life properly. I do not drink or smoke, I exercise regularly, I have a good job, and I manage my money responsibly. I have already bought one apartment, and in about five years I should be able to buy a second one.

When a lady rejects me, I try to understand why and improve myself so that I do not repeat the same mistakes again.

I am losing my hair, but other than that I think I look okay. I am tall and slim, and several women have commented that I have a nice face.

In my social life, when I meet a lady I find interesting, I politely invite her to dinner without putting much pressure on her. If she rejects me, we simply remain friends.

So I continue living this way.

Will the right woman eventually appear if someone keeps living like this? Any comments from people who have tried living this way?

So I realized I don't understand well the aesthetics part of the dance (i.e. how to visually look good), and am looking for some advice.

When I dance, I follow these general principles:

1. Dance energetically and engage your muscles, especially your legs. Don’t be lazy.

2. Stretch your body in every movement. Again, don’t be lazy.

3. Stay rhythmic and aim to match every step precisely to the beat.

This improves how I look, but it’s not enough. Even if I follow all three, I can still look awkward if, for example, if my foot placement is wrong.

How can one study dance aesthetics EFFECTIVELY, to look good overall, not just in individual moves?

Learning each figure separately is exhausting because there are thousands of them. Are there general principles that improve every movement? (Something like "always keep at least one of your legs straight", maybe something like this?)

My body is well-trained for dance — I’ve done a lot of fitness, stretching, and movement work in my life, and I feel my muscles well. I can quickly fix mistakes when teachers correct me, but I struggle to extract a general pattern from their feedback.

Any thoughts?

I have recently created a fake female photo on Tinder, to see how the situation looks on the other side of the river.

Very minimalistic profile, two AI-generated pics.

In less than one hour I received 99+ likes.

I'm browsing the guys profiles, many of them look normal profiles to me.

So it seems that it should be trivial for a lady to find a guy to date. Is that the case? If not, why not? What do I not understand?

So I understand the idea of practicing physical yoga, such as Vinyasa, and I love it. I can see my progress, and this type of yoga makes me stronger, more flexible, and more balanced. It also helps me sleep better at night and improves my mood.

But there are other types of yoga, such as Yoga Nidra, where you lie on the ground while the teacher guides you with instructions like, “Be aware of your toes, hands, back, etc.”

I attended a few classes, but I still don’t really understand how to practice this kind of yoga.

Could someone enlighten me? What benefits does it bring, and how is it different from simply lying in bed, for example?

When an instructor comes and gently pushes me in some Asanas, the following happens:

1. Initially it becomes easier, I feel more relaxed

2. So I can bend deeper

3. Then when instructor releases me, I can remain in a deeper pose, even if originally I couldn't get there myself.

Maybe anyone knows, how does this work at the scientific level? Like why can't I get to (3) without an instructors help, if in the end my body is able to stay in (3)?

Also, maybe for some Asanas, an instructor's help is the only way to progress?

I do social partner dance, and I tend to sweat much more than other dancers. Up to the point that my dancing partners are commenting on this.

The sweat doesn't disturb me, I feel good overall, I can do physical activities and don't get tired fast, only that I sweat. And I was sweating a lot since childhood.

One partner suggested taking a hormone test, and potentially some pills - could any medic comment on this? I thought that you take medicine if YOU feel bad and need help, not because of a dancing partner.

Could any medic comment, if significantly higher than average sweating could be some medical issue?

In your dance, you can focus on:

1. Making the moves precise, working on your technique

2. Or you try with your movements to express the music, be artistic.

Now ideally you do (1)+(2) together, but that's challenging, and takes time to do well.

For those who are learning, which of (1),(2) would you put first, and recommend to focus on?

Say, if I focus on (1), then what I do is limited, and it can feel that I only care about the execution of movements rather than trying to feel the dance.

Whereas if I focus on (2), then not everything will look good visually.

Any thoughts?