I have been taking lessons for four years. What level should I reasonably expect to be at after this long? NDCA level Bronze I, II, or II? I understand everyone learns at a different pace but I'm trying to be realistic in my goals. (I take one private lesson a week if that makes a difference)
I'm getting married in a few months and my fiancée and I have finally decided on our first dance song. I have never stepped foot in a dance studio, and realistically I would say I did a bit of an 'energetic bounce' at both of my proms in high school (lol.). My fiancée also has no formal dance training but we both very much want to be able to look like we can do more than sway (mostly) on time to the music.
I want to start a weekly dance night where both of us spend a couple hours practicing together. The issue is, I have no idea where to start. I see recommendations online saying not to try a choreographed dance routine as a newcomer, but I personally feel like having the structure of an actual routine might be helpful when I'm so far outside of my comfort zone. I also have no idea what type of dance step/routine would fit for our chosen song.
The song we chose is 'It Had to Be You' covered by Frank Sinatra.
I'm looking for advice and recommendations for where we should start, the step/style of dance we should be looking for, and ideally any links to either written or video guides that we can use to both gauge if its in the realm of possibility for the both of us and if it looks like something we would enjoy. We're both pretty active so putting in the hours to actually learn and get comfortable isn't something we'll shy away from. I also read the pinned post for wedding dance music and style questions, and since it looks like her dress may be an impact to any style that we try, this is what she will be wearing:
Dress: She will be wearing the same dress from the ceremony at the reception, but it will be bustled. It will go down to her feet. She also said that the sleeves will limit her ability to raise her arms too high and she plans to wear chunky 1" heels (let me know if heels are not the right choice for after the ceremony!!), I feel like she might want flat shoes for the dance but if its doable in heels that's good to know. The floor of the dance space is concrete.
I appreciate any help or expertise anyone has in pointing me in the right direction!
So two things, looking around on why that's even a complain I learned that partnered dancing involves a lead and a follow, the lead been almost always a man so they were complaining about not enough people filling that role.
So the second thing which is why I ask, I saw two women dancing the other day and I release that yeah they can just learn to lead. So yeah why don't more women do that, why is that a problem, dance people seem very progressive I don't understand why that seems like a problem to them.
Maybe men could benefit from partnered dancing but that's not the point of people that complain, not at all actually.
Hi everyone, I am looking for a ballroom dancing male partner (standart A or S-class) to compete in Netherlands or in Germany. I'm currently based in Maastricht. My height is 170cm (without heels) and willing to train 2-3 times per week. Feel free to contact if you know anyone who might be interested!
So sorry for the ugly foot pic, 12 years in pointe shoes equal some jacked up feet 🤦🏼♀️
I posted a while back that I had been fitted for a pair of AIDA Latin shoes, in person, after buying a few other pairs/ brands that either ended up stretching out way too big. The new shoes didn’t seem to be stretching much over time and were cutting deeply (pressure indentations) into my feet around the toe box. The consensus was that they were probably at least a size too small or too narrow. I reached out to the company, and they suggested taking them a cobbler to have them professionally stretched, which I did…but it didn’t help much.
Today, I went to a Studios consignment shoe sale thinking at least I could try on various shoes and see what would fit better. I ended up purchasing another pair of AIDA shoes…the same style/model, that seemingly fit perfect. I had an instructor look at them and they agreed.
When I got home, I was excited to measure them and compare the difference. Was shocked to see that the sole length, width, and toe shape are exactly the same!
As someone still fairly new to Latin shoes and brands, I’m wondering if maybe the toe straps on the used shoes were actually ordered in the length that was longer than the straps on my new pair? I looked at the AIDA sites drop down for measuring shoes, and when you select the width, it seems to be for the sole, not the circumference of the foot. I can’t imagine that my new pair just need to stretch more, given how badly they cut into my feet. I can happily dance in the used pair, but I guess I am a little lost as to how people find the correct size?
I added pictures of the shoes side-by-side, just in case something obviously stands out that I’m unaware of, and what the new shoes do after 15 minutes of wearing. The used shoes feel snug, but do not cut into me at all.
Thank you for any guidance!
I’ve been building a dance tracking app (think Strava for dance 💃🕺) and I’m getting ready to start a beta test.
It lets you log dance sessions, styles, and notes from classes, socials, and practice.
I’m looking for Android users who would be willing to try it out and give me some feedback.
If you’re interested, you can join the email list here:
https://forms.gle/2xvpuRTo6apbp5yEA
I am looking for a washable tan for ballroom competition. I have looked around a bit but a lot of tans are waaay to dark for me, I am looking for a bit more of a lighter tan than the extreme Latin ones (a tan more for standard).
I would also love to get some recommendations for tans that doesn’t smudge/transfer too much on the dress or how to make it not smudge (prepping skin, adding powder etc..)
I used to go to Arthur Murray very often and compete and participate in all of the shows and dance o Rama’s. It has recently come to my attention that at my studio one of the co franchisees has been having an affair with a teacher who is much younger than him. Many people have fled the studio going to near by studios and it has created a very hostile environment to dance and be comfortable in. A few days ago on of the area reps came into the studio to talk about the situation and was on the side of the people who had the affair and pretty much said everyone makes mistakes and who could blame him for cheating on his wife when she dresses scantly clad and dances all the time. As a woman this is truly disrespectful and disgusting to see such a big corporation take the side of these evil people. I have started going to a different local company all together because of this.
Someone posted in a Facebook group they're in and I happened to be a professional at what they're asking. But, I can't seem to figure out exactly how they were dancing.
I'm pretty confident the photos are in the right order (same order the photos were uploaded) and all but photo 4 seem to be from the same camera. I've managed to create a video of the first spin from photos 1-2-3. But after that my wife and I couldn't figure out what was going on.
If you're a dancer and can figure it out... heaps of thanks!
Long time lurker here, I didn't know anything about ballroom dancing growing up until I saw a performance in university. Well I am 10 years past graduation and now have some $$.
I am looking to do a Newcomer Competition locally but I am not sure how to get started. How to choose a dance form ? How much should I have saved for this?
Any courses? outlines on how to get started here?
Tempo Tunes builds playlists where every song holds a target tempo. Pick a BPM and genres, and it pulls from 1.4M+ tempo-verified tracks and growing, then saves the playlist to Apple Music, Tidal, or YouTube Music so you can play it anywhere.
It was made for workouts, but it struck me that ballroom is a community where tempo is non-negotiable: a waltz outside the right BPM range just isn't danceable as a waltz. So before building anything dance-specific, I'd love honest feedback from people who actually practice to strict tempos.
Does BPM filtering alone get you something useful for practice sessions, or would it need dance-specific presets (waltz, cha-cha, quickstep, foxtrot ranges) to matter? And is there anything else about practice music that current tools get wrong?
Free, no ads, not selling anything here, genuinely trying to learn whether this fits your world: https://www.tempo-tunes.com
My fiancé and I are very much beginners, but we took a ballroom dance class and want to do a rumba for our first dance. We like 60s-ish music and would like a song around that vibe. We like Quando Quando Quando by Engelbert Humperdinck, but it is too fast for us. Any recs?
I will rank your opinion subjectively, please don’t take offence 😘
I’m a guy with zero dancing experience, and I’m going to a ballroom event next month in New York City. I’ll be expected to dance waltz, festive polka, and tango.
I’ll be dancing with women, so I’d prefer to learn from a woman who has some ballroom experience and can help me learn how to dance with a partner.
Honestly, I just want to learn the basics without falling over my own feet or stepping on hers. Mainly looking for help with timing, simple steps/technique, and how to properly lead/follow.
If you’re willing to help a guy out with some in-person practice, please DM me. Thanks!