The Dance Primer

How do you choose how good you want to be at dancing?

One approach:
Pick a dancer and say “I want to be better than that, at least.”

Another:
Pick a dancer and say “I want to be like that someday.”

A good one:
“I want to…

Rather than picking out dancers to be better than, why not look for dancers to emulate. Signing up for classes and/or workshops from more than one instructor is a great way to get going. One pitfall to watch out for is to stick with only one teacher and think they are IT. You will learn far more, and quicker, if you broaden your learning horizons to several dance teachers.

Another great way is to travel. There are always workshops or competitions that can be a great excuse for travel (no, you don’t have to compete… there are usually social dances involved, and you get to watch some great dancers). Pick somewhere you’d like to go see and then find a calendar of events around there. You don’t have to wait for a special event, however. It can be a lot of fun to spend some time getting to know the regular locals in various places.

The highest standard you can set is against yourself. That way, there’s no glass ceiling to hit. Here’s my standard: Am I having fun? Am I getting better? What do I need to do to get better, yet continue to have fun?