Ballroom dancing is one of the very best recreational activities there is. It offers you a wonderful time enjoying yourself while keeping fit. The bonus is that you get to do this in air-conditioned comfort unlike jogging. You also get to network with others on a weekly basis to talk, eat and dance the evening away. It costs very little to go to your local ballroom dance and is certainly a most enjoyable routine to get into.
My husband and I started a couple of years ago to take group lessons in Ballroom, Latin and Swing dances. It was a lot of fun once you get over the initial hesitation of being on the dance floor.
The key is to focus just on enjoying yourself and not dwell on how poorly you may have executed a particular dance routine. You are dancing because it makes you feel good.
It is easy to feel intimidated when you watch the pros dance. DON'T let that stop you from dancing. Tell yourself it took them years and natural talent to achieve that level.
You WILL improve your dancing if you just attend dances and get onto the dance floor to practice whatever routines you know. Practice makes perfect.
Dancing is extremely beneficial to seniors. It will give them a tremendous sense of well-being that is difficult to achieve from other activities. Ladies in particular will feel a sense of renewed self-esteem and vigor that is very exhilarating.
There are many benefits of learning to dance including health, social and emotional benefits!
Staying fit
Relax
Have fun
Develop a sense of accomplishment
Meet new people
Have more grace and poise
Develop a sense of timing and rhythm
Increase your self-esteem
Become more popular
Stay slim
Seeking Practice Dance Partner
The biggest hurdle for anyone trying to really improve their dancing skills is the availability of the right practice partner. It is very frustrating to learn steps and routines in either group or private lessons only to forget them all in short order due to lack of opportunity to practice.
I am looking for a practice dance partner to dance Viennese Waltz, Quickstep or Samba. We can just dance the basic steps or be more ambitious if you prefer. There are loads of dance routines on Youtube from which we can select the ones that we would like to learn. Just contact me if you too are looking for a practice dance partner. We can decide which routine to learn, practice our respective steps by ourselves and then practice the routine together when we meet up at Melbourne Ballroom.
Melbourne Ballroom's Friday Night Dances
Tom and I go to the Friday night dances at the Melbourne Ballroom. It would be great if anyone interested in the Viennese Waltz, or Quickstep could please ask me for a dance if they would like to practice their steps. Please feel free to click on above links to help you decide if I would be an adequate practice dance partner for you. I am a very quick study and can readily follow a good lead.
Getting More out of your Dancing Dollars
It is a challenge to really improve your dancing skills without spending a small fortune the way things are set up in the industry. Practice makes perfect but unfortunately you cannot practice effectively without a dance partner. I have thought long and hard about the problem and decided that the only way to upgrade my dancing skills is to get a group of fellow dancers together who are similarly inclined.
I am looking for 3 other dancers who are interested to book a dance practice session on a weekly basis with a professional dance instructor like Barry Johnson, Lance Sexton or Primo Garcia. Dancing with a pro is the key to improving but the professionals charge $100 an hour. It is far more effective to spread your $100 over 4 practice sessions on a quad-sharing basis than it is to just have one private lesson a month. These will be quad-sharing dance practice sessions and NOT dance lessons. The instructor will simply dance in turn with each of the student dancers the dance of her choice.
We could try out fortnightly sessions if there is only 1 other person interested, that is, twin instead of quad sharing. No long-term commitment required. Just contact me if you are interested and we will discuss which dance instructor to engage and how frequently to schedule the dance practice sessions.