How to practice ballroom dancing? This can be a very complicated subject with many different approaches and opinions. This will be the first in a series of blogs on how to practice ballroom dancing in an effort to bring you as much knowledge as possible.

How to Practice Ballroom Dancing – The surprises!

Many things surprise me in this world. Most of those don’t even relate to dancing. Here are some of my top favourites at the moment:

• How scary ice storms are! If you don’t know what an ice storm is then ask a Canadian (or check out this link)
• How people go to the gym to exercise but have to park as close to the door as possible so they don’t have to walk too far
• How people pay for expert advice and then completely ignore it

I lied a little. That one actually does relate to dancing. I see this one on a daily basis. Not many people listen to me when I tell them how to practice ballroom dancing even though I’m the expert they’ve chosen to consult.

How to Practice Ballroom Dancing – What I did!

As an ex-competitor, I am extremely lucky to have the ability to learn a routine incredibly quickly. Was I born this way or was it drummed into me at an early age? Nature vs Nurture? It’s too hard now to tell now. However, my hunch is that how to practice ballroom dancing was drummed into me right from that start. That’s the trick. This doesn’t just help me with learning routines – it helps me with all my dancing.

I always base my coaching on my own dancing experiences. If that sounds like the kind of coaching you’re looking for, then do get in touch.

How to Practice Ballroom Dancing – Simple Rules

I try to pass on what I have learned about how to practice ballroom dancing. I give my pupils simple rules to follow. If you asked any of my pupils how to practice ballroom dancing, I hope they would recite the following:

1. Learn the routine within a week. It shouldn’t take you longer than that if you really try (no excuses)
2. Dance your routine to full speed music – no matter what it looks like! That way you know how fast it is. There is no point trying to put in any presentation or technique until you can do it full speed.
3. Once you have completed the first two steps, you should be able to stand still and recite the routine out loud without having to think about it.
4. Until you can do the above, there is no point trying to make it look good. So – to put it bluntly – step 4 is keep doing the first three steps until you nail them!

Now, the most suprising thing of all is that despite the fact that all my pupils will tell you these steps, they don’t put them into practice. Maybe one or two do but not the majority. That’s because we all have good intentions. But when it comes to it, we all get distracted. We spend time fussing about our arms or our fiddly choreography. However, when it comes to how to practice ballroom dancing, it’s all about the simple rules.

How to Practice Ballroom Dancing – What now?

We will continue this series over the next few weeks, but that should give you time to try out learning all of your routines and getting them danced to full speed.

We try help at Rubies Dance Centre so if you want to find some extra space to practice, come along to our Social Practice Nights. These are held on the last Sunday of every month at 8pm – 9.30pm in Egham Youth Centre. They are open to all!

If you don’t have any routines to practice yet, then make sure you enrol in one of our classes. You can start as a complete beginner or join one of our more advanced classes if you have some experience. Check out our timetable here.

If you have any other tricks up your sleeve then let us know how you practice ballroom dancing in the comments below!