Hi - I have been dancing for approx 3 years learning the Arthur Murray (American/nightclub) syllabus. I am seriously thinking about switching to a studio that teaches international.

Any tips/advice?

Aside from the different dances (jive/paso/Samba/quickstep and no swing/mambo/bolero) and some timing differences in rumba, how difficult is it to make the switch?
-If you all had a preference would you
dance international or American style?
-will I have to start right at the beginning and forget most of what I've been taught

any thoughts from all of you dancers out there! Thanks

If you get a good teacher, you should ask them to teach you latin from the ground up.

It will be like starting over in that you should treat everything as new, but it won't be like starting over as a beginner. You are now an experienced dancer who can make your body do what you want it to, so you can learn latin from the ground up at a much higher level of detail than beginner students would. Don't skip to just dancing it and later have to go and clean it up, use this as an opportunity to learn new dances right the first time.

Hi, I danced American at a Fred Astaire studio in Canada for a year, and then switched to International when I moved to Korea.

I agree with anonymous in that it's like starting over, but you're not an absolute beginner either. International is more challenging but also rewarding. I think that having had a background in American social is an advantage. It won't be quite so overwhelming. Enjoy the opportunity to learn some beautiful dances in great detail. When it comes to Latin, I'd suggest starting with Rumba, and then branching out from there.

Good luck!

I made the switch about 8 months ago, although I still do American style socially.

I think samba will be the easiest for you to transition to, and from what I've seen of the "American style" samba that AM teaches, you'll like the steps in International much better. I think Rumba will probably be the hardest to transition to as it is much slower, bent knees are used minimally, and it requires a lot more control and balance.

Paso is useful only if competing. Jive is not just faster than swing, but has some other nuances, too. I can't take jive for too long as I have some knee issues. Luckilly, it's not played socially very often :)

I think the long and short of it is that learning international will help your American style.

Having said all that, I do miss mambo and bolero, and once I'm somewhat proficient at my latin, I'm going to go back and do some more rythym.

Good luck to you. I think you'll enjoy it -- try not to get frustrated at the enormous amount of technique.

dc,

Where are you?

I'm in Victoria, BC.

OB (another dancing canuck)

Hi OB, I'm in Toronto. Thanks for everyone's input.

Mambo Queen, I share your sentiment about losing bolero (one of my favourites), and mambo. I've done a lot of salsa so it has taken me a very long time to feel mambo and am only now appreciate it for its very different style.

Why would you want to switch? Bored or think the grass is greener? American allows so many more dance positions International is Just closed. And where would anyone every really dance Paso it is more like a stage performance?

international latin has open positions; you are confusing the standard/smooth difference

I recently made the switch and I think standard, while always closed, is much more complicated and has a more elegant look than smooth.

As far as Paso Doble, I think the technique learned in this dance enhances all your other latin dances.

I have found international style to be very challanging, but I think in the long run, anyone who dedicates themselves to this style will reap huge benefits to their dancing.

You are correct I was thinking Smooth/Standard.