What kind of shape and weight do you have to be in to start dancing? It just seems like everyone is so fit and I am not.....plus I am also overweight....but this is something I would LOVE to learn. Thanks!!!

If you can walk you can dance. A moderately overweight dancer who takes the time to learn precise control of where their weight is located in their foot is far ahead of a lightweight who doesn't have this control.

Being an ex-dancer of size who quit partly because of that issue, I won't lie to you.

If you are learning to social dance, it does *not* matter. Get out there and have fun! Learn new things and meet people!

If you are learning for competition purposes, it will eventually matter. The higher the level you dance at, the more it will matter. But perhaps for you by the time it starts to matter, you will be plenty fit and shapely. Don't let the weight stop you now, just get out there and start learning and have a good time!

I weighed 300 pounds when I started. Nine months later, I weigh 165, and it's all because dancing changed my lifestyle completely. Granted, you might not be as hooked on it as I became, but "for a dance junkie", dancing changes everything you do: Your sleep, the amount of activity you do per day, it even changes your food cravings.

Dance. Be happy. Learn. Express.

That weight will come OFF. If I didn't despise the layout of this forum, and were better acquainted with picture posting here (where's Vbulletin when you need 'em?), I'd post before and after pics.

Like Laura said- by the time it IS an issue, you won't have to worry much.

Dancing's even made it a lot easier for me to cope with what I deem "stupid people"... because dancing is, after all, "negotiation".

Don't let those grotesquely-made-up-doll-faced-anorexic bimbettes scare you into not doing something you've always dreamed about. Their opinions don't matter, and you can beat them arm-wrestling any day.

remember that ballroom isn't ballet! macha is soo right- ballroom will get you in better shape than you've ever been in and will change your life. Also, if you ever get to a competitive level remember that the key is to make your physique work to your advantage. Dancesport is all about looking healthy, muscular, fit, tan, etc (all of which comes with hours of training and reaching a high level)- not anorexic.

i wont lie to you ether, weight can make a differnce, but once you start danceing you will start to get more fit, and judges are generally going to favor some one who dances well over someone who doesent but can pull off being next to naked. granted judges are a group of people, and in every group of people there are those that will favor the thinner dancer. im a bit on the heavier side as well. those of us with a little more meat on our bones have to remember, weve got things those skinny girls dont have. lets use them to our benifit. as for social danceing. yes it seems like thinner girls get asked more, but after a while, after you have learned to dance well, people are going to want to dance with you because your nice and dance well. so dont get discouraged. any body can dance, youve just got to try

I agree with the other respondents, if you are going for social dances, it does not matter. I see people of all sizes and shapes where we go to dance. I am sometimes surprised how agile some of the dancers are dispite their size

I can only imagine what kind of response this would get on any other forum... "Well, you just have to look at yourself and say 'do I care enough about dance to make myself thin and tan?' was a good one once. That wasn't the opinion that got deleted though, of course.

Dancing (social, at least) is supposed to be about having fun, not how the mods and members of a message forum view you. I'm glad I found that out sooner rather than later. So many people need to just throw their computer out the window and go dancing once in awhile.

Well, Macha, like I said, I wouldn't lie. I recently quit dancing, after about eight years of lessons and competing, partly because I simply could no longer bear the pressure to slim down. I'm about 50 pounds overweight, and after being told too many times that the thing that was keeping my partner and I from making the cut, or placing higher, was my weight ("you just don't look like what the judges are looking for"), I just got too frustrated and angry and full of self-hatred to continue. The whole situation had become very toxic to me. I'm taking an indefinite break from competing and dancing -- I'm not even social dancing any more. We were on the Novice and Pre-Championship level, so it wasn't even like we were *that* high, but we were high enough for it to make a difference.

I can't even think about competing right now without clenching my jaw and getting depressed about how "fat" I am compared to the other people. The fact that I dance as well or better than the people I was competing against wasn't enough to keep me going and trying, I simply could not bear to be on the kind of diet and exercise schedule my body requires to lose the expected amount of weight -- dancing six hours per week plus working out for 1 1/2 hours five days a week plus taking ballet and Pilates just wasn't doing it for me. I've burnt out mightly. I've basically had a big emotional meltdown over all of this, and am trying to find other things to do that don't get tied up in my body image and make me feel good about myself. It's been a hell of a struggle, today I was visiting someone who is running a dance competition that I used to be in every year, and just being in the office made me feel all weird and jealous and sad. Like I said, the situation had gotten toxic for me.

That said, it might go better for someone else. There's no reason why anyone's weight should stop them from learning how to dance and even trying out competing. But there will come a point where the weight issue has to be dealt with in some way or another -- either internally (like really being okay with whatever dance results I gent, and being able to stand up to whatever everyone around me says and let it wash over me) or externally (like losing the weight). Right now, I'm completely unable to do either and feel very mixed up and confused and even cry from time to time about it.