I want to get some advice about how to get better styling and expression for my dancing. I'm a Dance instructor but i've been doing it for only 10 months. I think that I'm doing really good for being new to this. I love dancing, i dream about it, i talk about it all the time. I try to practice as much as i can. My first showcase was on december, and i perform with a Tango and a Swing, they were just O.K, but I'm missing the expression, the attitude, that extra little thing that makes any dance better. It may be early for me to think about since i have a log way to go, but I love what i do, and i really want to be good at this.
Do you guys think that i should take acting classes or something like that.
Any ideas??, please!!!!

Perhapsale,

I've danced and competed for many years, and this is just my opinion but I believe that styling isn't acting.

Knowing how to add light and dark shades by speeding up or lengthening out a count---this to me is styling. And this is why watching dance movies with Jennifer Lopez or Richard Gere isn't as gratifying to an experienced dancer. The actor can't take the intense amount of time and study of dance to make it genuine, therefore they can only act and imitate what they percieve to be "style."
Concentrate on technique and your technique will set you free! So stick with it, one of these days you will be dancing and something will just click, but don't force it. Good luck.

What to do depends on what's stopping you from improving in styling and expression. I agree with dancefan that it doesn't work to just plop "expression" on top of your dancing; styling and expression are aspects of advanced technique.

I hope you are continuing your training beyond whatever you did to become an instructor. If so, your teacher should be able to introduce you to styling elements that are appropriate for your level of dance. You can learn movements for your arms, improve your cuban motion for latin or rhythm, improve your posture and use of your head weight, etc. You can also improve your musicality, the way to respond to the music of a particular song, beyond just being "on the beat." It can sometimes help to take a few lessons from a teacher of the same sex as you; they will know styling technique for your part in more depth and you might feel more comfortable getting the hang of it with a same-sex teacher.

But if the problem is that you feel too shy to express yourself through the styling that you do know, then acting classes might help break through that. I have heard of some top competitors who have taken acting classes.

Keep dancing! Everything about your dancing will improve if you keep working at it!

10 Months? Already an 'instructor'?

It'll take a few years before you can add the expression you are looking for. Firstly, 'styling' comes from the body. It's not something you 'add on'.

Talk to the experienced dancers at your school, and they will tell you that you need to learn 'technique'. This will give you the ability to create movement from the core of your body and then you will learn how that affects your arms, legs, head, etc.

10 Months is still very beginner level -

Well, all i can say is that i work really hard on my technique, and that i'm at the point were i want to be better no just on my step but also on my expresion, and i agree with "Ellen". Workin on my technicque has help to develop a better styling but it's not enough. I had lessons with male, and female instructor, they teach me very little styling, i had around 10 minutes with Lynn Ferguson, she is a fantastic instructor and i lear all the styling that i have from her. I just don't have the money for lessons with her. All i have is the traing that i'm gettin at the studio were i work.
If you guys have any exercise or anithing that may help please let me know.
And i now that 10 months is not much, but a work on my dancin 2-4 ahours 6 days a week.

My partner and I started doing more club dancing, we danced with a lot less inhibitions and less technique than in a studio or a competition. I think it is some carry over to styling if you do this more often. Mambo, Salsa, WCS, Hustle, Cha, and Rumba are dances that we get to do.

It's fun if you can get the right dancers to go out together. Some of the time we just show up alone and exchange dancing with each other--just loose, fun dancing--something that a lot of teachers miss out on.

It appears you live near Houston, TX.
You are lucky that there are some excellent teachers there. There is a group of female Russian teachers that have wonderful styling. Think they teach out of the Dance Place.

If you can't afford lessons and your teachers at the studio where you work can't teach you styling, there are videos that you might learn something from. If you go to dancevision.com and search "styling" under videos, you'll get about 50 videos to choose from. They aren't cheap either, but maybe you could talk your studio into investing in a few or go in with other instructors who want to learn the same thing and share them.

Perhapsale. Learn those Basic Steps, until you know them better than the back of your own hand. This includes the spoken word for the first three of a Modern Waltz. Which is not, rise at the end of one, up on two and three, lower at the end of three. The only wording which is correct there is lower at the end of three. After having learnt the correct rise and fall in the Waltz.Then go to the Feather Step in the Foxtrot and see the difference. Then dance it that way and teach it that way. Good luck