hi guys. a few weeks ago my friend convinced me to take a ballroom class with her at a studio near her house. i went with her and took the class (beginning salsa) and i really really liked it. i saw some people in the bigger ballroom practicing and i suddenly knew that i HAD to learn how to dance like that. they were absolutely amazing.
so i have continued taking the beginning salsa class with my friend. im still oving it, but the only problem is that the pace is so slow. i have been dancing ballet and jazz (and figure skated competitively) intensively since i was five years old, and because of all this training, i catch on to the steps muchmore quickly than do the other members of the beginning class, some of whom have never danced in their lives. i would take a more advanced class, but im afraid that they would all be much much better than i am.
so i was just wondering if anyone had any advice for someone like me who really really really wants to get into ballroom dancing but doesnt know exactly where to start. thank you so much!!!!!

i love both smooth and rhythm american style ballroom dance, but have no partner, with whom i can practice. i've had many years of private and some group instruction and am silver level. i have placed ads and asked instructors, even strangers. most folks think i'm an excellent partner. what's a body to do without a partner?

I've never had a partner, so I don't really know the advantages of having one specific partner. That doesn't matter to me very much, however, since my goal is to be the best social dancer that I can be, and (I feel) the only way to do that is to dance with lots of different partners as often as possible.

If your goal is to be a great social dancer, go to as many ballroom parties as possible, and dance with everyone.



If you are desparate to dance, keep taking group classes. You will get to dance with lots of people, and you will get to practice basic stuff. Just because the teacher is trying to get the new dancers to commit their weight to one foot that doesn't mean that is what you need to work on. You could be practicing rise and fall, cuban motion, or whatever your private lesson teacher suggests. Sure, lot's of your partners will suck, but maybe your dancing with them will bring them up to your level?



Are you looking for a competitive partner? Based on my second-hand knowledge your best bet as a new compeitor is to get a male partner who is not as good as you are, and train him to your level. Hopefully you will have some success with him so that other leaders will want to dance with you when a more-advanced follower takes him away. Then you go steal a lead from someone not quite as good as you are. (This is how partner switching was described to me by an amatuer competitor, anyway.)

Do you just want to go to competitions? Pro/Am competitions where you dance with an instructor might be another way to go. I'm sure any male teacher in your area would love to take on a Pro/Am student.

Do you want to be a great social dancer? Don't even try to find one partner. Find a few guys who might want to practice with you occassionally, and work with each of them when they are available. If you split the cost of private lessons with several guys and go to several teachers you will get lots of conflicting advice and skills, but overall you will get better than not dancing at all!



You could give up dancing. (Don't do it!)
You could move into non-partner dancing, like Tap, Jazz or Brazilian Samba. (But partner dancing is better...)
You could try to develop a stable of leads all of whom work with you once in a while on various steps/ patterns/ techniques. (I like this choice.)
You could pick one guy who is not as good as you are and train him to your level. (This could be very frustrating, however.)

Good luck!

Kevin