I was at a swing dance last night, and there was a man in his 60s there who I hadn't seen dance before. He was confident, fluent, and was obviously enjoying himself, as were his partners.

When I asked him where he learned to dance like that, he said he had never had a lesson. Apparently he just does it.

Personally, I started lessons 4 months ago, and go to lessons at least once a week (sometimes more). After last night I am left wondering - do I actually need lessons, or would I be better off using his approach.

I would bet he "Just does it" because he has probably been dancing all his life.

He may not have stepped into a dance studio, but I would be willing to bet he had an older sister or a group of friends that helped teach him when he was younger. When we are young we pick things up without thinking of them as "taking lessons".

He practiced with someone or someones somewhere in his past so that he could become that relaxed and fluid.

Since he has "never had a lesson", he probably has a limited amount of moves that he dances over and over. He knows them so well that he doesn't have to think about lead and follow.

Keep taking your lessons, but the main thing you can do to improve your dancing is to dance, dance, dance as much as you can with many different partners. Then your leads will become more fluid too!

Welcome to the world of Dance!

Just 'dong it' is usually sufficient for many social situations. The level of dancing is pretty low, and most folks are like yourself - only dancing a few months at most, and because of that are not really able to tell what is good or bad (sort of like someone deciding who is 'good' or 'bad' at tennis at the local court - if they're better than you, they're good. Not really a good indicator, eh?)

Most social dancers 'learn' 3 'steps' at most - in swing, it's usually a 'basic', a left turn, and a right turn. And most folks think that group classes that teach steps are all there is to dancing. Clue - repetition is what makes movement 'automatic' - but remember, doing something wrong over and over simply reinforces the bad movement.

That siad, there's a saying in social dancing - 'the worse dancer has the most fun' when it comes to couples dancing. And another saying - 'dance in a journey, not a destination', also defines why it is hard to 'see' quality when all you know is a little bit.

Remember going to your daughter's first piano recital? She sounded awful - but still better than when she took a few lessons. Many years later, she sounded like a musician. Dance is just like that - Social dancers that took a few lessons are 'better' than some others, but still fairly low on the food chain.

Dancing comes from your soul, lessons may teach you how to dance "correctly" but I don't think that lessons are required to be a good dancer. But if you plan on competing plan on going to lessons or at least practicing with a professional. The road to becoming a good dancer is paved with practice.