Is it possible to just be to uncoordinated to dance? I don't mean physically disabled, just too uncoordinated.

"Is it possible to just be to uncoordinated to dance? I don't mean physically disabled, just too uncoordinated."

It is certainly possible to have not learned coordination yet.

Consider a young baby - he or she cannot walk. Some of that might be a strenght issue, but most of it is that the mental pathways to coordinate movement and sense balance have not yet been developed. The infant brain is quite ready to form them though, so it doesn't take long.

Consider an older adult trying to learn to walk again after a stroke. The original pathways for coordination are gone, and new ones have to be learned. At first they will be uncoordinated, and the adult brain is not quite as ready to build new ones as the infant brain, but it can be done.

Compared to learning to walk after a stroke, learning to dance isn't too bad. However, physical therapist are a lot more helpfully specific about what to do in order to learn coordination than your average dance teacher is. If you had a dance teacher who was a PT used to working with stroke victims, I bet you'd learn really fast!

Unless the lack of coordination is so bad that it interferes with daily life, then I'd say anyone can learn to dance. It will just take longer for the naturally less coordinated.

One tip would be to practice very slowly. Do your steps or whatever over and over at a slow enough pace that you feel in control of them. That will begin to imprint the movements in your muscle memory. Then once you become comfortable at that speed, gradually speed up.

I don't what kind of dancing you do or what kind of lessons you are taking, but I'd also recommend private lessons if possible. I was not at all athletic and not particularly coordinated when I started dancing, so I knew I would never really "get it" in group classes only, so I started with private lessons from day one. My teacher started where I was and progresssed at my speed, and I've turned into a pretty decent dancer.

For increasing body awareness and ease of movement, I love the Feldenkrais method. It's a form of movement education that uses small, non-strenous movements to alter habitual movement patterns and train the body to move in new ways with more freedom. You can check feldenkrais.com to see if it's available in your area.

And of course, dancing itself will improve coordination a lot! Go for it!

I agree with the other persons response. Having a good instructor to explain correctly how to do things and practising are the keys to becoming a good dancer. Everyone encounters some things that take more practise than others. Also some elements that will come fairly easy.

Last week the DJs wife said she liked to watch us dance because we were so graceful. When we started 5 years ago, I thought we would do okay, but I never expected to be considered graceful. But with good instruction and a lot of practise, we have greatly exceeded our expectations.