Although i think having a partner would help, i dont have a partner and im not that bad and also many of my friends dont have partners and we went to a comp last weekend and they almost got all gold and some of them got "Best Student" and "Best All Around" so no you dont need a partner to be a good dancer.

Luv, Kisses and Cookies,
~*Bri*~

If you're keen to improve and reach a level where you can enter competitions, then YES you do. Your partner needn't be 'better' than you. but the practicalities of classes/practice/comps would be impossible without a regular partner.

Sure having a partner helps. Dancing's a physical activity -- to really learn it and get better at it you have to do it. And dancing alone is not the same thing as dancing with a partner. There are movements I can do perfectly fine by myself, just dancing around on my own at home. Put a woman in my arms though and something seems to go at least a little bit wrong most of the time. Yes, there are things you can practice on your own. I do so every now and then to remember how figures are danced. But getting the lead and follow, connection of body weight between partners, how the two of you move together, etc. can't be really learned well unless you do it with a partner. I bet that if I had a practice partner I could improve on some of the things I have trouble with now, but I have to deal with other constraints (like time) so I've never really tried to find someone to practice with. I don't mind so much. Yeah, I'd like to improve, but I generally have fun at social dances and that's why I learned ballroom, so I'm doing OK.

--
James Marshall
marshall@astro.umd.edu
http://www.astro.umd.edu/~marshall