ok i've recently been talking to this girl and she expressed an intrest in ballroom dancing. what i'm wondering is whitch one would be the best to start out with?

i'm really new to this most of my dancing experiance consist of a mosh pit.

i know a school is what i need .. but what dance do i start with?

thanks for all the advice

butter toes

butter toes,

A year ago I would never have believed I'm doing what I,m doing now. I was a mosh pit guy too, but I'm enjoying dancing very much. I'm learning at an Arthur Murray school, there may be one in your area. The instructors are great. They will begin by teaching you the basics in most of the popular dances, and where you go from there is up to you. It's not cheap, but I find it fun and challenging. Good luck

Hi guys,
I just started lessons too and I have another place for you to take lessons. Many community centers, YMCA's and neighborhood centers have introductory lessons. Google "dance lessons" with your city, and see what comes up. Many towns have a whole dance scene that you didn't even know existed until you get into it. Check it out. It's much cheaper, until you find out what you'd like to concentrate on, and then you can go for the more pricey lessons, if you still like it. I've only been dancing a few months now, and I love it!

As others have said, there are a range of options, from low-cost or sometimes free group classes at community colleges, YMCAs, etc. all the way up to private lessons with national champion dancers. I would recommend getting the best teaching you can afford. In any case, shop around a bit--the quality of instruction varies at all levels.

If you are looking for a dance studio, try the Dance Directory on this site and accessdance.com. Most studios offer an introductory special where you can get a private lesson or two, a group class, and usually a practice party for a reasonable price. If I were looking for a new studio, I'd take the intro package at a couple of them to see where I felt most comfortable.

As far as which dances to start with, you might find a class that gives you an introduction to a few dances. If you take private lessons, your instructor will have ideas about which dances are best for beginners. If you're picking group classes yourself, I'd start with waltz, rumba, and east coast swing.

Happy dancing!

At least over here dance studios do a beginners package to get you aquainted with quite a few dances. You dont really learn anything real during that period but its a way to make those first tentative steps.
My instructors always insisted that I shouldnt concentrate on one dance as each one has different things to offer you and teach you that will help you with the other dances as well.

I started with a package that included Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, ChaCha, Rumba, Mambo, Samba and WC-Swing.
The next course I moved onto they dropped mambo and samba. I would have dropped samba myself too even if the studio hadn't done so since ...it just wasn't me.
Back then I would have also dropped swing even though now it's probably my favourid dance on the rare occasion that I do go dancing.
In the end I pretty much concentrated on Tango and some Waltz.

But I dont think you should start with just one. If you start with a variety it has the added bonus that you wont have to sit out too many dances during parties.

When I started dancing I couldn't tell a foxtrot from a waltz, or a samba from a mambo. I would take an intro and first pick the music you like...go from there. I agree you wouldn't want to pick just one. Maybe start with 2 or 3 and change it up a little. I liked the latin music better when I started, but ended up preferring smooth dancing...you never know!