Hi, I wish to watch the whole dance for a Syllabus level e.g. Bronze, but can't find how I can do it. All I can find are short videos for individual parts. These are very good but then difficult to put together.

Kind Regards Andy

What you mean by "the whole dance" isn't clear. The syllabus consists of elements which can be put together in any order during a dance, as the leader chooses. Ballroom dancing isn't like square dancing (or round dancing), where you have a caller who tells you what to do next. If you're thinking of instructions for what do do during an entire dance, you mean choreography. Choreography that lasts three minutes won't be easy to find on the web but you can probably find some suggested combinations made up of pieces that follow one another well.

Thank you for your reply, apologies for delay. I had thought that everyone in the various clubs learnt the same routines, so thank you for explaining how it works. I shall try to learn each video element on its own, hopefully that should help me with the longer routines in class.

LOL - no ONLY the lady has to learn all the variations. That's because each man picks 4 or 5 patterns he likes to lead. Not all guys pick the same patterns.

It can be hard when getting started. Here's what we did. Find a step in the bronze syllabus - call it "B". Go to the "Preceded by" tab. Pick a step - call it "A". Go to the Followed by Tab, and pick a step. Call it "C".

Now you have a combo! A - B - C.
You can do this with everything in the preceded by column, and followed by column, for a huge number of variations.

If you do this, you or your partner will learn to lead the steps through all sorts of variations. It is a SUPER WAY to make sure you are leading it properly, and entering and exiting in proper foot position and frame! Hope this helps.

Exactly same idea. E.g. For chacha. Basic - underarm turn - New York New York-underarm turn -shoulder to shoulder- under Arm Turn - spot turn Like this common choreography

I have tried to connect next movement by preceded by and followed by. But to hard. I drew many single steps in a big paper to connect them by arrow.

I also feel I need to draw the steps of the routine down on a bit of paper, I'm often not clear on where I'm heading and what comes next etc. Thanks

What you did on paper is a great idea. I just did it differently by writing out drills (different combos) and calling them out to my husband (dance partner). It was fun to watch his head spin!

That's excellent advice, I shall see how it goes. Many Thanks!

When my partner and I were first learning to dance, our instructor went through a syllabus. But I found it difficult to think "on the fly" about putting together a sequence of patterns. I went blank on things we had learned to do very well in class. What worked for us was to put together a small amalgamation, just a sequence of four or five figures, and do that. Repeating that amalgamation three or four times got us through a dance, and–more important–helped us build confidence and gain experience.