Dear Coach,

I have taken private dance lessons for about a year now and am beginning to notice that most of the routines done by the professional competitors on televised dance competitions or on my videos of the champions, as well as many professional routines I have watched when Pros are performing at local dance competitions here in Portland, are made up of basic steps.  I am not talking about the local instructors in Portland, I am talking about the National and even International Champions.  I recognize most of the actual steps they are doing in their show routines.  How come they just do the basics?  I purchased videos to copy some of the steps that the Pros use but I already know the basic steps they are doing.

Signed, Video Poor Student

Dear Video Poor,

Once a student gets to the level of dancing that you have reached, it is reasonable to assume that you should be able to recognize the basic steps.  The one thing that sets the steps apart is the way the steps are executed.  That has to do with styling, techniques and hours of practice to reach as close to perfection as possible.  I have, in the past, I currently do and I will in the future, stress the importance of the basics in styling, technique and execution of the basics.  That is the one most important thing a dancer can spend practice time doing…is perfecting the basics. 

Yes it is true, the Pros use the basics for routines but they certainly look different than the basics you do.  Again, let me stress, the best thing you can do with all of those videos you have purchased is to work on perfecting your technique and styling to try to match theirs.  I must be honest with you though, I do not believe that it is possible for you to learn to dance, at the level you seem to be interested in achieving, from a video.  There are far too many subsides in dance to execute even the basics properly, let along to expect to pick up from a video.

Granted, they are of some help in developing your skills, but to expect to learn to dance at anywhere close to the Pros’ level by learning from a video is ludicrous.  After all, do you think they learned from a video?  No, they learned from teachers and coaches that taught them the finer details of dancing, and practiced for hours and hours, and most of them continue to be coached and fined-tuned even after reaching that level. 

Now I know that a lot of dancers are not interested in dancing at Pro level.  But whatever level of skill you are trying to acquire does not change the requirement of properly learning the basics, because that is what makes it all work, from good social dancing to competition dancing.  If there was one thing that I have stressed all of these years, it is, “You can try to fake your top line, but you can’t fake footwork”.

What I call “Stuff” is the easiest thing in the world to learn.  “Stuff” is dance steps or amalgamations or routines or choreographies.  I have watched so many dancers focus on learning “Stuff” before they have even learned how to keep time to the music, let alone learn proper footwork or technique.

I have known hundreds of dancers who have spent money on videos or workshops too advanced for their abilities, or jump into dance classes that are too advanced for their skill level, to end up dropping out because they can’t keep up, or get frustrated and quit dancing.

Many times students have already taken dance classes in a “Stuff” class and feel like they have already spent the money for the basic class and do not want or need to take a beginner class again.  Or they have been picking up “Stuff” on the social dance floor and feel they are not basic dancers.  Now the student wanders into my dance school and wants to take dance lessons.  When they tell me where they have taken classes or that they have been dancing for a year without dance lessons and have gotten pretty good, I cringe because I know how they feel.  They have worked at dancing and have either become frustrated enough or have learned to recognize good dancing from the norm, and now they are ready to improve.  Unfortunately a lot of the “Stuff” they have worked so hard to learn is impossible to lead, perhaps more impossible to follow, and generally a bunch of “Stuff” that is impossible for excellent dancers to execute because they are either trying to turn on the wrong foot or changing the lead at the wrong time or any number of mistakes that I see on the dance floor every day.

Now, I am the first person to encourage creativity but there are certain basic requirements and conditions that must exist to execute dance steps precisely or even logically, not to mention the fact that you are dancing with another person, that effects what you can or cannot do when executing YOUR STUFF!!!!!

It is human nature to want to continue to improve and never step back when striving to learn a new skill.  Sometimes that is the smartest, least stressful, most productive way to advance.  Dancing in particular has some basic rules and requirements that must be met to allow for two people to move as one.  The basic requirements should be learned from a trained instructor.  It is really quite easy to spot an instructor that has the knowledge to break a step down and logically answer any question the student may have, at least in regards to dancing.  Observing a class in session is one way to spot a knowledgeable instructor.  If the instructor simple says, “Do it like this,” and proceeds to execute the steps himself or herself without an explanation of “how or why” it is done this way, or if an instructor discourages questions by acting irritated when a question is asked, find another dance instructor.  Sometimes poorly or untrained instructors find it difficult to deal with a large class.  If you see an out-of-control class with students ignoring the instructor or just doing their own thing, it is a fairly safe bet that you will not learn much in that class.  A well-trained instructor will answer questions, command attention, will be able to break steps down so that the slowest student can follow, but still be able to challenge the quick learners or control a disruptive student. 

I believe dancing should be fun.  Dance class should also be fun…but controlled fun.  We are not studying advanced trigonometry…we are learning something that should be enjoyable.  I strive in class to always remember that 98% of the group-class students want to be social dancers.  About 30% of those students want to be good social dancers, the other 70% want to be just good enough to be socially acceptable.  The 2% that want to excel or become competition dancers may be able to learn the basics in a properly taught class but cannot expect to achieve competition level dancing in any group classes.