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Think you’re one of those people who just can’t dance? Everyone else has rhythm and natural ability but you don’t? Or maybe you’re the one with rhythm but your significant other has none. It’s a common feeling that we are either born with the ability to dance or we’re not. It’s time to destroy the myth: You CAN LEARN to dance!

We would never expect to be able to play a game of tennis without someone showing us how to hold the racquet properly, hit the ball effectively, and alternate between a forehand and backhand, but for some reason many approach social dancing as different. Perhaps the difference is the lack of a prop: ball, racquet, bat, or glove. We only have our body therefore we should already know how to use it. Or perhaps the perceived difference is the casual, social nature of dancing versus the organization of sports with teams and coaches. The reality is that dancing is an althetic activity like any other, and just like any sport, the muscles in our bodies must be taught how to move, must be shown options for adapting to different situations, and must be provided enough repetition for the actions to happen without concious thought.

With dance lessons, you learn patterns that show you how to match movement to music and how to maneuver around the room. You learn how to communicate with your partner to allow the couple to move as a unit. You learn how to hear the different rhythmic structures in the music to understand which dance to choose. You learn how to create different types of body movement to capture different characteristics of a dance. That’s a lot of skill to expect to know intrinsically!

Early in my teaching career, I had a student who was unable to identify the beats in the music needed to keep him on time. His statement on his first lesson? “I have no rhythm. I can’t hear the music.” And I must confess, he was right with regards to what he was inferring. While I believe we all have intrinsic rhythm by nature of the way our heart beats, he was indeed unable to keep himself on time with the music. I grew up in a very musical family, so I wondered if it was actually possible to teach him how to hear the music. I set out on my mission – to train his ear just like I would train his feet! A few months into his dance lessons, I had to point out to him at one of our social dance parties that he was always in perfect time with the music. He started himsef on time and danced with the music to ten different dances! Mission accomplished and note taken: rhythm, just like dancing, can be learned!

How can we expect to know how to dance if we’ve never taken lessons? Sure, there are those who can step-tap naturally a bit better than the others, but who really knows how to dance who hasn’t received some sort of education? We wouldn’t expect that in any other activity and we shouldn’t adjust those expectations when it comes to social dancing either. So if you’ve always wanted to learn and never thought you could, make the call and remove the intimidation of the dance floor for the rest of your life!

Kia