Quote:
Originally posted by Pete
I can do, just about, the beginners moves. I can, sort of almost, do my 2 intermediate moves. I occasionally dance in time with the music. Once I nearly hit a break. But the one thing I'm really struggling with at the moment is eye contact when dancing.
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I remember this only too well, though in my case the problem was looking wayyyyyy too serious, rather than not looking at all.
Learning to do something new is usually an experience that brings its traumas (except in James' case - SLAP
).
To start with, there is a lot to think about, and the basics take up all your concentration - there is very little spare capacity to finesse what you do.
Later, as the basics get easier, they require less of your concentration, and you have more space to think about other things than the mechanics (eg eye contact, smiling, what to do with the spare arm, musicality etc)
If, at the moment, you're really dancing in time with the music only some of the time, I would suggest that you stop attempting intermediate moves and hitting breaks for the time being. It is far more important to dance in time, than it is to dance complicated moves.
The good news, of course, is that if you know when you're not in time with the music, it's overload/unfamiliarity that's the problem, not an inability to hear the rhythm.
Practise dancing simple beginners moves in freestyle until you can do them smoothly, in time with the music, with a clear but unforced lead, and as it gets easier, you'll find that looking at your partner also becomes easier quite naturally - because you're starting to think about dancing with her, rather than how to connect a comb to a hatchback.
Chris
PS Keep posting. And don't pay
any attention to these dance god oiks that say "oh that, yeah, that's easy, just do it..."