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Originally posted by Rougeforever
I've been 8 times, and this week will mark my first week dancing twice a week.
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Hurrah !!! Great to see that the early difficulties haven't put you off
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Does anyone have any handy hints on learning to dance the steps in time to music ? The beat often eludes me.
I'm at the point now where I'm relaxing a bit in dancing, and therefore realising that I'm missing the beat of the song  |
Well, firstly, realising that you're off the beat is more than half the battle.
In my experience with beginners, the most common reasons for ladies being off the beat are:
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the guy being off the beat. Beginner guys have tons more work to do in the early stages than beginner girls, since they have to remember the moves, choose which one to dance next, know how to lead them. So the rhythm tends to suffer in the early stages while they're still struggling to execute the moves. And if the guy is leading off the beat, it will be virtually impossible for the girl to be on it.
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rushing things. Almost always, the girls have more time to execute a move than they think they have, and many have a tendency to take a lead as a cue to jump into the move too quickly.
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not putting their weight on the foot you step back on, and so darting forward again too quickly. The step back at the beginning and end of moves should take a whole count, and shouldn't be missed out, else you'll get ahead of yourself again.
Aim to take an actual step on each count of the move, and arrive on that step, with weight on the foot you've stepped with, on the beat. This means that you'll have to start the step before the actual beat in order to arrive on it, but if you can walk in time to music, you will be able to learn how to do this in time.
Practise walking to music of different speeds, particularly music that's slower than your normal walking pace. This will give you practice at carrying your weight smoothly from one step to the next, and arriving on each foot at the same time as the beat does.
Practise spinning to music. One way to do this is as follows:
Step back left foot.
Step forward left foot.
Spin one turn to the left on the left foot, finishing feet together.
Repeat.
To the right it's:
Step back right foot.
Step forward right foot.
Spin one turn to the right on the right foot, finishing feet together.
Repeat.
The step back, the step forward, and the spin should take one count each. Don't rush. Keep the foot you're not spinning on as close to the floor as possible, use it as a brake, and transfer your weight on to it at the end of the spin. Slowish music is easier and gives you more control.
Hope this helps. Keep posting !!
Chris