What are the first few ballroom dance lessons like? To tell the truth, it’s just like the song, Getting to Know You. To begin with, this is your chance to get comfortable with the studio and your instructors. At the same time, they’re learning about you and your abilities. As a result, you’re building a relationship that gets better day by day.

You’ve made the decision to start ballroom dance lessons and have chosen a studio and an instructor.

What comes next?

You can expect private lessons that are designed to get you dancing as quickly as possible.  To be sure, a carefully planned dance lesson will include:

Warm-up dance

Your instructor will welcome you in from the outside world with a warm-up dance.  Its purpose is to take your mind off the problems of the day. It also serves to prepare you to learn by easing the transition from work to play.

Review of the Previous Lesson

Don’t worry if you forget what you did last time.  It’s quite common, especially for the first few ballroom dance lessons. Believe it or not, you actually learn by forgetting, each time remembering more and more.  It’s a normal part of the learning process.

New Material

Whether it’s a step or a technique, your instructor will introduce something new so you know that you’re moving forward.   New challenges are important to inspire you to want to keep learning.

Repetition

Learning to dance requires muscle memory.  For this reason, we use lots of repetition so your body can memorize the moves allowing them to become automatic.

Cool-Down Dance

Most likely you’ll finish with a relaxing dance and a preview of the next lesson.

As you start dance lessons, you and your instructor are a new team.

Because people have different styles of learning, your instructor will use the first few lessons to find out about your:

• Rate of learning, which is how quickly you’re able to pick up new material such as steps, timing, or technique.
• Retention is based on how much you remember from lesson to lesson. Chances are you won’t retain a lot during the first few ballroom dance lessons. However, this will improve quickly.
• Attendance refers to how often you come in. Also, are you attending group classes and dance parties for extra practice?

What dance will you learn?

Trying a variety of dances will make it easier for you to pick the ones you want to learn.   It’s kinda like eating at a buffet. You sample a bunch of different things, then load up your plate with what you love. Let your instructor guide you.

What do you wear to dance?

Dance Safari has a post to help with that. It’s “What Not to Wear on the Ballroom Dance Floor“.

After a few lessons, you’ll feel right at home at the studio. Your dance club is a place for you to develop not only your creativity, but also peace of mind and lasting friendships.