Learning to Dance: Eight confidence tips for total beginners

So many of us make it one of our goals to learn how to dance one day, but how many of us actually push ourselves to go to our first dreaded dance class? Here are eight things that I wish I had known as a total beginner and that might convince you to set aside your fears and dance:

1. You don’t need to wait for anyone to “sign up”

Sometimes the fear of going alone means that we wait to go to a dance class with a friend, then use it as an excuse not to go if they keep putting it off. Or maybe we think that we have to “do it properly” and sign up for a long-term dance course when actually most classes are on a “join anytime” and weekly basis. If anything, dance classes are a great activity to do alone, which will help you build more confidence, willpower, make new friends and even discover a new sense of community.

2. You won’t look stupid

Moving your body in front of other people, especially when you lack confidence, can be terrifying, bringing out some of our worst insecurities. We think that our awkwardness and lack of rhythm will make us look stupid. But it’s more likely that you won’t be the only one and that you’ll find other beginners just like you. What many people don’t realize at first is that most classes are split into various levels, including for absolute beginners who have never danced before in their lives. A friend of mine refused to join me at a beginner’s tango class saying that she had “two left feet”. Eventually, I convinced her to do the first half an hour and that if she hated it, she could leave. She ended up staying for the entire class and loved it. If you can put one foot in front of the other, then you can learn how to dance as a beginner. 

3. Feel the rhythm

The fundamental part of dancing as a beginner is to understand the rhythm so that our steps fall on the right beat – regardless of the dance style. It took me months before I finally got it, but once you do, it becomes a breakthrough. There are two ways that you can work on this: one is to repeat the most basic step hundreds of times to music until you find synergy, and the second is to listen to the music of the dance style you want to learn when you are not dancing. The more you listen, the more you will make the difference between the different instruments, patterns of percussion, which will eventually become a map for your feet. 

4. Posture is everything

Before any steps, moves or flashy figures, your posture comes first. I hunched for the first three months of learning to dance through my Bailando Journey. It was partly from bad posture, but also from low confidence. The taller you stand, roll back your shoulders and look up, the more drastic a difference it makes as to how you look, even when performing the most basic dance steps as an amateur. In some dances, we have a tendency to bounce as we shift from one foot to another. A great way to deal with this is to find a fixed point to focus on. In my case, this was the lion’s frown in between my salsa teacher’s eyebrows, something that he called “maintaining a visual line”. Posture and poise can vary slightly for each dance. For example in salsa, flexing your knees more and lifting your feet will help to better define the movement, whereas in tango, you keep your legs straight and feet close to the ground.

5. Your brain is working

People are surprised at just how hard dancing can actually be, and for complete beginners, even the most basic steps can be too complex to understand. This is completely normal. It’s because these movements are so foreign to the mind and body that they seem impossible. But it means that your brain is working. Dancing stimulates the same part of the brain as complex puzzles and learning a foreign language. The brain is a muscle, and it takes time for muscle memory to understand how the body is moving to gradually internalize new movements so they eventually become natural.

6. It’s good to make mistakes

You often have to keep getting it wrong until you eventually get it right. It doesn’t mean that you’ll never be able to dance. Instead of seeing mistakes and failures as setbacks, see them as a learning process that you need to go through. Professional dancers often tell me that the key is to always smile. Who are you most likely to notice in a performance? Someone who dances perfectly but jumps and looks startled at the slightest error, or someone who makes an obvious mistake but stays calm and keeps a radiant smile? The truth is we rarely notice the mistakes of the second one.

7. Patience is an art

For all of this to happen, of course, you need patience. I’ve seen some people show up to their first beginner’s class and get frustrated after half an hour that they can’t follow the most basic steps. But that’s not how it works. Learning new steps is a reward that comes from patience and practice. Nobody can become a dance star overnight. If you’re willing to put in the time and effort, persevere through your mistakes, stay positive and enjoy it, then you will be able to dance.

8. Perfection doesn’t exist

I’m not a big believer in natural talent, and even though some learn faster than others, nobody is ever completely satisfied with the way that they dance. Even some of the top professional dancers are able to look at videos of themselves and point out all the mistakes or weaknesses in their performance (many of which are actually invisible to the public). The beauty of learning to dance is that the potential for you to learn and improve is endless. Dancing is a hobby and a skill that you can keep crafting for life. There are no (dance) steps back.