DANCE LESSONS

Here are some general articles and essays that discuss some basic issues in dancing.

If you enjoy these kinds of essays, we are continuing to add more at our new location, at http://www.rounddancing.net/dance/articles/.

1. Walking—Dancing is just orderly movement to a rhythm. Walk to the beat, light on your feet.
2. Balance—One of the images that comes up again and again in Round Dancing is the idea that the dancer's body is a pile of boxes, crates stacked in a warehouse, and it is important to keep the pile aligned and balanced.
3. Basic Dance Steps—Dances consist of a sequence of dance figures, but figures consist of a sequence of individual steps and actions.
4. Holds and Positions—First in dancing is the dance position hold.  Before you can move as one, lightly and smoothly around the floor, the gentleman's lead clear and unambiguous, and the lady's follow responsive and precise, you have to get a hold of each other.
5. Lead and Follow—I like to recognize four different styles of lead and follow: the traditional man's lead, the somewhat less structured "Isadora" style of leading, a more collaborative style, and finally, the woman's reverse or back lead.
6. Don't Fight—It is a basic and fundamental rule of dance: don't criticize your partner.
7. Timing—One of the conspicous features of round dancing, and ballroom dancing in general, is the great variety of rhythms and the variety of step patterns that are characteristic of those rhythms.
8. Sometimes, dancing is described as "walking set to music." but good dancing goes beyond simple walking. Here are six features of styling that turn walking into rich and luscious dancing.

   • Frame
   • Floating
   • Dancing On the Diagonal
   • Side Lead
   • Rise and Fall
   • Body Sway

9. Round Dance Phase Levels—The Roundalab Phase Rating System ranks round dance figures according to degree of complexity. Each phase has a specific syllabus of basics — steps, movements, and actions.
10. Beginning Two-Step—It is ironic that the Two-Step is the rhythm that many round dancers first learn — it is one of the staples of a square-dance/round-dance evening — and yet the Two-Step is a difficult rhythm to learn.
11. Beginning Waltz—Lloyd Shaw came up with this game that he played with his begining waltz students. Instead of starting with the basic waltz step: forward, forward, close; he asked them to take a big step, a medium-sized step, and then a little step.
12. Fox Trot Feels Like Skiing—The fox trot has a floating, gentle kind of rise and fall, as it soars to the left and then to the right, much like snow-skiing.
13. A History of Waltz—A surprising number of dance rhythms are as recent as the Twentieth Century, but the origins of the Waltz go way back.
14. Two-Step Waltz—The two-step waltz is an old style of waltz that is not done much anymore, so this is something of a historical digression. On the other hand, you might just like to try this slightly different rhythm (freestyle ballroom; there are no round dances like this).
15. Samba Styling—Samba is the most light-hearted of all the Latin dances. Flamboyancy, ostentation, and emotion energize the beat with the dominating Samba bounce. — an essay by Shirley Aymé
16. Paso Doble Styling—Paso Doble atmosphere is powerful, intoxicating, and intense, with fierce drama and captive energy. It puts the audience under its majestic and magical spell. — an essay by Shirley Aymé

And by the way, What is Round Dancing?—It is choreographed and cued ballroom dancing. 

"I think I can—I think I can."