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How to dance at school dances


5 Do’s and Don’ts of School Dances – The Cardinal Chronicle

  • Lifestyles

Mary Beth Johnson
April 24, 2022

In high school, some of the most important social events are the school dances. Homecoming, TWIRP (the GO Dance), and prom are the biggest nights of the year for many students, but there are certain expectations that come along with attending these dances. Here are a few tips from seniors that will help you and your friends have a more enjoyable school dance experience.

  1. Don’t Just Stand Around

Whether you want to dance or not, you may feel embarrassed about busting a move in front of your fellow classmates, but  there is no need for that! The whole point of a school dance is to do exactly that, so take advantage of it and dance like no one’s watching. Being the first one to start dancing may feel awkward at first, but someone has to get the party started. 

  1. Do Charge Your Phone Beforehand

There are going to be lots of photo-worthy moments, texts about plans, and so many other unexpected things you will need your phone for at a dance so it is always a good idea to have it at least 50 percent charged and on you at all times, especially in case of an emergency. It is also a great idea to communicate with parents/friends about plans for before and after the dance!

  1. Don’t Make a Song Suggestion, the DJ Won’t Listen

Almost every dance has the same playlist, with a few rotating exceptions, so don’t get your hopes up about a certain song being played unless you ARE the DJ. For example, I am 100 percent sure “Fergalicious” isn’t being requested every single dance, but it is always guaranteed to play at least once. Making light of these things and letting them go is the best way to have a good time. 

  1. Do Go With Friends!

Don’t feel bad if you don’t get asked to the dance by your crush because, often, going with friends is a lot more fun. From taking couples pictures to slow dancing with someone who has two left feet, taking a date can be extremely awkward and make the whole night less fun. On the other hand, if you do take a date, try to plan to spend the night after the dance with friends so that you can have somewhat of an “afterparty” with your besties!

  1. Don’t Do Anything Illegal

Last but certainly not least, don’t try to sneak things into the dance or pregame beforehand. You will definitely get caught, and it’s just not worth it. Also, you don’t need anything illegal to have fun at a school dance, and if you do, then you might just want to stay home! It’s so much better to be safe than sorry, so if you are going to do anything on the borderline, make sure you save it for after the dance and alert your close friends or parents of your plans. 

 

I hope some of this advice resonates, as preachy as it may be. Don’t take yourself so seriously at school dances, stay safe, and have fun! 

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The Ultimate Guide To High School Dances

I really didn’t think that I was the type of person that would enjoy school dances. I mean, I do love dancing, but I didn’t think my socially-awkward (In reality, I was much more of a quiet loner in elementary school. Ivy Prep was when I built up my confidence more, spoke up and made friends, but I digress) self would enjoy that type of thing. I wanted to go to at least one dance in my whole high school career because I never even bothered to go to any in middle school. I ended up going to the first dance in my freshman year and loved it. (I didn’t end up going to the second dance that year, but that was mostly because of laziness). I remember being so nervous about it. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do. I was confused about convincing my parents to let me go, shopping for dresses, and everything after. I wasn’t the only one. My friends and I discussed how clueless we were all the time. I sort of just winged it (I was unaware of a certain entity called Pinterest at the time), and it ended up going really well. It was a load of fun. I’m writing this because I know that there is some freshman girl (or boy) somewhere who is as clueless as I was. These are things I really wish there was a guide for when I was a freshman. Hope you feel a bit at peace because of it. (There a few little personal stories intermixed with this post as well)

//Ask your parents if you can go

In my freshman year of high school, my mom was a bit weary of me going to the Fall Dance (I went to nerd school, so we didn’t have “Homecoming”. No football team). My dad convinced her to let me go. But she said he had to stay parked in front of the school the whole time. I didn’t really mind because he didn’t really do anything. I’m not really embarrassed by my parents and he never went inside, so it was fine. Remember to ask your parents. I feel like most American parents would be excited, so something like that probably wouldn’t happen to you. Just tell them so that they can add the date to their schedule

//Buy Tickets

My school charged $8 if you buy them before the dance and $10 at the door. If you’re bringing a friend from another school, buy their ticket and put their name down as your guest. At GSMST, we were only allowed to bring one person outside of school.

I got into a lot of dances for free because I took pictures for yearbook, but of course, I actually had to take pictures and do interviews and stuff, so it wasn’t all just socializing. There was work to be done.

//Buy a Dress (Or a Suit, if you’re a guy)

This is what I panicked about the most in my freshman year because I literally hadn’t worn a dress since 2nd grade. I also went to a uniformed all-girls school for 3 years, so I didn’t know anything about clothes (still don’t really). I went to Macy’s with my mom the first time. Other times I went shopping with my friends.

  •  Don’t spend too much money!!!-Every upperclassman has this discussion with a freshman. I’ve heard so many people say, “I paid $80 for my freshman year dance and $15 for my sophomore year dance.” Some high schools may be a bit more fancy in terms of dresses, but mine wasn’t. Any dress can look classy if your hair and makeup look nice. And remember: It’s dark. Don’t clear your bank account in one day.
  • Same goes for guys– you can probably get away with nice pants and a button-down shirts (Us women are jealous), and a jacket maybe. And again, you don’t need to spend that much money.
  • Make sure you can wear it again. Don’t waste your money on something you will only wear once.
      • Just don’t worry about your appearance too much. Dressing up once in awhile is fun. You don’t need to be too excessive about it. Enjoy yourself.

//Plan Who You’re Going With

Let me start with this: YOU DON’T NEED A DATE. It is not a requirement in having fun at dances. In fact, there were more people at my school who didn’t have dates than did. I’ve been to dances with dates and without them. Both are fun and absolutely awesome. I am so lucky that I have awesome friends to do things with. Dances are no fun without them. I will talk more about this later in the “At the Dance Section.” Let’s just stick to planning right now.

      • Make plans with your friends– not all your friends will want to go and that’s fine. Make plans on meeting each other at school or getting ready together or going out to eat. I will elaborate on this more below.
      • Ask someone to the dance (If you want)– as I said above, dates aren’t necessary. I have had fun with and without dates at dances. If you like someone, just do it. It’s better to look back on life without any regrets. If they say yes, that’s awesome. If they say no, you can move on. Stop making things so complicated and take control of your life, darnit!
      • Stop waiting for someone to ask you– don’t wait around or ponder on (isn’t that just an awesome word: ponder. It has a nice ring to it) whether or not someone will ask you. I was never one to think about this stuff because, well, men are cowards. I don’t speak for all men, but I went to nerd school, with socially awkward geeks and very confident female STEM people (that is probably grammatically incorrect, but I stand by it). Nerd women are scary. What was my point again? Oh yeah. Don’t wait around. You have more important things to worry about. Like school!

//Plan where you’re going to go before or after the dance
  • How are you going to get there ( Who is your ride)
        • Are your driving?
        • Are your parents driving you?
        • Are you carpooling with a friend?
        • Is your date driving you?
  • Where are you getting ready
  • Your house?
          • If someone is coming over to get ready with you? If so, should you buy some snacks? Turn on a movie or some music?
  • Friend’s house?
          • Remember to bring everything you need: dress, shoes, jewelry, makeup, curling iron, am I forgetting anything?
          • This is also a fun option. I loved getting ready with my friends.
  • Are you going to eat dinner before or after the dance?

This depends on what plans you have with your friends or your date. My friends and I had a tradition where we go to Steak and Shake after every dance and eat chicken strips, fries, burgers, and ice cream. We did this every year after every dance (I went to 7 out of 8 of them). We just ate unhealthy fried food and talked. I wouldn’t end up getting home until after midnight. Those are some of my fondest memories. Being tired and sore from dancing for three hours and taking pictures for yearbook, then filling up on fried food and ice cream. One of my friends is allergic to peanuts, eggs, and bananas, and there’s a milkshake at Steak and Shake with all three ingredients and all of us laugh at the fact that everything she’s allergic to is in one food. I’ll stop digressing.

        • Just because I always ate dinner after dances doesn’t mean you have to. Not everyone can put off dinner until 10 PM. And not all parents are willing to take their 14-year-olds (when we were freshmen. It was fine when we could drive ourselves) to eat that late. Plenty of people go out to eat before dances. Just make sure to plan when you are going to dinner so that you have time to get ready and get to the dance on time.

//What are you doing after?
        • Going home?
          • This is what I usually did after eating out with my friends. I didn’t usually get home until around midnight (as I said above).
        • Going to a restaurant?
          • Like I said, I always went to Steak and Shake after dances with some of my friends
        • Watching a movie
          • This is what we did after prom
        • Sleeping over at a friend’s house
          • So this happened at a dance in junior year. My parents were really tired and didn’t think it was safe to pick me up that late (That is how tired they were), so I had an impromptu sleepover at my friend’s house. I discovered that she snored.

//Figure out what you’re doing for hair and makeup
  • Make Appointments (If you want)– I personally didn’t go out and get my hair done anywhere. I just did my hair at home. I’m all for saving money on stuff like that. You can apply your own makeup and do your hair. You can have a friend do it or your mom. I’ve done all three. Some people like to do that stuff, but I feel that splurging isn’t necessary. You don’t have to make an elaborate plan early on, but here are a few things you should think about pre-dance.
  • Hair– Do something different from what you do normally. In my freshman year, I wore my hair in a braid every day. This isn’t an exaggeration. Literally every day. As in, my name in sign language is “braid” with a “T.” (Generally a deaf person names you based off of how they remember you, and a hard-of-hearing student named me after that, but I digress). Where was I going with this? Oh yeah, the dance was the only day I let my hair out. My hair is naturally straight, so I didn’t do anything with it. I just let it out and I looked so different. Everyone thought I put in effort, but I seriously didn’t do anything.  When I cut my hair short (which basically means I chop it all off when it reaches my waist, like always), I curled my hair for dances. You see, you don’t need to do anything elaborate. If you keep your hair down all the time, put it up. If you have curly hair, straighten it. You don’t need to book hair appointments or anything. Keep it simple. If you do something different, it’ll automatically look festive.
  • Makeup– You know how much makeup you normally wear. I didn’t really wear makeup in my first three years of high school (Granted because I didn’t own much and I sucked at it. Looking back, I probably looked really weird on my first date because I TRULY didn’t know what I was doing) I barely wore any makeup in my Freshman year. When I was 16, my aunt taught me how to properly put on makeup and I slowly got better. In my senior year, I wore it more (still very sporadically). If you wear makeup every day, you probably will want to go with something a bit more bold for dances. If you’re like me, putting minimal makeup will probably be enough for you. Just keep a mental note about what you want to do about makeup.
  • Nails– I don’t really paint my nails. I did it a few times for dances, but it wasn’t a huge priority. If you want to put on nail polish, think of what colors you want to match your dress. If you’re like me and don’t own nail polish, borrow some from a friend. (That’s what I always did)
  • Shoes– Boots. That is all I wore to dances. I’m a southern gal, born and raised in Georgia, so those are what I’m most comfortable in. There are logistical reasons as well. I’m 5’9’’ so heals aren’t the greatest idea (which sucks because I’m that weird person that likes  and can walk in heels). Also, flats are uncomfortable. Boots are what I recommend.
  • Mini Rant– A friend of mine and I have this rant where we say that only southerners have enough sass to pull off boots. Down here in Georgia, you can tell whether or not you are from here based off of how you wear boots. We say that when we go to New York and see people wearing boots, we internally cringe. Reading this now, this may be a wee bit exaggerated, but we truly do rant about this. We are not the only ones that say this. There is just something about being born in the south that makes you look good in boots. Ok. Rant over. (For now. This will probably come up again)  
  • Jewelry– Think about what jewelry you are going to wear. Wear something you own or buy something new if you want. I can’t control how you spend your money. I’m just the type of person who wears the same jewelry regularly.

//Go to where you’re getting ready, if anywhere?

Sometimes I’d get ready at home and sometimes I’d go to a friend’s house. It depended on the plan and who was driving.

//Get ready

Duh

//Head to the dance or to dinner, if you did that first

As you read above, you should make a plan.

//Hang out with friends and your date

That is the best part about dances

You should hang out with both your friends and your date. You made a commitment to hang out with your date, so you should be with them at least half the time. The other half should be with your friends. And both.

  • Mini story– So after a slow dance, Single Ladies came on and my boyfriend at the time nudged me towards my friends and told me to dance with them and left, saying “you gotta be single” and raised his eyebrows. I felt so grateful that he was like that. I would have talked with him, but I know that my girlfriends appreciated me being there (Also, one of our guy friends left his girlfriend to dance to this with us. It was so fun. )
  • Note: Dancing to Single-Ladies when you are in a relationship is not that fun.
  • Moral of the story: Spend time with everyone you love. Don’t prioritize one over the other. Because all these people are still a part of my life and those memories are cherished.

//Dance and Sing along to the music

I also love doing this. Don’t be that person who stands to the side because they think they can’t dance. Being dorky and having fun is the point of it all.

In my freshman year, I discovered that American dancing is basically jumping and pumping your fists. If you can do that you’re solid. I don’t do only that, but whatever floats your boat.

//Eat food

Soda. Cookies. Gummy Bears. Who could ask for more. (Of course there is more food than that, but you can see what my priorities are)

//Take pictures

I was in Yearbook, so I took a lot of pictures. I just wasn’t in most of them. I always ended up regretting not taking enough pictures with my friends at the end of the night at almost every school event. I love looking back at old pictures, so I prioritized taking more personal pictures. Not just yearbook.

Have a photo shoot. They are surprisingly fun and you’ll get a lot of good photos with a ton of funny looking ones.

I already talked about these in depth in the “Planning” section. You can read my personal stories there. Other than that, these three options are pretty self-explanatory.

  • Go out to dinner with friends
  • Head home
  • You can have a sleepover

//Staying Safe
    • I was never really involved in things like drinking alcohol or doing drugs. I’m just not that type of person. Even if I preach how dangerous that stuff is, I don’t think it’ll help much. Just remember all the basic safety/common-sense stuff like:
  • Don’t drink and drive
  • Be careful about taking drugs
  • Don’t walk off into dark alleys
      • Please don’t smoke. It won’t cause any immediate danger, but come on! There are way too many reasons for you to stop.
        • Random Story: My AP Biology teacher in my sophomore year told us that the first time he hosted a GSMST prom, he saw a group of boys go out to the patio and play cards. You heard me. Play cards. My teacher told them to go inside and have fun at their prom, but he was really thinking about how at his old school, he had to always go outside to stop the students from smoking. Reasons I love Nerd School!
  • Keep your phone on so that your parents can contact you
  • If you choose to have sex, be safe
  • There is probably a ton more stuff, but I’m a huge goody-two-shoes and don’t really know what happens at regular high schools. But really, the best safety advice I can give is to NOT DO THINGS THAT CAN KILL YOU.

That’s all I can say about that. I hope I helped you with planning for dances. Those are truly some of my favorite memories of high school. I also hope you learned more about me as a person. Until next time my loves.

 

Is there anything I missed? What’s your favorite high school memory?

90,000 12 life hacks, to quickly learn how to dance from Mamita Dance

Dances

Author: Pavel Gather
Psychologist, Lecturer Salsa and Tango

Dances

Author: Pavel Pavel
Psychologist, Lecturer Salsa

on At the start, you always want to get a quick result. When it doesn't happen, the hypothesis arises that everything takes time. After a conditionally acceptable time, humility comes to mastering pair dances, which, perhaps, is not given, and I will just do what I learned somehow.

This is the most common story of those who believe that the mere act of attending a pair dance class is enough to learn how to dance.
Absolutely not. If you want to really dance well, you have to make an effort outside of the dance class. A good teacher will definitely be needed, but the initiative should be on your side.

1. Listen to music

The most common and accessible advice that is given already in the first lessons. And it definitely works. Music creates a certain atmosphere of the dance and intuitively you want to move to it. It doesn't matter where you listen to music - in the car, on headphones while walking or doing household chores.

An addition that will help you dance better is your active participation in the music. Sing along, dance or simply beat musical accents with any free parts of the body. In the subway, for example, it is enough to tap out bright moments with your fingers, in the car to sing along with sounds, and at home you can jump for pleasure.

2. Watch videos of good dancers

It's complicated, but also obvious. It’s more difficult, because without recommendations from more experienced dancers, unfortunately, it’s not so easy to find a good quality video on the net (I mean not the resolution quality, but the content itself).

Meaningful video viewing is about building an understanding of HOW dancers make a particular impression on a partner or viewer. Technology is at the heart of everything. Understanding how the pros do it is a big step forward.

It is important to distinguish a show from a disco dance, a staged performance from an improvisation, a stylized dance from an authentic one, etc. Ask for recommendations and dance teachers will always throw off a couple of videos of worthy landmarks.

Tango Z. Showreel.

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Tango nuevo is the most advanced version of tango. We can quickly learn to dance from zero to a steep level.

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3. Dance in salsatecas/milongas/discotheques

A very delicate moment when it is worth coming to the first party. From a technical point of view, most students in 1-3 months have a sufficient set of figures and techniques to come and dance calmly. Psychologically, the same moment can be stretched out for an indefinite time. After all, it is imperative to “not lose face”, “learn more figures” and be sure what to do in case “there is an unfamiliar movement”.

In fact, the partygoers don't really care (except for a small layer of non-professional teachers who want to help inexperienced dancers by treating them as customers in the future). It is important to come and try dancing after a month of classes. You can only with friends or guys from your group. This will be enough to feel the adrenaline and inspiration from the dance.

4. Dance with partners or partners not of your level

The conventional wisdom that you need to practice in groups of your level does not withstand the test of experience. Perhaps now your eyes widened in surprise, and you want to meaningfully read the phrase again. Yes, you saw everything correctly: when you dance with a partner of your level, you don’t grow anywhere.

It's important to understand that not only does it work one way and you have to dance with cooler dancers, but it works even more effectively the other way. It is no coincidence that teaching pair dances dramatically raises the level of the teacher himself. You have an endless stream of very beginner dancers.

How it works. A more experienced partner needs to be "stretched". It's easy and obvious. With beginners, you need to take more initiative on yourself, see the general pattern of the dance more widely, turn on and insure more, try to be an example and be more careful. The quality of interaction begins to grow significantly. And wonderful partners too.

Dancing with partners of your level doesn't make you grow. Dance with both beginners and more advanced dancers

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5. Learn to dance for a partner and for a partner

Turks and Argentines are one of the best partners in the world. In Russia, partners are highly valued. Why? The answer is simple. In Argentina and Turkey, it is not questionable for men to ask another man to lead in one piece or another and give feedback on the quality of the lead. For them, it will be a great shame to hear moralizing from a partner, or even more so to be known in the community as an insecure partner.

In Russia, due to the constant, often far-fetched, opinion that there are more women in pair dances, partners calmly get up and study their partner's part. Such partners then grow into very cool dancers and teachers. In no case do this at parties, only in class. Here we are talking only about the learning strategy. At parties, be yourself.

6. Do not memorize the links

Always try to look deeper and understand the through principle and idea of ​​movement. Understanding what and how is done will make it possible to independently generate any sequences and chips.

Human memory is limited and there will always be a moment when something will escape and your repertoire will be limited by the size of RAM.

In Argentine tango, for example, there are seven levels of movement construction that, when mastered, will allow you to make millions of combinations. And how many dance sequences can you really remember? In rueda, more than 150 figures dance in a rare circle. It's hard to keep more in mind.

7. Develop your body

Many years of experience in teaching couple dance shows that as soon as everyone pairs up in a class, any progress in individual style ends. But it is the individual style that distinguishes everyone at the disco: partners change, and style is always with you.

The body as the main instrument of dance must be very plastic, responsive and emotional. Surprisingly, not all pair dance schools have a general physical warm-up. It is vital to tune the body and understand how it works.

You can always train extra and concentrate more on the basic steps, as their true value is as body work. The sequence of steps is, in fact, the simplest thing that can be in pair dancing. The quality of individual performance determines the craftsmanship.

8. Try on the images of inspiring dancers

A psychological life hack for those who have already mastered the steps, but still feel that there is not enough brightness and drive. Most are terribly afraid of being someone else's "clone". Here the action is the same as under the influence of hypnosis - the more you resist, the more you plunge into an altered state of consciousness.

With a high degree of probability, you are already dancing like someone else's "clone". A meaningful fitting of someone else's image is that you mentally take the image of the one who inspires you (inspiration is critical in this case) and "put on" yourself. Then you start dancing and trying to feel in general how it is to be able, for example, to be the best partner or the sexiest partner in a disco. This is much more difficult than it seems. But it works extremely efficiently.

9. Dance to offbeat music

Habitual rhythms keep you tight. Tango salon or speedy timba leave little room for experimentation and fantasy. Pattern dancing is always noticeable and is reserved for beginners.

The truly new is born outside of the usual. Look for places to experiment. If there is no place, organize self-training. The main thing is not to get carried away, because music determines the style. We bring something new to pair dances, rather than trying to change them.

Search, improvise, don't be afraid to go beyond, develop in different directions, be inspired by music atypical for the style

10. Try your hand at basic dance directions

dances exist according to their own non-choreographic laws.

This is the deepest delusion, which has turned into a ceiling for the qualitative development of partner dances. After all, all professional dancers, for example, in salsa or bachata, build their ideas on the basic choreographic principles.

Do not think that choreography is only applicable on stage. Any meaningful movement of the body can be choreographic. In general, try classical or modern choreography. Basically, hip-hop can work too.

11. Look for battle sensations

Pair dances return us to an active position of manifestation of our body. As in the days of our ancient ancestors, we impress the members of the opposite sex by how dexterous, hardy, sexy, etc. we are. Modern laws of the jungle in the entourage of big cities.

If you look around the dance floor, it becomes clear that the majority are clearly herbivores (not in the sense of vegetarians, but in relation to those around them). I am sure that predators are always more interesting in terms of the attractiveness of the image - try to find a counterbalance among herbivores, for example, a cat woman or a lion man.

The conversation is about an internal position, not about aggressiveness. Lability and lack of control are inherent in adolescents, and not in adult self-sufficient people.

Accordingly, even a training or friendly battle gives, on the one hand, practical skills - to make a bright sequence of movements, bring an idea to a climax, show a spectacular feature, on the other hand, develops the psychological basis of the dance - self-confidence, resistance to extraneous attention, self-control and self-control in complex elements.

12. Communicate with professionals

The environment shapes the internal position. Basically, real passionaries of the dance community are ready to openly talk, discuss and support the development of dance in every possible way. Universal principles and the ideas they articulate have a much longer and more practical perspective than meets the eye.

Accept that, for example, behind the words "listen to your partner" is not only a beautiful metaphor, but also a practical skill to literally listen to your partner. At the same time, always treat every thought, even the most respected teacher, as a private opinion.

Your skill will lie in finding the scope of the idea even in conflicting opinions. Most often, the contradiction is speculative and the truth lies in the angle of perception or situationality.

Your dancing growth will stop sooner or later. This can happen at the level of three basic steps or years of experience in teaching and show performances. Regardless of your level, the suggested 12 life hacks can get you off the ground and greatly accelerate your dance growth. There is no way here without your motivation and activity. Take your dance development into your own hands. 9Ol000 Dangerous sexuality

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Learn to dance modern dance - tips for beginner dancers

So, you love to dance, but want to learn how to dance even better. How to do it?

First you need to decide: Do you want to learn to dance for yourself (to move beautifully, acquire plasticity of movements, feel confident on the dance floor, party, etc. ) or do you want to dance professionally.

It is clear that in the second case you need to go through all the stages of dance growth from a choreographic school to a specialized university.

But if dancing is just a hobby for you, then everything is much simpler here. To get started, find the right dance school. By the way, at present there are many different types of educational institutions where you can learn to dance: a dance school, a dance studio, a dance art center, an art school, a dance circle (section) at a school, institutions of additional education for children, etc. The question arises: what to choose? As practice shows, at present there is no significant difference in the way the educational process is organized. The main difference is the dance styles that are taught there.

That is why, as a rule, the choice of a particular dance school is determined mainly by the style of dance that interests you (this is not a complete list of modern dances: hip-hop, r'n'b, modern jazz, house , break dance, street show, capoeira; ballroom dancing - slow waltz, slow foxtrot, fast foxtrot, tango, Viennese waltz, cha-cha-cha, rumba, samba, paso doble, jive; club latin; historical dances; classical choreography; folk dances; contemporary dance; contact improvisation; zouk, zumba, hustle, bachata, etc. ).

The second most important factor is the location of the dance studio (some prefer a studio close to home, some are willing to travel all over the city to practice the style and teacher they like). There are a huge number of schools and dance studios in Moscow, so everything is very simple here: enter the query "dance school in Moscow" or "dance studio in Moscow" and more than a hundred options will be found as a result of the search. (It is even better to enter the query "dance school in Moscow" + the name of the style that interests you).

The third most important factor is the cost of education. Not always a high cost means that this school has a high level of teaching and conditions for dancing. Look for the best combination of "price / quality". The best thing is to come to class and see for yourself that the cost of training is worth it.

So, if you have already decided on a dance school, you need to prepare for the classes. This requires a dress code. It is best to approach the teacher (or studio administrator) in advance and find out what clothes and shoes for dancing should be. There are several specialized dance stores in Moscow where these clothes can be purchased, however, often (if it is modern dances) it will be enough just to go to a sports store, since the dress code in the classroom does not require anything supernatural - it is simple sportswear ( as in physical education classes at school) - T-shirt, sweatpants and sneakers.

It is better not to eat before dancing classes - this will have a bad effect on your stomach and well-being during classes. This is best done after class, at home.

Entering the hall, assess what kind of floor it has (in a good hall it will be parquet, but it may also be linoleum or wooden flooring). Of great importance for dancing is the presence and location of mirrors in the hall - it is very good when the mirrors are located along the long side of the hall - then more students have the opportunity to independently evaluate the quality of their dance training.

If classes are held in a group, then, of course, it is better to take care of the place where you will be during the lesson. If you are a beginner, you tend to stand at the end of the hall - this is a big mistake - REVERSE! - Be as close as possible to the teacher. "Old" students already know quite well the teacher's teaching style, dance style features, etc. And you haven't yet. Therefore, do not hesitate to take a position closer to the teacher - now you need it more than everyone else. In any case, a competent teacher will make sure that all students can clearly see his explanation of the new material (he will periodically change the location of the students' lines or he will move around the room while explaining a new dance combination). But if the teacher is still a beginner, then you will be dissatisfied with the quality of the lesson, since you will not see or learn anything.

During dance lessons, the most important rule is not to interfere with the teacher and others. Listen carefully to the teacher. Noisy conversations "out of business" are very distracting from the course of the lesson and annoying. You will be able to talk with friends even after the lesson, but to learn new material - only IN the lesson, which lasts only an hour or an hour and a half.

If you don't understand something - don't be shy - ask questions to the teacher. If the question "Is everything clear?" all students nod their heads in the affirmative, this means that either no one understood anything, or the movement was so simple that everyone really quickly learned it. The second option is less common. As a rule, people do not want to seem stupider than others and show everyone that he does not understand something. This is wrong - you came to study, you paid money for it - and therefore you must "squeeze" out of the teacher everything that he has prepared for you for today. Moreover, professional teachers are very fond of when students start asking questions - firstly, this indicates that you really listen to him carefully, and secondly, that you want to not just wave your arms and legs to the music, but perform movements qualitatively, professionally - this is what the teacher-choreographer strives for.

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