Learning how to dance for beginners
How to Learn Dance at Home Step by Step: Complete guide
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Interested in dance and want to learn a few dance moves at home? Here's how.
Written by Red Bull Editorial Team
4 min readPublished on
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Dance is one of the most multi-purpose skills out there. What else can you use in the club and as a workout? Lots of people learn to dance in structured settings like studios, but with the prevalence of the internet, many resources like videos and online communities for support, anyone can learn to dance at home.
How to Learn to Dance at Home
Want to improve your moves? Follow these steps to learn to dance at home:
1. Select a style
Start by deciding what style of dance you want to learn. There are tons out there — individual dance styles like ballet, jazz, and hip hop, and partner styles like ballroom and salsa. Definitely figure out what type you're interested in before you get started, which will make it easier to find the best resources.
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2. Decide on technique or routine
Next, decide whether you want to learn basic technique or a specific dance. Most dance styles have foundational movements that trained dancers practice repeatedly to build their strength, endurance, and skill. However, some folks who are just learning for fun might prefer learning a specific dance, like Lil Uzi Vert's Futsal Shuffle rather than just practicing the basics.
3. Find the right video
1 min
Dance Home Guide: B-Boy Wigor
Zaczynamy wyzwanie: #RedBullHomeChallenge! Pukamy do drzwi domów B-Boys i B-Girls, a oni pokazują, jak mieszkają. Oczywiście tanecznym krokiem! Zobacz wideo Dance Home Guide z B-Boyem Wigorem.
Now's the time to find your teacher: A video.
There are tons of fantastic vids out there from professional dancers, teachers, musicians, and amateurs to help you learn to dance. Lots of websites offer classes, tutorials, or tips for burgeoning dancers — some are free and some cost money. If you're looking for a technique class, search for something like "hip hop dance class." If you want to learn a specific dance, search for the name of the dance along with "tutorial," like "Chicago Cell Block Tango tutorial."
4. Warm up
Dance Your Style 2019: Tokyp warm-up
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Before you dance, it's important you warm up. Get your heart rate up and your muscles warm by jogging in place. Do some stretching like touching your toes and opening your hips to loosen up. Most dance styles require a bit of flexibility, so focus on a few exercises that will help lengthen tight muscles before you get going.
5. Do the lesson
Finally, it's time to dance! Play your video, and get moving! If you're using a smart TV, keep the remote nearby so you can pause and rewind when you need to see a step again.
If you're using your phone or laptop, keep it close by for the same reason. Don't be afraid to do the same step or section a few times over — some steps take longer than others to master.
Tip: Try the moves in front of a mirror next to your video so you can see how you look.
6. Practice
They say it takes 10,000 hours to master a new skill — don't give up! Keep practicing with the same video and new videos with other teachers to get better at your dance. You'll see improvement the more you work at it.
B-Boy Junior poses for an action shot
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Best Resources to Learn How to Dance
The internet is an amazing place. So many resources exist for people to master dance at home. Consider these top learn-to-dance-at-home resources to get started.
Free Options
For a more cost-effective option (though you'll have to do more searching for solid content), try out these guys:
YouTube: YouTube is a great place to start to find dance class videos if you're still figuring out which styles you're interested in learning.
Vimeo: Vimeo has always been a favorite of creative types, so you might be able to find some solid videos there.
Twitch: A newcomer to the user-uploaded video game, but Twitch is a competitor nonetheless. You could find some gems on here!
Where to Start
Totally overwhelmed and not sure which style you should start with? Consider starting with one of the big top three: Ballet, jazz, or hip hop. Almost every other style of dance uses some ballet terminology (yes, even hip hop), so it might be helpful to learn a little ballet before anything else.
Jazz and hip hop are also foundational styles — jazz is the basis for contemporary dance and hip hop informs lots of popular, urban and music video dances. Want a list of a few dance styles to try? You got it. Keep in mind, there are hundreds of different dance styles out there — one of them is absolutely perfect for you!
Ballet
Jazz
Hip hop
Contemporary
Lyrical
Breaking
Ballroom
Bollywood
Tap
African dance
Latin dance
Swing dance
Flamenco
Learning to dance should be fun.
Take the time in the comfort of your living room to learn a new technique or routine to show off to your friends.
Learn How To Dance At Home With These 4 Tips
Wanna learn how to dance at home?
There are times you get really motivated to become a better dancer...
BUT You either live 92736 miles from the nearest studio, classes are not being offered on that day, you have no ride, or you can't afford to pay for a class.
Ugh, buzzkill.
It's not always possible to take a dance class or workshop whenever inspiration strikes. But that doesn't mean you can't dance!
You can get getter at dancing anywhere, anytime... including your own living room. Here are 4 ways to learn dance at home!
1. Practice a piece you've already learned
Ever take a class that was soooo good?
Well, that experience doesn't have to end! You can keep practicing that piece on your own time.
Start by playing the song and marking the piece in your head. Then try it with a light mark.
(You don't need a mirror here, but it does help for cleaning.)
Once you remember how it feels, turn off the song and go over each 8-count in detail.
Try and remember the notes that the choreographer gave that you may have missed because of the pressures of class.
Got it more ingrained in your muscle memory? Cool. Now go full out.
With more leeway on time, you have the luxury of really playing around with the choreography – adding performance, facials, some freestyle, etc.
This is a great way to get better at dancing and hone your strategy in class taking.
Re-learning a piece at your own pace will help you understand how to approach a piece the next time you take a class.
Get more ideas on how to keep learning dance at home! How You Should Practice After Learning A Piece
2.
Drill fundamental exercises and groovesPopping, Locking, Waacking, House, etc., – whatever style you want to get better in, the key to improvement is all the same – repetition.
Play a song, and practice the basics. Switch it up every few 8-counts or so.
Combine variations of those basic drills – this is the skeleton to your freestyle! Doing this will not only strengthen your fundamentals, but it's also a practice in mental discipline.
You will strengthen the body parts you engage, getting the grooves into your muscle memory.
Want to drill your Popping fundamentals? Try Boogie Frantick's Popping Program on STEEZY Studio!
Boogie also gives tons of practice drills that you can do on your own time, outside of the class. Or, practice Hip Hop Grooves with Bianca Vallar.
This class will definitely get your body loose and comfortable. Bust out these moves in a freestyle circle or at the club!
Carlo Darang from Choreo Cookies, Building Block, and STEEZY Studio talks about grooves here:
3. Stretch and strength train your body
As dancers, our bodies are our most important tools. It's crucial to keep it healthy, strong, and flexible.
Even if you're not actively dancing, you can still become a better dancer by stretching and strength training your body.
Identify a few parts of your body that you'd like to strengthen.
For instance, Do your arms feel floppy when you dance? Are you having problems with balance? Do you want to kick higher or jump further?
Targeting key areas will make you more confident and better able to execute in a way that you envision for yourself.
When you have a better understanding of your body, you get better at dancing with it.
Unsure of where to start? Your core is a great body part to train – a stronger core will mean better balance, control, and strength.
Do crunches, planks, and other ab exercises are easy ways to become a better dancer at home.
Try out: 7 Stretches To Help You Dance Better (And Stay Injury-Free!)
When I first started dancing, I'd find pieces on YouTube and try to learn it off of the 240 pixel non-mirrored video.
But now... there's STEEZY Studio.
STEEZY Studio brings dance classes from world-class choreographers straight to your home.
You can review certain sections, skip 15 seconds forward or back, switch quickly from front / back views, and practice in a slow, medium or tempo speed as many times as you need.
Sign up now and start learning dance at home!
You have everything you need to dance at home!
We hope these ideas inspired you to train – with or without a studio.
Have other suggestions for training at home? Leave a comment below and share with us!
Dance training - advice for beginners
Everyone can learn to dance, regardless of gender, age, physical fitness and musical talent.
Let's list the main stereotypes and immediately give them a refutation:
- "You need to develop skills from early childhood." Modern dance schools offer training from scratch for any age category - from preschool to retirement age.
- "I have no ear for music" - it is not at all necessary for a dancer to distinguish the note A of a small octave from the note F sharp of the first octave. nine0006
- "I have no sense of rhythm" - it develops in the process of learning.
- "I will look funny." Adults who first came to dance training have the same abilities, and accordingly, they look about the same.
Where to learn to dance
Of course, you can learn to dance at home, with the help of online training, but it is better to visit the studio. The advantages of this solution include:
- classes in specially equipped rooms with large mirrors. This allows you to better perceive new material, visually see the result, track the dynamics, quickly correct the mistakes made; nine0006
- direct contact with the trainer.
Mentor not only leads by example. He finds an approach to each student. Even if the group includes a sufficiently large number of people, the coach manages to pay attention to everyone, point out mistakes, note the result. The personal praise of the coach is the best incentive to move forward; - communication with other students, new acquaintances. It is possible to organize joint leisure activities and even performances.
The only negative is that you need to study at a strictly defined time, so you will have to adjust your schedule. nine0003
Tips for beginners
Do you want to learn to dance but don't have a specific preference? Try several directions by visiting trial lessons. Having chosen "your" type of dance, start regular training.
Basic rules to follow for beginners:
- systematic. If you set out to learn to dance, you should not miss classes without a good reason. Each missed workout is a significant rollback, and, accordingly, a decrease in results; nine0006
- repetition.
Everything you learned in training try to repeat at home. In order to better remember the dance sequences, it is advisable to repeat them with a fresh mind - as soon as you come home from training. Spend a few minutes every day repeating - and the result will not be long in coming; - additional classes. For a dancer, not only technique and plasticity are important, but also muscle strength, endurance, and stretching. Therefore, it does not increase the performance of strength exercises, visiting the pool, yoga or stretching; nine0006
- development of musicality. Change the way you listen to music tracks. The dancer must pass the music through himself, divide it into separate components, highlight strong and weak beats, pulse, rhythm, bass. In your free time, do exercises to develop musical ear and rhythm;
- self-development. Learn the maximum information about the chosen direction. Attend master classes, watch the performances of the masters - this inspires you to achieve the best results.
How much does dance training cost?
Another stereotype is that dance training is too expensive. It all depends on your goals. If you plan to participate in competitions, perform at concerts and festivals, you will have to spend money on costumes, shoes, and organizational issues. But if you want to practice for your own pleasure, you only need to pay directly for training. The only thing is that it is advisable to buy special shoes. It is quite expensive and is guaranteed to last for several years. nine0003
Dance lessons for beginners | Brooklyn School in Chelyabinsk
Our school provides dance lessons for beginners, both adults and children. Specially formed groups for beginners will allow you to go through the basics of your favorite dance from scratch without hesitation.
More than half of our students come to their first class without any previous dance experience . Therefore, we can form groups where dance lessons are held exclusively for beginners.
Everyone can learn to dance, the main thing is desire, good conditions and competent teachers. All our teachers are active dancers and have extensive experience working with children and adults. nine0003
If you are not afraid of constant work on yourself and the efforts and time that you will have to spend on mastering all the necessary elements, then it is never too late to start teaching dance for beginners from scratch.
Training is built in such a way that over time the complexity of the dance elements and physical activity will increase, captivating you and developing your abilities.
Here you can choose one or several directions:
- - break dance; nine0006
- - hip-hop;
- - dancehall;
- - locking;
- - papping;
- - house.
Break dance classes are especially popular. You have probably already seen this dance more than once, both on TV and, perhaps, “live”.
Breaking requires a certain amount of courage, audacity, strength, endurance and flexibility from the dancer. Intense training may scare many away, but those who have gone this way to the end will be able to turn any crowd on half a turn! nine0003
For young dancers, dynamic and trendy styles such as dancehall and house are more suitable. Thanks to waves, smooth steps, jumps, dynamic connections and rhythmic music, you are sure to stand out among your peers.
We can say that the knowledge of the basic elements of any of the directions taught by us will be an impetus for your speedy development and mastering a new style. For example, if you have previously studied hip-hop, then thanks to the movements you have already learned, you can easily master jazz funk or modern. nine0003
In the past few years, the passion for dancing has gained momentum. Many young people want to learn how to move beautifully to the music that is closest to them.
Dance leads not only to physical recovery, but also to spiritual uplift.
Chelyabinsk is one of those Russian cities where dance culture is developing faster every year. More and more competitions, battles, competitions and concerts, festivals and competitions are being held, where everyone can see highly qualified dancers. Such a spectacle is unlikely to leave anyone indifferent. Demand generates supply, and therefore many dance schools in Chelyabinsk, including ours, offer training from scratch to everyone who wants to start dancing without any age or gender restrictions. nine0003
Dancing makes you feel truly alive. The body receives the necessary physical activity that stimulates the development of all muscle groups, develops plasticity and strengthens health and immunity, while you yourself are charged with positive, spending time in a circle of like-minded people and under the supervision of creative and enthusiastic teachers.
