People who know how to dance

How to Dance At A Basic "Good Enough" Level

- Chris MacLeod, MSW

It's hard to avoid dancing entirely in social situations, especially when you're younger. Arguably, everyone should at least become passable at it. It's not as hard to pick up the basics as you may think, and it's smoother sailing once you can join some friends who want to dance and hold your own.

You don't have to reach a particularly high standard

You just need to be good enough that you can get on the dance floor, blend in with everyone else, not look like an idiot, and not feel overly uncomfortable while you're there. (Lots of people are at least somewhat awkward about dancing. That's why they have to down a few drinks and wait for the dance floor to get busy before they step out on it.)

You don't have to look like someone out of a music video. You've just got to be decent enough to get by. Being better than the minimum never hurts of course, but just knowing the basics will put you way ahead of all the non-dancers out there.

If you're straight, try not to worry too much about what the opposite sex thinks. They don't have ultra-picky standards

Straight people don't purely dance to impress the opposite sex, but it is often something they think about.

For guys

Generalization time. Women and men have different ideas of what a good dancer is. Guys often see dancing as a skill to show off. Being better than other dudes on the dance floor is important to them. Their typical image of a "good dancer" is a gymnastic break dancer doing a bunch of flips, or a guy doing a fancy, fluid Popping & Locking routine. A woman's concept of a good dancer is a closer to a passably moving guy who looks comfortable, confident, and like he's having fun.

When a woman wants to dance with you, all she really wants is that...

You are there with her
You are dancing with her
You are not dancing horribly
You are not being too forward and creepy

For women

This totally sounds like a simplistic stereotype, but most of the time when you're dancing with a guy he's not making a detailed critique of your style. He's probably just thinking, "Yay! I'm dancing with a woman!" Or if he's watching you dance from farther away, he's likely thinking, "She seems like someone I might want to talk to. I wonder if she'd shoot me down though..." Even if he seems like the most genuinely suave, confident guy ever, he's probably still thinking like that on some level. He's probably fifty times more worried about how his dancing looks to you than the other way around. Even he's an amazing dancer and you're not, he likely isn't holding it against you.

(That was from my observations as a straight guy. I'm not gay so I won't try to write from their perspective, but I can't imagine their standards for dance partners are radically different.)

Try not to worry too much about what strangers think

Easier said than done, but don't use up too much mental energy fretting about how random bystanders are judging you. Occasionally people will snicker and point to people who are dancing because they're really just too nervous to do it themselves. Random dudes sucking on their beer aren't your audience. Also, like the point above mentioned, your average dancer is more preoccupied with how they look than anything.

If there's one thing to keep in mind it's to be toned-down and low key

Don't be a spaz and try to pull off some fancy moves unless you 100% know you'll look good doing them. It's better to reel yourself in. Over reaching and flailing around is worse than blending in and being a bit boring and unoriginal. Don't feel you have to pull off tons of new moves every second and put on a show for everyone either. It's okay to dance in a simple, repetitive way and just enjoy your friends' company.

Acquire a basic, reliable dancing 'core'

You know when you're watching a movie or TV show and there's a scene set in a dance club, how the extras in the background will often to be dancing in a kind of simple, nondescript way? That's the 'core' I'm talking about. If you know how to do that, then in a lot of situations that's actually all you need. However, if you want, you can later choose to build off your base and make your style more fancy.

To get that core stand in front of a mirror with some not-too-fast music on, or just read along and imagine you're doing the following:

To dance you've got to move your body in time to the beat of the music. The most basic newbie mistake you can make is to move out of sync with the beat. Don't know the beat I'm referring to? Put on a song and listen for the underlying, repeating thump-thump-thump pattern. Every style of music has a different speed. It doesn't take much practice to learn how to hear it.
Okay, you're just standing there in front of the mirror with some song playing. Now try moving your arms back and forth to the beat slightly, while keeping your legs ramrod straight. You'll notice that looks totally off. So the next most basic thing you've got to do is bounce up and down on your knees. So keep everything else still, and just move your knees up and down to the music.
That still looks weird, since you're just going up and down like a piston. So rotate your torso a bit in time with your knee movements, a little like you're skiing. Keep your torso fairly loose and relaxed.
That's looking better, but your arms are still stiffly hanging at your side. So try relaxing them a bit and let them swing up and down with your knee bends and torso rotations.

Once you're standing in one spot, bouncing on your knees, turning your torso a bit, and moving your arms somewhat, that's about the absolute bare minimum you can do to be considered dancing. Like I said, sometimes that's all you need. If you didn't know how to dance at all, and stopped right here, that's a lot better than nothing.

However, while still staying in the realm of dancing in a super generic 'core' way, you can do little things to spice up the bare minimum:

Don't just limply swing your arms, get your shoulders into it.
Take steps side to side, or back and forth.
Mix up your arm movements.
Nod your head.
Do little pivots or twists on one foot, or both feet.
Don't just slightly rotate your torso, move it back and forth, or from one side to the other.
Pick up one foot ever so slightly, then the other, to kind of march in place. Don't overdo the movement and look like a robot, just move your feet a tad.
Mix up the possible arm, torso, and leg variations. Find a combination that looks good and do it for a while, then switch to another one. Don't change things up to the point where you're doing something new every half a second. That looks too scattered.

At this point you're hardly going to win a dance competition, but you're at the level of those movie extras, and 75% of the people you'll see out at a bar. At this point you really could develop no further in your dancing ability and be able to get by on a dance floor for the rest of your life.

The thing with this basic core is that it's pretty adaptable to the standard kinds of music you'll come across. If you're dancing to Hip Hop, just make all your movements a little more Hip Hop-ish. If you're dancing to retro 80's Pop, just make all your moves a little more cheesy and energetic.

Add some more fancy moves and sequences onto your core if you want to

If you dance in a basic way you'll get by, but you won't stand out a ton. If you want to look a little slicker you can start adding in some canned movements, or sequences of moves. There's more of a Risk/Reward thing going on at this stage. You've got to work at it more as well. Dancing generically is safer and easier. If you try to pull off some awesome routine and bungle the execution you'll look clueless or goofy. You need to practice to make sure you look good. Some places to learn new moves are:

By watching strangers dancing at a club and stealing ideas from them.
By watching your friends dance.
By watching movies or music videos.
Through online video tutorials.
Through dancing-oriented video games.
By experimenting and trying to come up with some moves of your own.
By taking an actual class.

The best way to learn is to just practice

If you get into the habit of dancing around at home in the spare moments you're listening to music it won't be long before you start to get the hang of things. After that the more time you put in, the more you'll refine your style.

Get in front of a mirror, put some good music on, and start dancing to it in the basic way I mentioned above. Remember, if your instinct is to jump around a lot or be a bit spazzy, consciously tone yourself down. Try to get comfortable with the typical, boring way of dancing first. A lot of the time on actual dance floors you won't have that much room anyway, so if you only practice moves that requires a lot of space you'll be put in an awkward spot when you end up somewhere more packed.

One way to deliberately practice is to try working on one aspect of dancing at a time, then putting the pieces together. This may not look good in the moment, but it'll let you concentrate on and isolate certain aspects of how you move. So you might keep everything else fairly still, and only try out different arm movements, or ways of moving your torso. Or you could try different ways of stepping back and forth, or moving only one leg at a time.

Article continues below...

Practice different dancing scenarios

Aside from figuring out how to move your body, there are different situations you'll find yourself dancing under:

Dancing on a dance floor where you have a lot of room

This is the easiest as you have all the space you need, and you can do somewhat more showy stuff if you feel like it. Sometimes the ocean of space can feel like too much to work with or make you feel exposed and self-conscious though.

Dancing on a crowded dance floor

Here your movements are really restricted. When you're practicing make sure to keep your feet rooted to the ground and don't swing your arms out too much. Try to make your movements look good anyway.

Dancing close and face to face with someone else

The issue here is knocking knees and not being able to extend your arms too far in front of you. Try dancing really close to a wall to get an idea of what it's like. Or you can try dancing really close to a full length mirror. It's totally goofy looking, but it's still a good way to get used to the feeling of being near someone.

Dancing with a partner

Here I'm referring to partner dancing in an informal, improvised way, not doing a specific dance like the Tango. Of course this is something that you can't practice on your own super effectively. Still, you could put your hands out in front of you like you're holding someone's waist or shoulders and practice moving within that restriction. I don't blame you if you don't want to do this. It's definitely a bit silly. Still, if the idea of dancing with someone makes you uncomfortable, practicing like this can take the edge off.

More practical advice would be to take a salsa, swing, or ballroom dancing class, asking your friends to teach you to dance, or practicing with your partner, if you're seeing someone. If it doesn't make you anxious, you could even try going to a club and trying to dance with someone you meet there.

Non-verbal communication is important as well

Body language plays a role in dancing too. It would look strange if someone was dancing to a 70's funk song with the mannerisms and facial expressions of someone listening to 90's Gangsta Rap. You don't want to be too exaggerated or hammy with your body language, but it is something to subtly bring into the equation. The other basic thing about body language is that sometimes the difference between someone who looks good and so-so on the dance floor is their non-verbals. If someone looks uncomfortable and bored, they may come across as dancing poorly. The same movements with some energy and confidence can look fine.

Dancing is a physical activity

Simple tip here. The better shape you're in, the easier dancing will be. You'll be able to do more, have more energy, and keep at it for longer. Basic things like aerobic fitness, flexibility, and some endurance in your legs and torso help.

Dancing to an unfamiliar style

For the poppy dance music you most typically hear in bars and clubs you can usually get away with dancing in the generic style I outlined earlier. Though if you've ever been to a club that caters to a different scene you'll know other genres of music have their own types of dancing.

If you're in one of these places, it's not the end of the world if you go ahead and dance the usual generic way, and just try to make your movements conform somewhat to that subculture's style. You won't fit in perfectly, but no one is going to run you out of the joint. However, if you're interested in dancing to that type of music more in the future, it's obvious that you'd want to try to learn its more specialized moves.

A semi-warning about dance classes

Without a doubt you'll learn a lot if you a take a class, but sometimes people get a shock when they then go to a club and have to dance spontaneously. They can't just start swing dancing or bust out a 14-step choreographed Hip Hop routine. There are people who have taken years of dance classes, but they're inhibited when it comes to dancing at clubs. They feel lost, put on the spot, and like they're expected to perform.

Dancing badly on purpose

I think there's a good time and a bad time to dance in a poor or silly way as a joke. The bad time to do it is when you're not comfortable or experienced with dancing, and you dance like goofball to avoid having to do it for real. People tend to see through this, and any humor that comes out of it only has a shelf life of a minute or so.

The good time to do it is when you're with some friends, you all know how to dance properly, and you just throw in the occasional campy movement or routine as a way to joke around and have more fun. It comes off well in this situation because everyone realizes you're doing it because you choose to, not because you're trying to hide how ill at ease you feel.

Drinking to loosen yourself up

Lots of people need to get some alcohol in them before they feel confident enough to hit the dance floor. In a perfect world everyone would feel comfortable dancing stone cold sober, but realistically some of us need a little extra help. Within reason I think this is fine.

When alcohol tends to be helpful is when someone knows how to dance half-decently, but are just a smidgen reserved - most people basically. When drinking tends to backfire is when someone doesn't really know how to dance, and never tries unless they're totally hammered. The results can be pretty sloppy. Things can also get embarrassing if someone is just learning how to dance and is inclined to be spazzy. The alcohol tends to bring those tendencies to the surface.

In conclusion

This is a trite thing to say, but despite everything you've just read, you should just enjoy yourself and not over analyze things. Have fun and don't worry about what other people think of you. Blah Blah Blah. The end.

Why do people dance? Here Are Some of the Real Reasons We Dance

THE REASONS WHY WE DANCE

As a choreographer and writer (though I confess I am far more comfortable to claim the former than the latter), I get asked to share my opinion about a myriad of dance related topics from the practical:
“How can dance help you get in shape?”
“What is the best way to practice my footwork?”
“What are the three most important partnering techniques I should learn?”

To the existential:
“Is my dancing a projection of my self-image?”
“How can dancing improve relationships?”
“Can dancing help you overcome fear?”

All good questions with good answers to be certain, but today I want to answer, or at least try to answer, the question I get asked most often. The question I think matters most…

“WHY DO PEOPLE DANCE?”

That’s it. Simply, why? What is it about moving our bodies to a song we love that is so joyfully Pavlovian? Why do we watch videos, obsess over our reflection in the kitchen window, and yes, take lessons to perfect something that could easily be labeled as trivial? Why do we put ourselves through the physical fatigue and the occasional social awkwardness just to call ourselves dancers? Why do we love it so?

There are the obvious answers. We dance for physical fitness. We dance for mental clarity. We dance for emotional stability, and other such pluses.

However, all these benefits could be attained by others means, though I confess I have yet to find a better alternative than a great cha cha to lift both one’s heart-rate and spirits. Still, we do not need to dance to acquire a sound mind and body. So, there must be more reasons why we do so. There must be something glorious about dancing that is more than just intangible; it must be almost imperceptible. We cannot seem to explain it, yet we all know it so well that we do not hesitate to tap our feet to a Gershwin melody or pulse with the percussion of a samba rhythm. So why do we dance?

Perhaps dance is the way we express ourselves when words are insufficient. The joy we feel over new found love, the determination we have in the face of great sorrow or adversity, the passionate fire of our youth and the peacefulness of our softer and more graceful years – maybe they are never expressed more fully than through a waltz, or a tango, or a jive. We all want to be understood, and if we could truly speak the words that describe our feelings, how deep and powerful they would surely be. But alas, those words never seem to come to us just right.

MAYBE DANCE IS SIMPLY A TRANSLATOR FOR THE HUMAN HEART.

Perhaps dance is the medium through which we show the world who we truly are and who we can be. All of us, if we are honest, believe deep down that we are not ordinary. We know ourselves to be wonderfully unique, with many layers of personality and talent woven in such a way that no one on earth could possibly have our same make-up. We know it. We just do not always know how to prove it.

MAYBE DANCE GIVES US THE OPPORTUNITY.

And perhaps dance is how we choose to remember, how we hold on to the past. It is how we relive the fun-filled days of our youth or the time we looked in their eyes and knew they were the one. It is our tribute to the heroes of yesterday who jitterbugged like carefree boys and girls, when tomorrow they would march as men and women to defend freedom’s cause. It is the chance to be a princess again, waiting for an out-stretched hand and the call to a romance that is graceful, true, and not as forgotten as the cynics say. When we dance, we can remember them all a little better, feel the butterflies once again, and if only for a moment, return to the purest part of our lives when time was of no matter…for we were dancing.

Why do we dance? Every answer will be different, and that is as it should be. Perhaps the better question is, “Why would we not?”

David Thomas Moore is the Artistic Director and Resident Choreographer for Dance With Me USA. He is the also co-writer/choreographer for the stage show, Sway: A Dance Trilogy.

—————————————————————————–

The best part is… literally anyone can do it. With the right teachers, it’s fun and easy to do. Literally the hardest part is taking that first step… to pick up the phone, to schedule a lesson, to walk inside a dance studio. Once you take those first steps, the steps on the ballroom are as easy as a breath of fresh air.

TELL US IN THE COMMENTS WHY YOU DANCE!

Share this article with a friend who you think could benefit from learning to dance!

Actors who know how to dance and do it well: photo

To read 13 min Views 3.2k. Posted by 19.08.2020 Updated 04/07/2021

It's no secret that the basis of acting is the ability to transform into other people. But besides this ability, there are other factors that make a top-level professional out of an ordinary performer. In the face of fierce competition, modern artists must not only portray their heroes with talent, but also sing, dance and play the pipe. Here is a list with photos of actors and actresses who can dance beautifully.

Contents

Tom Hiddleston

Night Manager, Coriolanus, Hollow Crown

The British actor, who became famous all over the world for his role as Loki, has repeatedly demonstrated the ability to move perfectly to any music. His plasticity and sense of rhythm fascinate at first sight. There are a lot of dancing Tom videos on the World Wide Web. The video in which Hiddleston swings his hips looks especially hot. Fans are sure that he could easily dance even in the Dance Pole style. But the most surprising thing is that the star does not have a professional choreographic education. In an interview, Tom said that he acquired dancing skills through studying at a theater school.

Sam Rockwell

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Richard Jewell Case, Fossey/Verdon

The winner of the film award "Oscar" has long earned the fame of a dancing performer, because in almost all films with his participation there are scenes with incendiary movements to the music. Rockwell himself is ironic about this fact and claims that he turned out to be a better dancer than an actor. According to Sam, he started dancing at a young age to impress girls and still can't stop. Knowledgeable people call his dance style a mixture of Charleston, shuffle and breakdance.

Channing Tatum

The Oath, Dear John, The Hateful Eight

Before taking off to the top of the Hollywood movie Olympus, Channing worked in several different jobs: he was a construction worker, a clothes salesman, an assistant in a veterinary clinic, and a model. And all this time there was dancing in his life (he even managed to work as a stripper). Tatum's undeniable dancing talent was noticed by director Ann Fletcher, who in 2006 invited him to the lead role in the film Step Up.

Later, the actor took part in the sequel Step Up: The Streets. After some time, Steven Soderbergh also decided to use the skill of Channing and his experience as an exotic dancer and entrusted him with the main role in the film Magic Mike, and a few years later the sequel Magic Mike XXL appeared.

Chris Messina

News Service, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Julie & Julia Cooking Happiness Recipe

The creators of The Mindy Project made full use of this foreign artist's dancing talent. The hero of Chris has repeatedly demonstrated the wonders of plasticity and sense of rhythm. And the shots where he dances a striptease to the song Try Again performed by Aaliyah made more than one woman's heart tremble.

The actor himself, in an interview with Volture, said that the preparation for the shooting of this scene took place under the guidance of a professional choreographer, but he honed all the movements to perfection at home. It was easy enough to do, because as a child, the artist dreamed of becoming a professional dancer and even took part in the competition "Mr. Dance of the United States."

Christopher Walken

Catch Me If You Can, Seven Psychopaths, The Deer Hunter

The famous performer, a real legend of Hollywood, has said more than once that he considers himself a dancer turned artist. The thing is that long before becoming a cult film actor, he was tap dancing in a New York nightclub. By the way, Christopher is a stage name that has stuck with Walken ever since.

At the moment, the star has participated in more than 200 films, and in at least 57 films the audience has the opportunity to see how he moves to the music. In addition, the performer demonstrated his talent as a great dancer by starring in the Fatboy Slim Weapon Of Choice video.

Donald Faison

Clueless, City Girls, New Jersey Cases

This American actor made our list thanks to one dance, but what a dance. On Scrubs, Dr. Christopher Turk, brilliantly played by Faison, moves incendiary to Bell Biv DeVoe's Poison. In an interview with Movie Fone, Donald said that he had never specifically trained in dancing, but he naturally had a great sense of rhythm.

Moreover, the artist assured that he invented all the movements of the composition literally on the go. Now this dance can be seen in the game Fortnite (it is available to all gamers in the form of the Default Dance Inspiration emote).

Kevin Bacon

Dallas Shots, A Few Good Guys, Murder in the First Degree

Kevin managed to demonstrate his outstanding dancing talent in the film Free (1984). His hero, young rebel Ren McCormack, decides to challenge the patriarchal foundations of society and does this through dance and music. Bacon said that he performed almost all the dances on his own, and only a couple of times the director insisted on an understudy, which terribly angered the actor.

Hugh Jackman

Logan, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Real Steel

This popular actor is known for his versatility. He can handle absolutely any role: from the ferocious Wolverine to the noble Jean Valjean and the dreamer-adventurer Phineas Taylor Barnum. But Jackman began his career with musicals, where you have to not only sing, but also move to the music.

This was never a problem for the young performer, because from an early age he was fond of singing and dancing. The skills acquired in childhood were also useful in Hollywood: in the musicals Les Misérables and The Greatest Showman, he brilliantly demonstrated his singing and dancing skills.

Alfonso Ribeiro

The Prince of Bel-Air, Magnum P.I., Big Time Rush

Alfonso, known to most viewers for his role as Carlton Banks in the sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, began his creative career with dancing. The first glory came to him at the age of 8 years. It was then that he landed a role in the Broadway musical The Tap Dance Kid, playing a tap dancer. He later appeared as a dancer in a Pepsi commercial alongside Michael Jackson. In addition, Ribeiro has won at 19th season of the American television show Dancing with the Stars.

Ryan Gosling

Stupid Love, Notebook, Blade Runner 2049

The star of the musical La La Land has been dancing and singing since childhood. This is evidenced by videos in which young Ryan moves incendiary to a variety of music.

Charlize Theron

Monster, Devil's Advocate, War Diver

Our list of photos of actors and actresses who can dance is continued by the amazing Charlize Theron. Since childhood, she dreamed of becoming a ballerina. For this reason, her parents enrolled her in a ballet school at the age of 6. At the age of 13, the future star entered the National School of the Arts in Johannesburg, and after 3 years she joined the Joffrey Ballet in New York.

However, the girl had to say goodbye to her dream of a dancing career: at the age of 19, Charlize injured her knee. Nevertheless, the acquired choreographic skills were very useful to her during the filming of many films. Remember at least the picture "Aeon Flux". It is impossible to convey in words how elegant, plastic and graceful the heroine Theron looks. And how amazing was the dance between Charlize and Channing Tatum at the 2013 Academy Awards!

Vin Diesel

Bloodshot, The Chronicles of Riddick, Find Me Guilty

At 53, the star of the Fast & Furious franchise remains one of the most brutal actors, and his movie characters are constantly fighting evil and saving the world. But in his youth, Vin did not at all resemble himself today. He was a skinny guy with curly hair and wore R&B outfits. And he also danced break dance and filmed all this "disgrace" on video.

Passions subsided with age, but the love for dancing did not go away: the actor periodically uploads videos on his personal pages, where he moves incredibly plastically and rhythmically to the music. So we can hope that the directors will someday appreciate this talent of the artist and use it to the fullest in the cinema.

Elisabeth Moss

The Handmaid's Tale, Top of the Lake, The Invisible Man

The star of the series "Mad Men" did not plan to connect his life with the cinema. From an early age, she stood at the ballet barre and dreamed of becoming a professional dancer. She has studied at the Westside School of Ballet and the School of American Ballet. In addition, Elizabeth took lessons from the famous Susan Farrell, who is considered the last muse of George Balanchine. However, the passion for acting outweighed the passion for dancing, and Moss completely devoted herself to acting.

Columbus Short

Street Dance, Dance Brotherhood, Cadillac Records

The names of many films in which this foreign performer has played speak for themselves. They are about the art of dance, which Columbus masters to perfection. No wonder he was a choreographer and dancer in the team of Britney Spears.

Diane Kruger

Inglourious Basterds, Mister Nobody, Troy

As a child, this famous actress also dreamed about Maya Plisetskaya's fame and attended a specialized school. But I had to say goodbye to my dreams after a severe knee injury. Today, dancing Diane can be seen in the thriller "Obsession", the drama "Farewell, Bafana" and other films.

Mads Mikkelson

Doctor Strange, Hannibal, Hunt

This Danish performer, winner of the Palme d'Or and the Saturn Award, is also among the famous dancers. Mads stepped onto the acting path quite late: he received his first film role at almost 30 years old. And before that, he was engaged in gymnastics and dancing, and even graduated from the Gothenburg Ballet Academy.

Joseph Gordon-Levit

10 Things I Hate About You, The Dark Knight Rises, Life Is Beautiful

In the film 500 Days of Summer, Joseph showed the world his ability to dance beautifully. Together with actress Zooey Deschanel, he performed an incredibly romantic dance. And from the Saturday Night Live show, the artist's fans learned that even a striptease was up to him: he felt so relaxed and confident in front of the public.

Jennifer Garner

Dallas Buyers Club, Love, Simon, Second Chance

The actress, firmly established at the heights of Hollywood, is also famous for her ability to move perfectly to the music. The fact is that from the age of 3 she studied at the ballet studio, where her parents assigned her. Young Jennifer liked to dance, but she never wanted to become a professional ballerina. Nevertheless, the skills acquired in childhood did not disappear without a trace. And in the film "From 13 to 30" Garner was able to demonstrate her dancing skills to the whole world.

Penélope Cruz

All About My Mother, Cocaine, Twice Born

The sultry Spaniard who managed to conquer Hollywood is also among the actresses who dance well. And all because in childhood and adolescence she dreamed of becoming a ballerina. To achieve what she wanted, Penelope attended the Spanish National Conservatory for 9 years, where she studied classical ballet. She also took Spanish ballet lessons at Christina Rota's school. The actress demonstrated her excellent choreographic abilities in many films, for example, in the dramas Noel and Chromophobia.

Zoe Saldana

Guardians of the Galaxy, Avatar, Star Trek

The path of this actress to the heights of the film Olympus began with her role in the film Proscenium, which tells about young and ambitious dancers. The invitation to this project was not at all accidental, since Zoe was professionally engaged in ballet from an early age. In the Dominican Republic, where her family lived for several years, she graduated from one of the most prestigious choreographic schools. In addition, the star is sure that she would never have received a role in Avatar if it were not for her ballet past. She spoke about this in an interview with The New York Times.

Amy Adams

Arrival, Sharp Objects, Fighter

Just like many of her colleagues, Amy began her career with ballet lessons. She attended the David Taylor Dance Studio located in Castle Rock, Colorado. But when her family moved to Atlanta, Amy abandoned choreography and became interested in theater. The artist demonstrated her dancing skills in the musicals The Muppets and Enchanted, in the comedy-drama American Hustle and other projects.

Jean-Claude Van Damme

Bloodsport, AWOL, Seeking Adventure

The action movie star of the 80s and 90s of the last century also has professional ballet training. For five years he stood at the barre, and it is from there that his famous stretch originates. The actor has repeatedly said in an interview that a person with a ballet past can cope with any difficulties.

Kim Basinger

LA Confidential, Getting Married, Goodfellas

The celebrity absorbed her love for choreography together with the milk of her mother, who was a dancer. For several years she was a student at the ballet studio and was thinking about following in the footsteps of her parent. But the modeling business and the career of an artist turned out to be much more tempting. However, in 9 ½ Weeks and Never Say Never Again, Kim proved that her dance lessons didn't go unnoticed.

Tom Holland

Spider-Man: Far From Home, Camouflage and Espionage, Avengers: Endgame

It is no coincidence that this young, but already incredibly popular performer was included in our list. After all, from an early age he took private lessons in choreography, and then became a student at the hip-hop studio Nifty Feet Dance School. One of the performances of young Holland was noticed by the famous choreographer Lynn Page and invited him to the musical Billy Elliot. According to Tom himself, it was his dancing and sports experience that helped him get the role of Spiderman.

Catherine Zeta-Jones

Mask of Zorro, Taste of Life, Ocean's Twelve

This Oscar-winning actress began choreography at the age of 4, and at the age of 15 she joined the musical and dance project Pajama Game. Participation in the musical "42nd Street" soon followed. Also, the dancing star can be seen in the musical film "Chicago". But Katherine looks especially chic in the adventure film "The Mask of Zorro" in the scene where she, along with Antonio Banderas, will perform a passionate tango.

To be honest, the photo list of actors and actresses who can dance is endless. Stars with amazing choreographic skills include Jennifer Lopez, Zendaya, Bradley Cooper, Neve Campbell, Jenna Elfman, Neil Patrick Harris, Megan Mullally, Summer Glau and many more. Russian artists do not lag behind their foreign colleagues. Egor Druzhinin, Maria Poroshina, Daria Sagalova, Alexandra Ursulyak, Ivan Stebunov, Artem Tkachenko, Aristarkh Venes - these are just a few performers from a huge number who can dance.

People who can't dance: what's wrong with them

There are people who absolutely can't move to music. A party, an incendiary song, which is simply impossible to resist, but not everyone goes to the center of the hall. "I can't dance," they say. And they are wrong. Scientists have proven that almost everyone has natural data and found out what is needed to feel more confident.

Diagnosis - amusia

The key to a beautiful dance is a well-caught rhythm. Everyone, one way or another, feels it. Rhythm encourages our body to move: tapping our fingers on the table or shaking our heads to the beat of our favorite song. At 1982 year Japanese scientists discovered that already in the womb, the fetus reacts to sound. Pregnant women note the special activity of the baby when a certain song plays. It turns out that babies can remember melodies heard in the womb and recognize them after birth.

Professional dancers and ballet dancers emphasize that the musical-rhythmic sense must be developed. Preston Lee, a teacher at the Beijing Dance Academy, says that at any age you can develop this skill, even from scratch. The main thing is to give yourself enough time and focus on the learning process. Leveling up enough to look stylish on the dance floor is an achievable goal.

There is a category of people to whom this is given with great difficulty. We are talking about congenital amusia. This is a violation of musical hearing that occurs due to damage to the temporal regions of the cerebral cortex. Pathology affects only 3% of the population and is expressed in the fact that a person does not distinguish between musical tones. Recently, another form of amusia has been explored - the lack of a sense of rhythm, the inability to determine it. There are few people with congenital amusia, and even they, according to some researchers, can improve their condition with practice.

The secret of the right knee

Dance is the universal language of communication. It is a way to express yourself and connect with others. Scientists have tried to find out which movements make the greatest impression on men and women.

In an experiment at Northumbria University in England, 39 women aged 18-30 moved to different types of music. A motion capture system was connected to them, with the help of which the amplitude, angles of inclination, and body bends were evaluated. In a special program, scientists created 3D avatars of these women and showed their performances to independent viewers.

After a deep analysis, the experts came to the conclusion that men like amplitude movements of the hips and wide, asymmetrical movements of the hands. Wagging her hips, a woman, as it were, gives a signal about fertility, the ability to reproduce offspring, and therefore attracts a man on a subconscious level.

In the same way, British scientists studied the dance of men. It turned out that the ladies are attracted to the free movements of the neck, head and torso, and rotations of the right knee cause a special thrill. To make an impression, men need to move freely, not slouching, and not retracting their neck.

Move your body

If dance is a natural phenomenon, laid down by nature, why are people embarrassed to express themselves? It's all about public opinion. It's scary to get into an awkward situation, to look stupid. This fear binds, does not allow you to relax and succumb to music.

Free movement to music is not welcome everywhere. There are high schools in the USA where students are not allowed to dance in pairs and close to each other, as if it were something indecent. Children carry this perception into their later lives. Therefore, as adults, they are still clamped and cannot relax.

Pablo Solomon, artist and former teacher at the Houston Contemporary Dance Theater, notes that many of his students came from dysfunctional backgrounds.