Ballroom dancing?
- Thread starter janie1234
- Start date
LastTango
Cathlete
I have been ballroom/swing dancing for around 5 years now. I love it. Talk about great exercise. It involves stength, balance, flexibility, and cardio capacity.
You do need some sensible dance shoes. Regular street shoes can cause injury, and dance shoes have special soles. I usually wear some modern dance flat shoes with a special padded cover for the ball of my foot. I used to do the high-heeled dance shoe thing, but it hurts. You can find them on line or ask at the dance studio.
See if you can find a local dance studio and sign up for some group classes. Most studios will have package deals for 4-6 week classes that are not too expensive. By doing this, you will get to see if you like dancing, meet some people, and get to see the teachers at the studio. After a short time, I started taking private lessons with a professional dancer. I picked things up so fast that group classes were boring to me....this way I could do what I wanted, when I wanted, and at my level. It's more expensive, but it was worth it to me.
I was always very sweaty at the end of our dance practice sessions. I would see other people looking so fresh, and I asked my teacher why we didn't look like that...he said BECAUSE WE DANCE, not talk.
I am not taking lessons right now; just can't afford it. I hope to start back one day. I miss it.
You do need some sensible dance shoes. Regular street shoes can cause injury, and dance shoes have special soles. I usually wear some modern dance flat shoes with a special padded cover for the ball of my foot. I used to do the high-heeled dance shoe thing, but it hurts. You can find them on line or ask at the dance studio.
See if you can find a local dance studio and sign up for some group classes. Most studios will have package deals for 4-6 week classes that are not too expensive. By doing this, you will get to see if you like dancing, meet some people, and get to see the teachers at the studio. After a short time, I started taking private lessons with a professional dancer. I picked things up so fast that group classes were boring to me....this way I could do what I wanted, when I wanted, and at my level. It's more expensive, but it was worth it to me.
I was always very sweaty at the end of our dance practice sessions. I would see other people looking so fresh, and I asked my teacher why we didn't look like that...he said BECAUSE WE DANCE, not talk.
I am not taking lessons right now; just can't afford it. I hope to start back one day. I miss it.
syzygy314
Cathlete
Me, too! My DH and I took lessons for one of our anniversary gifts to ourselves! We loved it! We took classes at one of the major studios - don't remember which one, but we had one group lesson per week, one private, then a dance party at the end of each week all inclusive in our package! It was so much fun! We want to go back and take more lessons, but everything is on hiatus for now until DH finds a job again.
You will absolutely love it Janie!
You will absolutely love it Janie!
janie1234
Cathlete
Hi Last Tango, . .Hi Tricia!! I ordered a pair of Bloch shoes that have a really short 1" heel but are not pointy. Just basic ballroom shoes. They have the suede bottoms. Do think that would hurt? I have all my old ballet (soft) shoes can I wear those? I'm deffinitely short 5 foot tall (if that). I figured that with all the turns you'd need suede bottom shoes. I REALLY want to learn swing and the waltz.
syzygy314
Cathlete
You must be so excited! I think those shoes should be fine to start with. Wait and see how you feel before going with anything more elaborate or a higher heel. We want to focus on the Tango when we start back, but I'd love to learn all of them including salsa and cha-cha! We had some basic waltz, cha-cha and tango down before our first package of lessons was over.
LastTango
Cathlete
Those sound like some good basic shoes. I hope they work well for you. The modern dance shoes I wear are similar to ballet slippers, but they have little padding, so I get these little things called Dance Paws that are padded and fit over the ball of the foot for extra padding.
I can do 16 different dances, to varying degrees. West Coast Swing is one of my favorites. I know you will love it.
I can do 16 different dances, to varying degrees. West Coast Swing is one of my favorites. I know you will love it.