What should I expect from a swing dancing lesson and how should I prepare?
So my eternally beautiful and infinitely spontaneous best friend asked me to go to a swing dancing lesson with her tomorrow. We had talked about doing it before and I have always wanted to learn, but I’m nervous.
Issues:
-I am stiff, uncoordinated, and awkward.
-I have zero rhythm (when I’m not holding a guitar or drunk) and I have no dancing experience. I make most club-dwelling white people look like good dancers.
-I don’t know what I should wear… especially in regards to shoes.
Help, please, my lovelies?
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28 Answers
Your shoes should be relatively slippery and stay on your feet. You want to look fairly nice, but still be comfortable and able to move.
I wouldn’t worry about being uncoordinated, lacking rhythm, or not having danced before. That’s the point of lessons. They won’t start out too hard on you. Just relax and have a good time. Swing dancing is the best! Good on you for deciding to try it. I’m still working on getting the mister to take it up with me.
Go and have a good time. You’ll stumble around at first but you’ll get better. Just pay attention to the instructor and your eternally beautiful partner. Then make sure you practise at home.
@bobbinhood awesome. Thank you. I have these shoes which are slip-ons and they are slick as hell. I slide all over concrete while wearing them. Is that too slippery?
@tranquilsea certainly! Thank you.
@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard Probably. You want them to slide a little, but you don’t want to fall over. Though, that would make for a fantastic story.
Also, how you should dress is somewhat dependent on region. Generally speaking, dances in the Western states are more casual than dances out East.
You should expect it to be fun.
Your charming self ‘il do.
Lots of dizzy and spatial prep… It kind of knocks you off canter if you are completely not used to having your perception altered when you really get into the “Swing” of it… *Pun intended.
Have fun!
Expect nothing (Particularly don’t plan on dancing with the stars until the second lesson.)
And remember that it is similar to the first day of middle school. Everyone is so busy being concerned about how he or she looks and behaves that he forgets that everyone else is feeling the same.
Laugh a lot. Feel free to fall down. Perhaps wear some extra padding and cover it with sequins.
You should wear leather shoes… or at least shoes with flat leather soles.
You will be told how to hold your partner. You will be told how to position your arms. There is other basic stuff.
You will then learn the basic step, which consists of a a medium step to the left with your left foot, and shorter step with your right foot in the same direction as the left foot and then a larger step in the same direction with the left foot. You then do the same thing back to the right.
That will probably be it for the first lesson. You’ll get individual assistance on coordinating your feet and in doing it together with your partner, who does the same thing except it mirrors you. The rhythm is a kind of Dum-da-dah, dum-da-dah. The dum and da each get one beat and the dah gets two. So you’re always doing one basic step per measure of the music. You always move and never stop. Good exercise.
Depending on how fast the music is, you go faster or slower. You will start slow, but eventually work up to pretty fast, when you are throwing your partner around over your head and between your legs and all. Boy, just thinking about it makes me wish I were going. Me and the wife used to take ballroom lessons way back when, before we got married.
@wundayatta I thought swing was usually in ¾ or 6/8 time? That’s certainly how I learned it. Am I missing something?
@bobbinhood Ok, I looked it up. We’re both right. Swing(dance) can be in both 4/4 and ¾ time. There are many, many different styles of swing. I, personally, have never done a swing waltz, but I don’t doubt it can be done.
@GabrielsLamb “Take 5” is in 5/4 time. I suppose you could probably figure out how to swing dance to it, but that would not be usual. “Take the A Train” is a more standard rhythm and you could more easily dance to it.
In any case, there’s a lot of music that is swung. Blues, jazz, boogie-woogie and on and on. You can dance to it all, and there’s probably a swing dance form for all of it.
@wundayatta thanks a lot. I’m really looking forward to this.
@everyone, thank you all for the tips and insight. I’ll let y’all know how it goes!
Ok, I’m going to wear my black pin-stripe pants. What kind of shirt should I wear?
No offense, but you might be doomed. Swing, like all other dance styles, requires an ability to move in the right way to accommodate it. It is much like taking music lessons at an older age…you either have it or you don’t. The skill set may be latent, or it may never be there. This doesn’t mean that you cannot have fun with it.
Is your girlfriend up to accommodating your newly found style? If not, or if she is not patient as you develop it, that is one thing to consider. Another is that you do not enjoy it.
Good luck with the dancing. It is great way to maintain muscle strength, which, trust me, is invaluable later in life.
@Pied_Pfeffer oh I’m certainly willing to put in the discipline needed to learn. And my friend is great. She put up with bringing my awkward ass to a few Zumba lessons, so I’m guessing she’ll have the patience for this!
@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard: Promise to bring us a postmortem description of the evening if your wrists aren’t in casts. A video might be nice also.
@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard – I’m so glad you asked this question. I’ve long wanted to take swing dancing lessons, but I am seriously awkward, stiff, and fairly uncoordinated. I will wait to see how you succeed before I take the plunge. :D
Expect fun! My husband has no rhythm and can’t dance to save his life and I am not a lot better. We went to dance lessons and had an absolute ball. Sure you won’t be winning any competitions at first, but if you let yourself just go with the flo, you will have fun. We all expect reports (and a photo or two if possible!).
@Bellatrix I’ll see what I can do ;)
@MissAnthrope I’ll be sure and kick plenty of ass in the name of us uncoordinated people!
After action report:
Showed up, met my friend, watched the 8 or so other people who were there dance a while. They have all been doing it for years and they are really good. They showed us the basic steps. I was way uncoordinated at first, but I eventually got it. My friend nailed it quickly, because she’s awesome. Then we learned some twirls and dips and other funky stuff, danced around a bit, played some games, and then left. It all took place in a plaza among looming office buildings and college classrooms. It was amazing. I’m going back next week!
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