Do
you want to know why ballroom dancing can’t
be your hobby? It’s
because until you acquire it as a skill, even a basic level, you can't enjoy it
as a hobby. I had recently given a seminar on how ballroom dancing must be a skill before it can be a hobby; this is
a skill we pick up as human beings much like learning a new instrument,
language, or perhaps even picking up a new athletic sport. In preparing this
seminar I thought to myself, we as a human race by now must have come up with
the fastest way for us to acquire new skills. Obviously with things like
languages there are programs out there to pick up languages quickly. For
athletics there are also certain programs and systems. Within Fred Astaire Studios, there are also
systems and programs that we all follow as professionals and students. But what
are these systems and programs based on? That’s when I decided to do some research
into what other people have discovered as to how human beings learn new skills
effectively. The important thing here to remember is, if you want to enjoy
using ballroom dancing as your hobby and have it be something that can reward
your life, you are going to need to acquire it at some level of skill. I found
many articles on the topic, but one article that stuck out to me is an article
by Trent Hamm called, “The 10 Killer Tactic’s for Developing a New Skill.” I would
like to use this article to point out the parallels between his information and
our system within our studios. A lot of times as new students of dance, and new
instructors even, there is not a great understanding as to why we use the
system we do. However, I am happy to say there are a lot of parallels in our
system and the research out there as to how humans learn new skills. So let’s start in on Hamm’s 10 “Killer Tactics”…
1. Clearly
identify the skill you would like to build. This is
important in the ballroom world because when 10 different students walk through
our door, there are 10 different levels of confidence/skill that they would
each like to reach. Some students come in and want to approach the athleticism
and performance aspects, others perhaps just want to get by on the dance floor
"without making a fool of themselves.” I have however during the last 16
years in our industry discovered a common theme that everyone with the desire to
learn to dance has in common; we call them "the two C's." The two C’s
refer to feeling Comfortable and Confident. Everyone, both students and
professionals must start with the two C's. This is why for all beginners, we
identify the initial goal of becoming comfortable and confident in applying the
basic skills of ballroom dancing.
2. Set
time aside everyday or on an extremely regular schedule to focus on
specifically building those skills. You need persistence.
Realistically, we know we can not always have a student in the studio every
day. However, the 1 lesson a week predisposition people have in approaching
ballroom dancing is a bad start to begin with. We have to re-educate ourselves
as to how we learn skills, approaching dancing as a hobby prior to developing
it as a skill is often setting ourselves up for failure. Just because you can
only make it into your studio once a week does not mean you can not develop a
plan with your instructor that keeps you involved with the skill everyday at
home, at the office, or even in the car. It may only be moments in a day, but
you must integrate this new skill into your daily life.
3. Develop
a game plan for building a specific skill. This is where
our studio programs come into play! Our programs are designed lesson by lesson
to take a student with zero dancing experience, to feeling comfortable and
confident quickly. Although individual commitment levels determine how quickly
we can get through the information, it is all clearly planned out as to how a
student can achieve a variety of skill levels. Plan your work, work your plan.
4. Invest
in top quality resources for learning. The instructors at
Fred Astaire are trained to be teachers. Not all dancers are teachers! In
general, the misconception is that if someone knows how to dance, they must
also be able to transfer that information to someone else. This is
unfortunately not true. We focus on training our instructors consistently to
ensure fun, new, and exciting ways to make the learning process easy. We also
suggest investing in things like dance shoes, music CD’s, or even practice wear
for moving more comfortably. These are all resources for the skill such as
clubs to a golfer, or a swim suit to a swimmer. You would not jump into the
pool in your work clothes, your dancing should be treated the same. Get out of
your normal day to day mode, and into your ballroom dance mode.
5. Set
a clear goal that you want to reach. These are established
within each of our tailor made private lessons. The journey of learning how to
ballroom dance takes time and practice. In general, we have found it takes
students anywhere between 6 months to 1 year to feel comfortable and confident
as a ballroom dancer. But setting short term clear goals helps to achieve
confidence building success within each program, level, and lesson. Setting
goals along the way helps both student and teacher track progress.
6. Use
something in the real world to work on as you learn. This
is where our Friday Night Practice Parties come in. The Friday Night Party,
although a great time, should not be viewed as just for fun. The Friday Night
party is an intricate part of the learning process. It is the bridge that takes
students from instructor dependent to holding their own in a social situation.
All too often, new students make the mistake of going directly from private
lessons out into the real world and attempt to dance. Often they come back
frustrated or discouraged in their abilities. At our parties, instructors are
available to help students with new material and issues that occur on the dance
floor. This is a great and encouraging environment to nurture the skill of
social dancing. It’s not just fun, it’s necessary. We have found that students
who attend parties regularly have a superior retention rate with new
information and receive a greater value of return on their investment.
7. Gathering
support for skill growth. Learning a new skill can be
humbling and frustrating. It is important that you have someone to support you
at those times, a group even, to encourage you past the difficult stages. Our
instructors are some of the most supportive and encouraging individuals you
will meet in your life! And although they will tell you when a step is done
wrong, they are always going to push you in a positive fashion to help keep you
motivated throughout your learning. Because of this, we have collected a
student body that is equally as supportive; students who understand the
learning process and the difficulties that come along with it. You will not
just feel support from your instructor, but from every instructor, manager, and
student in our studios. We have found that this has a strong impact not only on
the skill development, but also the success rate.
8. Share
the progress you are making along the way. Ok, I know that
this is not always exciting and sometimes down-right intimidating. But we want
to offer opportunities in a safe environment where students demonstrate some of
the information they have learned. It is not that we want them to get in front
of people and feel uncomfortable for the sake of it. A personal demonstration
of your new skills at a party has many benefits. We have found that it is very
encouraging for our beginners to see the progress that more established students
have made. We have also found that students who regularly perform overcome that
fear of the “watching eye” while they are dancing. In order for you to have fun
and enjoy your dancing, you can’t be self conscious about dancing in front of
other people. This is still the most successful way to get people feeling more
comfortable dancing in social environments.
9. Capitalize
on your newly found skill by applying it to a project you can share with
others. This is where we make available different activities
and events that you can be a part of a larger project with other students and
or instructors. Integrating the students’ material into a larger show and or
performance creates a greater feeling of camaraderie and success. These
activities help create a community environment within our studios, and students
have found our community a joy to be around. We have found that it is not only
important what you learn, but the environment in which you are learning.
10.Getting
started now, NOT LATER! Our culture is constantly
bombarding us, competing for our time and money. Ballroom dancing offers a
variety of benefits, but all too often it is considered just something that can
be fun hobby to pass some time. People do not realize just how valuable
ballroom dancing can be for their life and how it can enrich their lives for
the better. Dancing can benefit you as an individual in a variety of ways,
everything from your physical and emotional health, to your social standing, to
just having a good time and taking a break from your stressful week. There is
never going to be a time when you have the free time you need. And
unfortunately by the time most of us get to the point when we have free time,
we no longer have the ability to act on the activities we want to participate
in. There is no better time to get started on this new skill and give it a try
other than today.
In closing,our culture
is looking for the “Magic Pill”.
The Pill that will:
-Help us lose weight
-Reduce our stress
levels
-Increase our energy
-Reduce depression
-Increase memory
-Raises self confidence
-Reduces Heart and
Health Issues
-Create opportunity to
meet others
-Heighten physical and
mental awareness
What would you pay for
this Magic Pill?
Bunches!…the pill
business is boooooming. This pill however is not available over the counter. And
although many may promise, it’s not delivered via a pill.
All of the benefits
above are actually realized at some level when learning the skill of ballroom
dancing. If your life is in need of any of the benefits listed above, then it’s
time you set up some dance lessons. I love dancing not just because of the joy
it brings while doing it, but because of the benefits it has brought my life. I
have no other investment in my life that continues to bring such high returns.
“Today is
the best day to start something, this way you ensure your ahead of tomorrow…”
Jesse DeSoto
“Progress
begins the moment you commit.”
