Being a new dancer can be intimidating. These five tips are designed to get you out on the floor and feeling comfortable as quickly as possible. Remember… the entire community wants to see new dancers continue enjoying WCS for years to come, so they are cheering for you to have fun and to keep dancing!
1. Go Out and Dance!
For a new dancer, almost nothing is scarier than going to your first social dance. Trust me I remember my first time at a WCS dance and I was overwhelmed too. You might be thinking…. What if I don’t know anyone? What if I mess up? I know so little that I’ll bore my partners. Ignore that voice!
Dancers love to see new people joining the community, and will be patient as you learn the dance. Remember that they were beginners too, and they know exactly how you feel right now. The sooner you go to a dance, the sooner you’ll realize that you had nothing to fear.
2. Practice Your Basics
The importance of practice is so well known that it has almost become a cliché. Many beginners don’t practice because they don’t know what to work on. Actually, this is a huge advantage for beginners: because you only know a few moves, everything you can practice is a foundational skill. Drill your six-count rhythm, your anchor triples, and your footwork for basic patterns. You will use these elements every time you dance, so starting to work on them now will pay dividends for the rest of your dance career.
Want some help? Download the WCS beginner patterns FREE>> Send me the video!
3. Everyone Else Feels Awkward, Too
No matter how confident others look, they have insecurities about their dancing. Being a new dancer means feeling like your feet are on backwards, you don’t know how to walk—and how the heck did my arm get there? Don’t be frustrated; you have the opportunity to do something new, with no expectations! Give yourself permission to feel awkward, and know that every dancer has to go through that feeling before they look cool.
4. You Can Learn WCS
Anyone who is willing to put in the effort can become a good social dancer. From sports to chess to math, researchers are discovering that “natural” talent doesn’t really exist. In fact, the single most important factor in whether—and how fast—someone learns is whether they believe that they can improve. Are you SUPER EXCITED to learn as much as you can about WCS? You’ll want to check out>> The BEGINNERS GUIDE TO WCS It has literally everything you need to get comfortable at WCS.
5. Have Fun!
Dancing is supposed to be fun! No matter how challenging the dance feels, remember that this is ultimately a recreational activity. There’s no prerequisite for having a good time when you dance. Even if you’re tripping over your feet and can’t find the beat to save your life, you can still smile and enjoy spending your three minutes with your partner. You can keep working on your skills!
PS we know its a challenging dance. You are not alone… Read>> The 7 Challenges of WCS It will give you some tips to help!
BONUS – You have a friend in me!
Oh… I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Brian B. I’m a professional dancer, dance studio owner and WCS fan, from Louisville KY. I have a passion for helping dancers just like you. You can read more about me here!
We built WCS Online with you in mind! We wanted dancers around the world to have a helping hand along the journey to becoming comfortable at WCS.
We have an entire team including myself, a web developer for our tech stuff, (I’m a dancer not a computer nerd) Ms Megan who is a teacher at our studio and my pro parter… you’ll see her in a lot of the videos, Ms Emily (she’s a pro dancer and teacher) and finally my mom! Yep, my mom works full time for us answering phone calls and running the customer service side of our studio and this website.
On our site you will find videos, articles and lots of other helpful hints to help you along. Heck you can even email me personally. So I have one final offer to you…
I want to give you something…
I’m on an unstoppable mission to introduce as many people to West Coast Swing as possible! Thats why I want to give you my Beginner West Coast Swing video for FREE.
You can get it here!
Brian & Megan