If you're on the verge of taking your first ballroom dance lessons, congratulations. After reading this, the process should get a whole lot easier.
Since you're going to be venturing to a place outside of your comfort zone, it's normal to feel unequipped for the journey. Anytime we set off to a place we haven't been to before, it's normal to overpack. In an article for travel blog, Afar.com, experts found that overpacking "is rooted in anxiety and the loss of control that comes with leaving one’s personal space."
The goal of this article is to equip you so you can arrive to your first dance lesson, streamlined and ready to go.
So if you're feeling like you're not sure what to bring, who to bring, or how you should look on your first dance lesson, don't worry. That's just an internal "overpacking" urge that indicates that you are getting closer to a great "vacation" outside of your comfort zone, and onto our dance floor.
Here are the 7 Things You Don't Need for Your First Ballroom Lesson.
You don't need karate experience for karate lessons, you don't need Spanish speaking experience for a Duolingo account, and you certainly don't need dance experience to take dance lessons.
The Reason we want this: No one wants to feel like they are the newest learner in the room.
The Reality: The Arthur Murray system is actually constructed for the newest learners in the room. Arthur Murray himself was not a dazzling, showstopping dancer when he first started. So he created his system for teaching and learning to suit the everyday person.
Have you ever put something off for a long time simply because you couldn't get someone to do it with you? Like anything great in life, as great as it may be to try with someone you care about, you don't want to postpone your joy and fulfillment because it didn't fit for someone else.
Let's put this plainly - You don't need a dance partner to enjoy ballroom dance lessons. You can learn to master your side of the dance frame at a basic level, all the way to an elite level, all without having a dance partner.
In fact, you learn faster and achieve better physical benefits by learning one on one in your dance lessons.
The Reason we want this: It always seems much more practical to learn to dance with someone you'd like to dance with outside of your dance lessons. It also seems a little less daunting when you try something new with a friend or loved one.
The Reality: Your motivation to learn could fade while waiting for a potential partner to agree to this. Not to mention, they may have hobbies that you don't participate in. So why should this be any different? If you have an unwilling "potential partner" right now, treat their decision to start dancing as a bonus, but don't let it interfere with you getting started.
You don't need dance shoes for your first dance lesson. We have students who come straight from work, from the gym, or from parenting mode - so wear something that is comfortable.
Down the road, dance shoes are a great investment, but don't let acquiring them slow down the process of getting you to your first dance lesson.
The Reason we want this:: You don't want to be singled out in a negative way. "I don't want to be the only one not wearing the right shoes."
The Reality: Most new students show up without dance shoes. If all goes well with your first few lessons, plan on picking up a pair to celebrate your first month of taking lessons.
If this were a first time vacation to a tropical getaway, you wouldn't know the spots to visit, the best places to eat, or the best time of day to visit the market. So you'd ask a concierge, you'd be a blank slate, motivated and excited to learn more.
Think of your Arthur Murray dance instructor as the concierge for this new dance vacation you're taking. Your first lesson is like your first visit to the information desk, and our concierges are the best in the business.
The Reason we want this: Your comfort zone is sending you an alert that you don't want to seem uninformed in comparison to the other people at Arthur Murray. (Similar to #1 on our list).
The Reality: The new students that arrive with enthusiasm and an open mind tend to get the best results from their dance lesson experience.
We have plenty of students who use an upcoming social deadline as the catalyst for their dance lessons. Unfortunately, sometimes it's the right catalyst (ex. a wedding), but the wrong timeline (ex. "it's next weekend!").
You don't need an immediate goal for when and how you'll use your dance lessons, to take a dance lesson.
The Reason we want this: It's easy to feel the need to attach immediate, practical application to anything new we are attempting to add to our schedules.
The Reality: It's an unnecessary barrier. Going back to #1, you don't need an immediate and practical application for things like karate, singing lessons, or working out with a personal trainer. Any of these activities are enjoyable through the learning process.
Based on the ballroom dancing you may have seen on television, it would be easy to assume that a ballroom dance hobby requires a desire to perform, compete, or wear copious amounts of spray tan to pair with fitted, sparkly clothing.
Fortunately, ballroom dancing done in everyday life is referred to as "social dancing". The overwhelming majority of Arthur Murray students learn to be great social dancers. Some will compete, and not all will wear the spray tan, glitter, and full costumed getup.
The Reason we want this: It's natural to think that every ballroom dance studio is built around competition if you've only been exposed to ballroom dancing competition shows on TV.
The Reality: Social dancing is the skill of using ballroom dancing in a practical environment. Whether it's a wedding reception, reunion, nightclub, cruise, family party, or just spontaneous dancing in your kitchen, that's the thing that we teach the most to our students.
That thing that you think you need to be born with is a myth. It's pure fiction that you need to be born with rhythm, a feel for the music, great timing, or whatever. It's the low hanging fruit of assessing someone's dance skill and it's the last thing you want to say about yourself.
Why?
Because we teach all of it.
Timing? Yep.
Rhythm? You bet.
A feel for the music? Sure thing.
The Reason we want this: As weird as it might sound, we don't want to look like someone who is learning while we are learning.
The Reality: Our comfort zone has a lot of filters, rules, and expectations. It's rooted in the best intentions, "once you learn how to master the timing, then you're going to take lessons." Unfortunately, that would be like saying, "once you are 100% in shape, then you can sign up for the gym."
Weird right? But we've all done it.
Instead, look at it this way - the best students are a blank slate. We can program someone faster than it takes to reprogram them, so walking in without any filters, rules, or expectations will allow you to breeze through the learning process... and breeze past the misaligned feelings in your comfort zone.
Dale Carnegie once said, "if you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Get out and get busy." In other words, don't stay home and overpack. Get out there and go on your journey.
So what do you need to bring to your first dance lesson?
The most essential thing you need to bring to your first dance lesson is you. That's it. Your physical body. When that person crosses the threshold of your local Arthur Murray Dance Studio, you're following Carnegie's advice: You're getting out, and getting busy. You're stepping out of an endless cycle of speculation and starting a new process of learning something fun and lifestyle changing.
Down the road, there will be plenty of new stuff to add, shoes to buy, and dances to learn, but let your dance teacher (concierge) help you with that when the time is right. In the meantime, sign up for your first dance lesson and remember to pack light.
Happy Dancing!