I’ll take privates any day!
By

Countless group classes, and still don't feel like you can dance well?
Then why not try treat yourself to some private lessons?

Not long ago I watched a couple struggling with a technique they had just learned in their dance lesson, when an observer sitting next to me leaned over and whispered in my ear, “It’s too bad, but they’ve forgotten how to have fun with their dancing.” I could understand how he might assume that based on their frequent groans, but I knew him to be wrong. Very wrong. I was sure of it, not only because I knew that couple personally and how much dance meant to them, but because I, too, spend a good deal of, sometimes agonizing, time and money trying to get my steps just right, and yet there is probably no one on this planet who loves dancing more than I.

His was an intriguing comment that really got me to thinking and appreciating how much my love of dance has grown. Until a few years ago, I had taken only group lessons over the course of a several years in country dancing and West Coast Swing, and always thoroughly enjoyed my dancing. However, it wasn’t until I began private lessons that I really became a dance junkie, a hopeless addict who counts the hours and minutes till the next time I can hit the dance floor. I even steal away time during the day now to dance when I should be working, and then, like every good addict does, I cover it up with the excuse that I'm at a board meeting. (What my clients don't know is that I'm referring to floor boards, as in dance floor.) Yes. I am an addict. I have a love affair with dance, and it is quite obvious to me that private lessons are to blame. Why is that?

The answer is simple: There is no better way to improve your skills as a dancer than with private lessons, and the better you become, the more enjoyable it will be. Even though it may take many frustrating practice sessions to get there, when you finally learn to execute moves with the proper technique, you will be amazed at how much easier they are to perform. You will develop finesse and grace in your dance and will be able to incorporate musical expression like never before. You will also begin to stand out on the dance floor as an accomplished dancer.

But private lessons can be costly, you may be thinking.
Is there really that much advantage over group lessons? I believe so and here is why.

Little time for technique in group classes
It is challenging enough for the instructor to lead the entire group through the steps in a pattern, let alone teach any technique. There just isn’t enough time. So, if group classes are all you ever take, you may end up with a thousand patterns in your dance repertoire but without the necessary technique to dance any of them smoothly or the way they were intended. That can lead to frustration for either you or your leader/follower. Private lessons can eliminate that frustration and teach you to dance correctly so you can enjoy your dancing even more.

You get undivided personal attention in a private lesson
Generally in a group class, you’re dancing with someone who is learning just as you are, and, like you, doesn’t know what the correct execution of a move should feel like. You could both be doing it incorrectly and not even know it. In a private lesson you dance with a professional and have the opportunity to experience how a move is really supposed to feel. Your instructor will zero in on your technique or whatever else you may need or want to work on, and you will have his or her undivided attention.

Learn at your own pace, not the pace of 20 others in your class
How many times have you taken a group class only to find yourself falling behind because a move is too difficult? Instructors have the challenge of keeping everyone in a group class interested, motivated, and progressing. With a roomful of dancers at varying levels this is not easy, and quite often some fall behind while others learn so quickly they become bored. In a private lesson, it is your time, and your time alone. Your instructor will work with you on what you need to know at your own pace.

And finally, private lessons are the quickest way to advance
I learned much more in my first year of private lessons than I ever learned in the many years of group lessons. And if I had started sooner, I would have progressed even faster because I would not have had to spend so much time undoing all the bad habits that I acquired over those years.


Those are the advantages and that’s all well and good, but what can you do if you can’t afford private lessons? If signing up for continual lessons is out of the question, just take a few privates from time to time to supplement your group lessons. That’s a great way to hone your leading or following skills or for working on technique and styling in a particular pattern that you may have learned in your group class.

Another suggestion would be to get two couples together for a semi-private lesson and share the expense.

Or you can do what a true dance junkie like myself would do, and take up riding a bike to cut down on gasoline expenses, eat in instead of out, or shop at the thrift stores instead of Nordstom’s. Like they say, where there is a will, there may be a way. And if your will and desire is to have the most fun possible while dancing, then finding a way to enroll in private lessons may be the best thing you have ever done for yourself. It has been for me.