Sometimes it is hard to be a man and this is especially true when it comes to dancing. Sometimes it can seem like you can never get it right no matter how hard you try. One moment you’re getting laughed at by a bunch of girls watching you sway your hips and the next they’re screaming at you to get away from them with your hip thrusts.
Should you want to improve your dance moves and make sure you’re not laughed or screamed at the next time you’re on a dance floor, read the following tips and try to follow them:
1. Watch other people
The best thing you can do (without spending any money), is to just watch other people and analyse how they move their bodies. You can do this by watching people walk, run and exercise, as well as by watching them actually dancing. The best dancers are those who understand how their bodies really work and how they can move so they look their best.
Take time, when you are next out in a club or bar, to watch both men and women move. If you see anyone who looks to be a particular smooth mover, take some mental notes. Later, try and recall why you thought they looked good and practice moving as they did. Watch yourself in a mirror or film yourself to see if you are managing to look as good.
2. Practice makes perfect
As with anything, you are going to need to practice if you want to become a better dancer. No one is saying dancing is easy, so some people are going to have to work harder than others to pull off certain moves.
Point 1 discusses the importance of studying other people’s movements. Here, we discuss the importance of practicing the movements you have studied. The best way to see if you are improving is to get someone, you trust, to practice these moves with you and give you their feedback.
Alternatively if you’d rather not dance in front of anyone else, film yourself each time you practice. This way you can really see which areas need more improvement. Although you will probably hate seeing yourself on camera at first, the more you do it, the more this exercise will make you feel less self-conscious, especially as you start improving.
3. Take lessons
If you are willing to pay money to improve on your dancing, nothing is better than taking classes from a professional. There are plenty of different dance classes you can take, all of which depend on what kind of dancing style you want to learn or improve on.
If you are really serious about becoming an all-round better dancer, you may be better off taking a few different dance style classes. Simply because different dance styles focus on different areas of the body and, of course, some styles suit certain music better than others. Take time to research the classes available to you and don’t be afraid to ask if you can attend taster sessions to see if you like it.
4. Never ever do this again!
There are a few things that, unless choreographed by a professional, should never be done on a dance floor, for instance, repeated hip thrusts. These will never work, so please don’t do them, especially behind an unknowing girl on a dance floor.
Likewise grinding, similar to hip thrusts but lower, is not a good thing to do, unless initiated by another person first. Just don’t do it unless you are sure you have rhythm, otherwise it will just look awkward.
Some men tend to whirl about on the dance floor, perhaps because they know they have no other moves in their retinue. Not only does this make you look stupid but it can also annoy other dancers as you’ll often knock other people as you wildly flail about. Just don’t do it.
5. Forget your insecurities
The biggest hindrance to anyone dancing is their own insecurity about how they look. You really need to forget this if you ever want to improve and dance well. The best dancers are those who were not afraid to look silly when they were learning. Just remember this; every single person who is a good dancer now has been bad at some point.
If you persevere with your learning and forget about your insecurities, you will improve and you will impress.
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Laura writes for Danceforce. When not writing about dance and ballet bags, she can often be found giving dance tips to her disinterested husband.