Private lessons with
Sean McDonnell
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There's a variety of ways to learn. This includes private and group lessons, self instruction and just going out dancing.
Private lessons are the quickest and best way to learn any dance. Your instructor will work one- or two-on-one with you (and a partner if you have one). You'll learn at your pace, your level and cover what interests you most. They are more expensive than group lessons, but students find that they help to fine tune their skills and technique.
Group lessons are a great way to get introduced to dancing in general. You can take a weekly lesson from a studio or sign up for a regular workshop. The weekly lessons are nice because you can skip weeks as needed, but the workshops are great because you build consistently from week to week.
You can also pick up videos from your local library or buy online or you can even find dance clips on Youtube and other sites. I don't recommend learning a new dance this way as there is no one there to critique what you're doing and thus no way to know if you're really learning correctly. Videos are more helpful for learning new moves once your skills in a particular dance are already well established.
While you're learning using any of these routes, it's wise to get out and dance. If you're studying a foreign language, it helps to immerse yourself in that country or among others who speak that language; it's the same with dance. Don't feel you're not good enough to go out on the floor. Beginners usually outnumber advanced dancers and even if they don't, the vast majority of ballroom dancers are friendly, welcoming people who are happy to see a new face on the floor. Just remember that everyone at a ballroom dance was a beginner at one time.
Ballroom dance locations change frequently. Instead of trying to list them all, I prefer to list a few of the long-running locations as well as links to sites that keep up with changing schedules. I recommend you contact a location before heading out to make sure the info is accurate for that evening.
