If dancing at social occasions causes anxiety and makes you want to run for the hills, Fred Astaire Dance Studios can help build your confidence and teach you how to have fun on the dance floor with the top five dance moves for beginners.
Knowing a few basic dances will help make you comfortable dancing in front of people and allow you to enjoy moving to the music. In addition to being fun, ballroom dancing is a low-impact form of exercise that will help improve cardiovascular health by burning calories. Ballroom dancing increases flexibility and improves balance. Learning dance moves bolsters cognitive performance and is great exercise for the mind, especially as you age.
Fred Astaire Dance Studios offers group and private lessons at local studios or through its Online Lesson Platform. Our instructors strive to provide a personalized experience, so you achieve your goals. Group dance lessons can supplement your private lessons by giving you an opportunity to dance with a variety of partners in a fun, social environment. Every Fred Astaire Dance Studios dance instructor is certified in the Fred Astaire Dance Curriculum — a proven teaching method that was developed by Fred Astaire.
If you are a beginner, it’s best to start with some easy dances to build your skills. While ballroom dancing looks complicated, there are numerous dances that only require memorizing a few steps. Starting with some easy dances will help boost your confidence and prevent you from getting discouraged on your journey.
Here are the top five dance moves for beginners:
- Waltz. The waltz is a slow, graceful partner dance that is an easy dance to learn because it only consists of four steps. It is characterized by a step, slide, and step in three-quarter time and is a mainstay at weddings or black-tie events.
- Foxtrot. The foxtrot is a classic ballroom dance. It features long, flowing movements with a walking step, side step, and quarter turn. The dance is usually performed to big band music, and because the music is four-four time it’s easy to feel the rhythm.
- Paso Doble. The paso doble, which means double step, is based on the music played during Spanish bullfights. It only has two steps, which are easy and impressive to master.
- Cha-Cha. If you want to speed things up, the cha-cha is a great beginner option. The Latin dance is lively and fun. It also features 4/4 time with syncopated steps and hip motions.
- Rhumba. If you love Latin rhythms but aren’t ready for the fast pace of the cha-cha, the rhumba is another easy option. The rhumba is characterized by two quick steps and a slow step forward. Dancers stand erect and use subtle hip movements.
Learning the steps to one of these five dances is a great way for beginners to release their inhibitions and showcase their skills on the dance floors. Dancing is one of the first ways people learn to communicate. Infants respond to the rhythm and tempo of music and find it more engaging than speech, a report in Science Daily revealed. Adults could learn some lessons from children who aren’t intimidated or concerned about appearances. Check out these youngsters bopping to the music.
In this clip, a baby can’t stop dancing to the music. Kaylan Thoen’s child went viral by dancing with abandon to some groovy tunes.
The youngsters in the next clip don’t let sleep stop them from busting a move. If only adults had this much energy before having that first cup of coffee!
A clip of a toddler from Utah dancing to a Beyonce tune went viral. The young girl performs to the beat without losing a grip on her corndog.
Take some advice from the smiles on these children’s faces and learn some basic dance moves so you can get your toes tapping at your next big social event. Contact your local Fred Astaire Dance Studios locations to schedule a lesson.
