Changing partners or not?

Traditionally people change partners regularly at dancing classes. Classes where the students change partners regularly are more social, and they represent a more effective way to learn to dance. When you learn to dance with just the one partner the two of you learn to allow for each others errors and those errors may go uncorrected. Changing partners regularly makes this less likely. The gentleman learns to produce clear shaping (readable by any lady) and the lady learns to discern the gentleman's intention from a variety of styles of shaping.

However, couples do often want to learn to dance together. One partner or the other may be nervous of dancing with someone else. We aim to be sensitive about this. We ask for a change of partners now and again but we accept that some couples will prefer to stay together.

What is taught?

We aim to teach at least two Ballroom dances and three Latin American dances over the duration of the course. There is often time for more.

The two Ballroom dances are Social Foxtrot and a basic practice Waltz. Social Foxtrot is an elementary Ballroom dance useful for dancing to slow Frank Sinatra type music. The practice Waltz is a stepping stone to the full English Waltz which is too complex to teach in a six to eight hour beginners course -- we teach it in the contination courses.

The Latin dances are Cha cha cha (Cha cha), Jive, and Rumba. Jive is the lively, energetic international dance that goes with music related to Rock 'n' Roll. Cha cha refers both to a musical style and the dance that goes with it. The musical style is derived from Cuban Son (the root of Salsa). The dance is the cheekiest of the international Latin dances and good fun. A modification to Cha cha cha produces Rumba.

All the dances are taught in the modern 21st century form. You learn the beginners moves that form the underlying basics of what you see on Strictly Come Dancing and of what you would expect to see a professional demonstration or competitive couple dance today. We don't teach older dances, such as Square Rumba, that are no longer widely danced today.

We tend not to teach English Tango, Samba, or Quickstep, in the beginners courses (for reasons you can read by clicking on the preceding links). There can be sufficient time remaining towards the end of a course in which to introduce one of these dances, particularly In the longer courses. However, in these circumstances we prefer to introduce the contemporary Latin dances Salsa and Argentine Tango .

Classes and Locations

Now you understand the classes it is time to find the one held at a place and time convenient for you: