H to Make Cha Cha !

How to Find Your Own Dancing Style





Everyone has a dancing style. Even if you have one that makes you look like a chicken in an electric chair, that's still a style. However, if you feel like you have two left feet and are tired of embarrassing yourself by dancing like said chicken, then follow these steps to hone your personal style without ever having to walk into a dance studio.

Steps

1. Make sure you're alone. After all, you are going to have to do some pretty goofy stuff before you can perfect your personal dance style and unless you want to be laughed at, solitude is your best option.

2. Wear something comfortable. This means really comfortable, like those ratty sweats you'd never wear in public or that boxer shorts/T-shirt combo that your spouse keeps threatening to throw away but never does.

3. Grab a hairbrush... Or anything else you can use as a "microphone." This is optional, but it may help you become more at ease if you can start singing in that voice of yours that you keep saving for the shower.

4. Stand in front of a full length mirror. You're going to be the star of your own personal show, and you need an audience. What better audience than one which will appreciate you no matter what you do? Fake applause is optional as well.

5. Turn on the tunes. Make sure it's something you like and it's got a beat to it.

6. Get a Feel for the Music. Close your eyes and listen to the music. Relax your body, feel the music in your body and start to sway. Open your eyes and...

7. Go for it! Move your feet and tap to the rhythm. The point here is to get comfortable moving your body to music. Use the hairbrush to sing if you want. Don't worry, the only one you'll scare is the cat, and who cares what it thinks?

8. Watch yourself in the mirror. Are there any moves you like? Any you would like to toss out the door with yesterday's newspaper? Make a mental note of it, then move onto the next step. If you're really serious, you may want to break out the video camera...

9. Look at the Pro'! Go to a video website and look up dance videos and see a little of how it's supposed to be (good things to search for would be like Ballroom, Samba, Cha-cha, Bboy, Breakdance, Arm wave, Moon walk, Waltz, ect) just beware of the people that think they can dance. I mean to an untrained eye something may look like dancing but in the end may just be someone walking around like some, Fish-Chicken.

10. Emphasize the positive. Really like that shoulder roll you do when you've got your groove thing on? Try to do it on purpose. Try to do it at different angles and speeds to discover which one looks best. Once you've got it to where you like it, feel free to bow to the "audience." They'll love you for it.

11. Repeat. No need to lather and rinse here, just repeat the step above for each move you like.

12. Eliminate the negative. By now you have realized that the thing you do with your head where it moves back and forth only emphasizes the electrocuted chicken look. Your "audience" may not be complaining, but you sure know about it, and it is not helping out your groove thing one little bit. Don't just toss it out the door; fix it! Do the same thing you did with the things you've liked. Try it slower and faster, change the angle, roll instead of jerking it back and forth.

13. Repeat. Still no shampoo tips here, just fix what needs fixing until you're happy with what you see.

14. Practice combinations. Remember: emphasize the positive, eliminate the negative and blend your all-too-groovy moves until your "audience" can't help but cheering at your fantastic self.

15. Strut your stuff in public. Just remember to leave the hairbrush at home and wear something besides the ultra-comfy clothes.

Tips

* Have fun. If you do not, you will not loosen up enough to just dance.
* This technique may take several practice sessions, so if you have a wedding to go to next week, enroll in a dance class. You can worry about personal style later.
* Remember, the goal here isn't to win any dance contests but to simply stop embarrassing yourself in public, so don't worry about perfection.
* Once you are comfortable with your music, change to music that you would expect to hear wherever you're going to be dancing. Different genres have different beats, and it is important to be able to recognize them. Remember to change music occasionally so you won't get bored with the songs and see it as a workout/routine.
* these are just ways to start dance if you want to really learn to dance take a class. (I chose ballroom which has helped a lot)
* Don't be embarrassed. Stop thinking, turn on the music and start dancing. Set your body free and after a while you will become aware and feel how your body likes to move. Hold on to that feeling and go with the music. When you discover a new move you like, go for it.


Warnings

* Be patient as you learn. It will take time to become a great dancer. Just enjoy learning, and have fun dancing. The more you dance, the better you will become.
* Like I said this isn't the recommended way to become a real dancer. It's a good way to get started and know yourself better.


Things You'll Need

* Full length mirror
* Comfortable clothing
* A source of music
* Hairbrush (optional)
* Computer with internet (when searching for videos)
* Practice