Ballroom Dancing 101: How to Ballroom Dance

Transcript Aaron: Hi guys, I’m Aaron. Kristina: And I’m Kristina. Aaron: And we are professional dance instructors here in New York City. I’ve been teaching dance now for about 12 years I believe coming up this fall, teaching both competitive and social, Latin American and ballroom dancing. I think the thing that got me most …

Transcript Aaron: Hi guys. It’s Aaron. Christina: And I’m Christina. Aaron: We’re professional dance instructors here in New York City. Today we’re coming at you continuing our jive series. Taking a look at a little step we like to call The Whip. So what we’re going to be doing for starters we’re going to be …

Transcript Aaron Mitchum: Hey guys it’s Aaron. Kristina Reese: And I”m Kristina. Aaron: We’re professional dance instructors here in New York City and we’re coming at you today with a little bit more of our Jive series and today what we’re going to be taking a look at is what we like to call the …

Transcript Aaron: Hey guys. It’s Aaron. Christina: And I’m Christina. Aaron: And we’re professional dance instructors coming at you today from New York City. Today we’re going to be talking a little bit more about our Jive Series. What we’re going to be doing today specifically is talking about a little step we like to …

Transcript Aaron: Hey guys, it’s Aaron. Kristina: And I’m Kristina. Aaron: We’re professional dance instructors here in New York City, and today we’re coming at you with a little dance we like to call the jive. We’re going to be taking a look at something we call a rolling off the arm. Now what we’re …

Transcript Aaron: Hi guys, it’s Aaron. Kristina: And I’m Kristina. Aaron: And we are professional dance instructors here in New York City, and today we’re going to be finishing up our series on the waltz with a little thing we like to call face-to-face and back-to-back. So… Kristina: We are going to start this pattern …

Transcript Aaron: Hi guys. It’s Aaron. Christina: And I’m Christina. Aaron: And we are professional dance instructors here in New York City and today we’re going to be continuing with our waltz series taking a look at the progressive step in the waltz. Christina: So, for the progressive we’re going to back up just a …

Transcript Aaron: Hey guys, it’s Aaron. Kristina: And I’m Kristina. Aaron: And we are professional dance instructors here in New York City, and today we’re going to be continuing in our waltz series, taking a look at the ladies’ underarm turn. So what we’re going to do is start this pattern in closed position with …

Transcript Aaron: Hi guys, I’m Aaron. Kristina: And I’m Kristina. Aaron: And we’re both professional dance instructors here in New York City and today, we’re going to be talking about our waltz. We’re going to be taking a look at a step we like to refer to as the balance steps. Kristina: This step is …

Transcript Aaron: Hi guys, it’s Aaron. Kristina: And I’m Kristina. Aaron: And we are professional dance instructors here in New York City, and today we’re going to bringing you a series based on the waltz. Kristina: So the first step we’re going to do is the box step which is like the most common foundational …

Transcript Aaron: Hey guys it’s Aaron. Christina: And I’m Christina. Aaron: And we’re professional dance instructors here in New York City. And today we’re dipping back into our advanced swing series. Today talking about our final step, the turn into a dip. So what we’re going to be doing here is we’re going to be …

Transcript Aaron: Hey guys, it’s Aaron. Kristina: And I’m Kristina. Aaron: We are professional dance instructors here in New York City and today, we’re going to be continuing in our Mambo series. We’re going to be taking a closer look at the cross body lead. What we’re going to be doing is starting in close …

Transcript Aaron: Hey, guys, it’s Aaron. Christina: And I’m Christina. Aaron: And we’re professional dance instructors here in New York City, coming at you today with a little bit of our Advanced Swing Series. Talking today about the hip lift. Now, for starters, just want to throw this out there; this is one of the …

Transcript Aaron: Hey guys, it’s Aaron. Kristina: And I’m Kristina. Aaron: We are professional dance instructors coming at you today from New York City, and today we’re going to be talking a little bit more about some advanced moves in our swing. So today what we’re going to be talking about is what we like …

Transcript Aaron: Hey guys, it’s Aaron. Kristina: And I’m Kristina. Aaron: And we’re professional dance instructors coming at you today from New York City, and today we’re going to be talking about some advanced moves in the swing. And what we’re going to be talking about is a little step we like to call back …

Transcript Aaron: Hey guys, it’s Aaron. Kristina: And I’m Kristina. Aaron: And we’re professional dance instructors coming at you today from New York City, and today we’re going to be talking about the swing and a little step we like to call the American spin. So let’s take a look at this one. Guys, what …

Transcript Aaron: Hey guys, it’s Aaron. Kristina: And I’m Kristina. Aaron: And we’re professional dance instructors coming at you today from New York City, and today we’re going to be dipping back into our swing dance and we’re going to be talking about a little step we like to call the change of hands behind …

Transcript Aaron: Hey guys, it’s Aaron. Kristina: And I’m Kristina. Aaron: We’re professional dance instructors coming at you today from New York City, and today we’re going to be going back into our swing and we’re going to be talking about a little step we like to call the cuddle. So what we’re going to …

Transcript Aaron: Hi guys, it’s Aaron. Kristina: And I’m Kristina. Aaron: We’re professional ballroom dance instructors coming at you today from New York City and today we’re going to be talking about the Ladies’ Underarm Turn in our swing. Kristina: So, we’re going to begin this move with the basics, so go ahead and take …

Transcript Aaron: Hey guys, I’m Aaron. Kristina: And I’m Kristina. Aaron: We’re professional ballroom dance instructors coming at you today from New York City, and today we’re going to be talking to you about a little dance we call the swing, also what we refer to in the ballroom world as East Coast Swing. So …

Instructions Step 1: Play music Play salsa music and listen to the timing of the music. Count the beats: One, two, three — pause — five, six, seven. TIP: Wearing comfortable clothing will help you move easier when dancing. Step 2: Get into position Get into position. The leader, typically the man, takes the woman’s …

History of the Polka Polka dancing was first performed by Czech peasants during the early 1800s. The name is derived from the word pulka, which means half in Czech and is an ode to the fast-paced nature of the dance. It is rumored that a peasant by the name of Anna Slezak created the dance …

Instructions Step 1: Practice the weight transfer Play samba music and listen to the beat. Practice transferring your weight from foot to foot on the beat. Count slowly: “one, two, three, four.” Keep your knees slightly bent, and use a toe-heel movement with your feet. Step 2: Move your hips Add hip movement. As you …

Instructions Step 1: Do some research Research different types of ballroom dance styles. Choose one you want to learn. Step 2: Call local dance studios Call local dance studios or community education centers and sign up for a beginner’s class. Step 3: Wear loose clothing Wear loose, comfortable clothing and shoes. TIP: Proper ballroom dance …

Instructions Step 1: Choose comfortable shoe Choose a shoe that is comfortable, flexible, lightweight, and gives you enough support for balance and control of movement. Step 2: Choose suede sole Choose a suede sole shoe. Suede is durable, provides traction, and is ideal for every dance floor. Step 3: Wear dance sneakers Opt to wear …

Instructions Step 1: Get your partner Ask someone to dance and head out to the dance floor. Step 2: Signal your partner Signal your partner that you are going to dip her by placing your hand on her upper back and gently lowering her backward. TIP: If your partner resists by keeping upright, don’t force …

Instructions Step 1: Get into a rhythm with your partner Dance casually with your partner to get into a rhythm. Maintain eye contact to help lead her into the twirl. Step 2: Twirl your partner to the right Lift your left arm slightly to your partner’s right to guide her under your arm. Keep your …

Instructions Step 1: Stand in closed position Decide who will be Partner A and who will be Partner B. Stand so that A faces B with his left arm up at a 45-degree angle, and his right hand in the middle of B’s back. In turn, B mirrors A, holding her right arm up against …

Instructions Step 1: Count out the rhythm Get used to the rhythm you’ll be dancing to by counting it out loud. The beat for basic swing dancing sounds like this: 1 a 2, 1 a 2, 1 2, 1 a 2, 1 a 2, 1 2. Step 2: Stand in open position Swing is traditionally …

Instructions Step 1: Assume the position Label yourselves Partner A and Partner B. A should face B with his left arm up at a 45-degree angle, and his right hand in the middle of B’s back. B should face A with her right arm held up against A’s left, and her left hand resting on …

Instructions Step 1: Get a partner While belly dancing and ballet can be done solo, ballroom dancing is always done in pairs. Ask a friend to help you out. Step 2: Perfect your posture Perfect your posture. Unlike casual dancing, a ballroom dancer doesn’t slouch or lean on their partner. Both the man and the …