YOU can dance!

[Reverend]

[kei]

[Akanari]

I have purely ballroom suggestions...

I'll put them in groups. Usually fast-paced and uniquely American are the Swing, Jive, and Hustle (I love the Hustle ). The Swing and Jive are obvious from their music choices, but another Swing called the West Coast Swing (a rather different style) is done to more Rhythm and Bluesy type music. There's also the Quickstep, which can be done to music similar to East Coast Swing and is also very common to Big Band music. Hustle is done to a disco-ey type music...Some Michael Jackson music can be Hustle-d to!

Moving along...there is the Foxtrot. This is a classic American ballroom dance and one of the more difficult ones due to the strange beat that can actually change. A slow, controlled Foxtrot to slow Big Band music is one of the hardest things EVAH. But it's fun. ^^ Many of Sinatra's songs are Foxtrot: "The Way you Look Tonight," and "Witchcraft."

Then there is the infamous Waltz. There are different types of Waltzes, some faster and some with different basic steps. However, the one common thing among them is the 3/4 beat (one two three one two three one two three one two three). Some common Waltzes are "Could I have this Dance?" "Greensleeves," and "Kiss from a Rose."

Now the amazing Tango. This is one of my favorite dances, simply because the attitude the lady gets to assume in this dance. The Tango is passion, rejection, slow, controlled, thick with emotion and style, and always beautiful. Unless it's a bad Tango of course. Tango music commonly has accordions in it...if that helps. Many beginners spell out T...-A...-N-G-O when first learning the Tango because it helps with the basic beat. There are also several types of Tango holds and styles (Argentinean, etc).

Now I'll slide into the Latin dances. Rumba is the Latin equivalent of the Waltz, and two songs that are perhaps surprisingly a Rumba beat are "Yesterday" and "Under the Boardwalk." The rest of the Latin dances are very fast-paced and similiar and often take a practiced ear to distinguish between their types music-wise. Salsa is a more common one and often has brass instruments in the background. Cha-Cha is sort of self-explanatory... Then there is the Merengue (fun and very easy, but it involves a lot of hip movement and complicated arm movements), the Samba (just, well, different), and the Mambo (very Cuban).

A more Spanish dance that is sort of similar to the Latin dances but really has little to do with them step-wise is the Paso Doble. It's characterized by bullfighting music.

There, my suggestions. ;] Now there is all sorts of other sorts of sorts of dance (Jazz, Tap, Krunk, Hip-Hop, Modern, Interperative, Ballet, Broadway). But I'm only covering the Ballroom and Latin here. These and Bellydance are the only ones I know anything about. ^^; I hope that wasn't an overload or too strange of a post...if anyone would like clarification or something...Feel free to ask!

And learning any dance helps with learning all sorts of other dances...you get accustomed to recognizing beats, moving your body in certain ways, and of course increasing your balance and strength. Yay ^^