What Are Your Dancing Goals???

Another day here in John’s Little Corner at Dance FX Studios and normally it is a beautiful day but today, despite life’s beauty, there is a dark cloud growing over head and its called frustration! I met with a couple the other day for an Introductory dance lesson that went great, but they shared some information with me that really grinds my ochos!!! It’s not the first time I have heard of this type of thing happening, but my couple was so specific as to what they were wanting, it blows my mind that it took them several tries with different Arizona dance studios for them to finally find us to help them to accomplish their dancing goals. My frustration is with other studio’s agendas taking precedence over their student’s goals. As a student it is primary that you learn something that you will use, that is why you become students! But not everyone learns the same way. Some people are visual learners, and some are more hands on, and some people need a good balance of both to fully understand what it is they are studying. As adults, we kind of have a pretty good idea on how our brains process and absorb information. So here is my frustration…

The gentleman and his wife, my new students, have been to four or more different ballroom dance studios in Phoenix wanting to share time together and learn how to dance. They were shown a number of dances at each studio, from the Salsa to Swing dancing, which is typical because… how do you know what you will like until you try a few different dance styles, right? Plus…it is good to know a few different styles because, unless you control the music wherever you go, you have to be prepared for whatever comes on at weddings, in the Country bars, at Latin dance clubs, etc… Here’s the thing though, if you have been shown a number of different dances and know what you like and what you want to learn, is there any reason to keep pushing other dances onto you? NO! Yet even worse is the fact that this gentleman knows that he can only learn one thing at a time and did his best to try and learn a couple dances at the same time, but with no success, only further frustration. They were even told that they would only do one style but ultimately they were lied to. WHY???????? What is the purpose of this at dance studios? To keep students confused and keep them longer making them invest more and more money into nothing but frustration and confusion? I don’t understand. Really I do, but it saddens me to know that something as joyous and healthy as dancing is is being exploited into something dark and irritating because of greed. Dancing is a beautiful thing that deserves to be shared by everyone! Yes, to stay in business you have to take care of business, but do you do that at the expense of your students piece of mind? No. I tell you, NO!
We ballroom dance instructors need to make the dance lesson customized to our students needs. Listen to their goals, pay attention to how they learn, and adapt. Just because you are the instructor, doesn’t mean you don’t learn from your students. As a student you have the right to direct how your lessons will go, within reason. You can not just change everything how you see fit because then you would no longer be the student. Believe me, us good instructors of dance do have a method to their madness, but some apparently are just full-on mad… so be cautious in your choice of instructor and studio, and make sure your dance lessons fit your needs and styles of learning. And, beginner dancers, please communicate your ways of learning to your instructor before enrolling into their dance program because the last thing you want to have happen is that you make a bad investment.
Now I could continue on about this but I am going to move past it. I could go on and on how we here at Dance FX Studios in Mesa, Arizona listen to your needs, customize your lessons around your learning style, help you reach your goals, help keep frustration from being an issue in learning, and most importantly help you enjoy the beauty in dance! But I don’t really need to if all these other studios continue on in their ways of doing things. So remember newbies, learning to Latin, Swing and Country dance is a thrilling journey, and an investment well worth your time and effort, but make sure it’s your own unique journey and not one from someone else’s manufactured journey-making machine!

Until next time, this is John in his Little Corner at Dance FX Studios saying, I hope “Dance FX You” in the way it should so you can gain a hobby and skill that will bring you joy for years to come!