- by Anand Majumdar
 
 
 

My experience of learning dance, actually dancing and teaching dance has given me some very simplistic but valuable inputs … and very often these are not just limited to the dance floor but can more often than not be applied to life itself.

I have learned most of what I am going to speak about by the trial and error technique…while some lessons have been easy some others have been…well, expensive. And it is these simple but important truths, which I shall try to share with you …(Lets leave the mechanics of spinning and contra body positions for the experts)
 

"I want to be a great dancer who is sought-after by others dancers"
 

I mean how wrong could you go with this one. Everybody wants to be this. Including Me. I have witnessed some very average-looking people being really in demand and it isn’t always because of their charming personalities. So lets actually try to see as to what constitutes a great dancer. I have always asked my self this question and the answer I have got is this…lets imagine a man who is excellent with timing, moves and does everything by the book. In fact very often he desires so much that the spotlight shine on him that he very callously forgets that there may be a timid and not-so-experienced dancer in his arms. He is excellent on his own but his partner doesn’t feel good in his arms…

Would she come back to have another dance with him… I don’t know…because everybody essentially wants to look and feel good out there…and she DIDN’T feel good the last time she danced with him. On the other hand we could have an inexperienced, off-time and technically BAD dancer who essentially does nothing well apart from being a little sensitized to you and hence make u feel like a million bucks. The partner couldn’t care if his free arm-styling was good enough to make him win the world Latin championship as long as when his free arm went back to her shoulder-blade, it gently caressed her and his nails didn’t sink into her skin. 

Simple. You are dancing to give pleasure to both yourself and your partner. Your partner is the more important person here because if your partner isn’t enjoying it…trust me you wont enjoy it for too long…or even better you may not be there for too long. You are not there to look good by yourself…you are there to look good as a team…Good dancing and a good dancer is not about how great you fared in your bronze level class championship …but how wanted and important you can make your partner feel on the floor…After that…dance the bolero on flamenco music for all I care…you are home
 

Practical Tips on Applying all this:

 You know all that lecturing and all that was fine, but tell me what to ‘DO’? … Is that all you wanted to know? Sure here it is…(a lot of the stuff I will mention here I haven’t found in reference articles at times but I feel they are very important)

• Lets start of with one, getting your partners name right (elementary Watson it might seem) … cant tell you how many people have danced over three dances with the same person and then called them by their friend’s sister’s pet armadillo’s name. I have done it too
• Make no references about your partners body … Most people are generally uncomfortable about conversations about their body especially before and after they are going to be touched by you…
• Dance Floor = 1000 square feet; Partners feet = 0.5 square feet … The disparity in numbers is completely misleading … the chances of stepping on your partners toes is much more than you can imagine despite the fact that they occupy a negligible amount of area of the full floor
• Did I bother asking you whether you like a particular move or not? Or did I bother asking you whether you had a drink or not? Or did I bother finding out what i should or not do? Did I bother talking to you?!
• Ok so your partner danced really badly…Well, if she was really that bad then the least you could have done while leaving the floor was tell her that she was amazing and that you would love to dance really soon with her…and ACTUALLY go back and dance with her…and this isn’t a typo…see what a statement like that did to a dancer like me. Two benefits of this …1.she loves you for it because she KNOWS she cant dance that well and 2.You get better …cant explain why…but its always easier to dance with someone good
• Thousands of articles on hygiene…body odor, mouth odor, under-arm odor, sweat, palm odor, odor-where-you-didn’t-think-it-would-exist odor, the works …And you don’t need a sex and relationships magazine to tell you what to do about it.
• Well, there is also the mechanics of compensation but like I said lets leave that for a later time. Just remember that if your partner is as tall as your friendly neighborhood supermodel then leave your classy Japanese lady footwork at home.
 

Anand Majumdar is a teacher of Latin American, Standard Ballroom, Salsa, and Tango Dancing based out of Mumbai, India. 
He is a also a DJ and Fashion and Portfolio photographer
 

Anand Majumdar

Mobile : +91-9820146788
www.anandmajumdar.com
anand_majumdar@hotmail.com