Ladies Styling

I know its really exciting when you learn some new styling to try to add it in to every move on the dance floor but......don't do this at the cost of your following.

Following comes first, styling is an optional (and sometimes beautiful or sexy) extra. The guys will become very annoyed with us if we keep on stopping their leads because we want to practice our styling.

The other thing is that you should mix up your styling and not try the one styling move on every move through the one dance with the one guy. You will very quickly become boring to look at and we all want attention on the dance floor so that more people ask us to dance right?

When you style, remember to smile, look up (not at your feet) and look like your enjoying yourself, even if in your head you are counting like crazy and thinking that it’s the hardest thing in the world. Slower songs are great to practice styling to as there is extra time for you to prepare, execute and finish. Dancing with people that are in a lower level class to you is also another great opportunity as the steps will be more basic which allows you to not need to concentrate so much on the following allowing more time to style.

It’s really nice when you feel like you’re being danced with; give your partner some eye contact, or maybe even a wink or a smile while you dance and he will reciprocate.

With styling it’s all about quality, not quantity and it does take practice. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t get it the first time, just keep on trying and keep on smiling.Practice on your own in front of a mirror when you learn a new styling combination. When I teach styling I often see people actually looking at the floor because they don't want to look at their moves in the mirror. You need to be comfortable with what you see in the mirror before you take out on the dance floor otherwise you’ll only execute your moves half heartedly and you’ll never train them into your muscle memory. When you are comfortable with the way your styling moves are looking in the mirror, you can go out with confidence and focus on looking sexy, smiling and interacting with your partner.

Learn lots of different styling from different dancers, not just your favourite dancer. Everyone has something worthwhile to teach (even if it is how NOT to do the step hehe) and if you don't like a step (or if you just can't do it), don't use it. If you pick little things up from different dancers, you can mix and match and choose the steps which suit YOU the most. The more you learn, the more you will be able to alter things slightly so it becomes YOUR style. Then people will start looking at you for material.......;-)

Also, the more you start to blend different steps together, your styling and shines will start to flow more naturally and one day, will get to the point where you don't need to think about it anymore....