Ballroom dancing, but perhaps too young...?

T

Taylor E

New member
Hey, I've been really into dancing since we did our dance portion for gym class this year. So I've been looking for ballroom and hip hop dance classes, and i have found luck with hip hop classes, but not for ballroom dancing! I'm 16, and all the ballroom dancing classes are for older people who are about to get married and stuff, and for most, you need to already have a partner. =[

So anywho, my question is, are there classes for teenagers who want to learn ballroom? (such as foxtrot, jitterbug, salsa, etc.) And plus I don't want to be paired up with a much older man, and I'd rather not do private lessons.
 
I don't know where you are, but most places I know of have group classes for all ages, and in them, all the ladies dance with all the men, in rotation. A few offer kids' lessons, but most don't. It's quite odd that you'd have to have a partner. You won't fit in well in the ballroom environment if you object to dancing with old men, though: the social customs are such that you are pretty well expected to dance with guys aged nine and ninety, and all in between. It is, after all, a dance class, and not to be confused with a dating service.
 
I've taken Salsa, Bachata and Argentine Tango and none of them required me to have a partner. A good instructor should encourage people to rotate through everyone in the class. In fact, the way I see it, people who don't rotate aren't "playing nice." It's supposed to be a fun social event. There were a few people who were planning on getting married, but most people are out there just to have fun.

As for the ages, I've danced with women every where from 13 (ok girl in this case) to over 60 in class. I see it as just getting out and dancing and not trying to hook up. And a lot of guys in my Salsa classes are in their twenties and thirties, so we're not a bunch of old fogies either.

I say go for it and have fun.
 
I am fifteen at the moment and I have been doing ballroom and latin dancing for a year. This year, i can do my gold medals in both ballroom and latin. In my classes, for each medal in ballroom we do foxtrot, waltz, tango and quickstep. For latin we do rumba, jive, samba and cha cha. At most studios, they offer teenage classes where you can do ballroom.

It is a lot of fun, so keep looking because It is something that is really enjoyable

In our classes, (and i would say in the majority of teenage classes) we do not need partners as we dance with the teacher or the helpers in the class. That way, the teacher / helpers can tell us exactly what we need to improve on. (The helpers are about 15 / 16 and have been dancing since they were about 3).

I would say join, as it will be something new to try, and you might really enjoy it!

Hope this helps

:)
 
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