Our Philosophy
OUR FUN & POSITIVE SOCIAL DANCE ENVIRONMENT
We take great pride as a school for having a fun and positive learning environment and a community that's welcoming and friendly. Students who've danced elsewhere can attest to how different our studio energy really is. This is definitely NOT by luck and is the result of our desire to create a dance school where partner dancing is FUN TO LEARN and STAYS FUN without getting too serious or too competitive.
We've seen a lot in our careers, having been a part of many dance environments from social, to performance, to competitive, to professional and more. We've learned that dancing is great for people's physical and mental health when there is the perfect mix of challenge and fun. We've seen it bring so much joy into people's lives. It's always sad for us when we see or hear that people stopped dancing because it stopped being fun.
HOW DO WE KEEP IT FUN?
Our school does a lot to build this fun and positive energy. However, it all boils down to what OUR particular focus is at Dance 4 Life, which is the partner dance skills of LEAD & FOLLOW! This involves being able to confidently and comfortably dance with other people by knowing the body language of social partner dance!
We're not a performance or competition school. In those schools, you may dance with only one partner and learn routines, so mistakes are seen as a negative. However, social partner dancing is not choreographed and is danced with lots of different people! Connection and communication can feel slightly different with every dance partner and therefore, mistakes in communication are inevitable! It's a skill to be able to keep dancing regardless.
With experience and time, we try to show people that social dance is imperfect. Even the most advanced levels of social dance contain little imperfections that most people don't see. So let's say it again, social dance is imperfect!
Social dancing stays FUN when your dance partners know that dance is imperfect, so whenever something doesn't go quite right, you manage to keep dancing anyway. And you get better at doing it each time.
Social dancing stays FUN when you know that regardless of who you dance with, you'll both be able to adjust to each other's experience, ability and level.
To keep it fun for everyone, we encourage our students to understand this philosophy when social dancing. Everyone's in a different place in their dancing and will feel different. Connect to your partner in the best way you know how. LEAD & FOLLOW as best as you can.
LEAD & FOLLOW IS DONE THROUGH GOOD DANCING
Social dance is a physical conversation between two people. In a pure social dance, we communicate lead & follow not with words, but with our body movement.
A good leader puts their follower at ease by making his signals clear. They make the dance feel smooth and easy using good visual cues, a strong frame and awareness of the follower's position, as well their level.
A good follower is patient and understands how to respond to the most subtle of movements and directions. Good followers make it easy for the leader to guide them.
Good dance partners know that communication isn't always perfect, and work together to compensate for any miscommunications to keep the dance going using their best lead and follow.
Non-verbal communication through body and dance is something that dancers always strive to improve, no matter what level is attained.
HOW "TEACHING" OTHER STUDENTS OR "TRYING TO HELP" CAN ACTUALLY MAKE IT LESS FUN FOR OTHERS
"Don't try to be a teacher" is our top rule of etiquette for a reason! If our philosophy is that "good social dancing is leading & following without words", then teaching another student during a social dance goes against that philosophy.
In our younger days, we and our peers agreed that the worst thing about social dancing was having to listen to other dancers and students tell you what to do. That is, other students who aren't teachers or assistants, but are trying to “teach” you by giving you feedback or showing you things that you didn’t ask for. “Live” feedback on your dancing can seem like an extra opportunity to learn. But it quickly becomes tiresome and quickly overwhelming.
It's especially frustrating to be in an environment where there are multiple people behaving like this - every other person has something to say about your dancing! The first partner has something to say about your timing. The next partner has something to say about your frame. The next partner then has something to say about how you're leading or following. The next partner then tells you something that's the total opposite of what someone else just told you!
Imagine attending a group class and you’re trying to focus on what the teacher said, and instead, you’re also told all these extra things by other students! Your mind can only focus on so much, and instead you’re totally overwhelmed.
Imagine going to a dance night to enjoy using your dance skills. But with every dance, people gave you feedback on things they felt you could improve on, or people showed you things, but you felt you couldn’t do them.
When multiple people tell you things that you're not doing, then you likely won’t feel good about your dancing. This type of experience is a very common reason we hear from people who gave up on social partner dancing. It's also the top reason we have for students only wanting to learn in private lessons and avoid group classes or dance events. It's just not fun when everyone's just telling you what to do.
Helping other students can come from a good place of wanting to help, and in very small doses or small groups, it can be OK and harmless. However, it can easily become more prominent and toxic within any social dance environment. From our experience in the long-term, we’ve seen it have a negative impact on social dance and group class culture. When a student finds themselves overwhelmed by feedback from others, they usually stop attending. The students who do end up staying slowly disengage from socialization. They put up personal walls and filters and starting blocking other people. It’s not great when social partner dancing is about communication!
We know from our experience of how different the energy and culture is in environments when dancers are all just trying to teach one another. These types of classes are often too serious and very overwhelming learning environments. It can suit other schools where the end goal is competition or performance, but Dance 4 Life is a social dance school! We're dancing to have FUN!
WHAT TO DO IF SOMEONE'S TRYING TO TEACH YOU
Since this is part of our philosophy and dance etiquette, we're on anyone's side who feels overwhelmed by another student trying to teach them or show them things.
If someone's trying to teach you in a group class and you don't want to hear it, politely let them know that you want to focus on what's being taught by the teacher.
If someone's trying to teach you at a social dance night and you don't want to hear it, politely let them know what your dance level is and ask them to try to stick to that level. For example, “Can we please stick to Foundations?” or “Can we please stick to Bronze?”.
If anyone does continually overwhelm you or you feel breaks etiquette, we encourage you to let us know.
WHAT IF SOMEONE ASKS YOU A QUESTION?
If someone’s asked you for your help, be careful when answering. Don't answer if you're uncertain in ANY way.
If you’re at an event, tell them to ask their instructor in their next lesson or at a group class.
If you’re in a group class, direct them to the instructor, or ask the instructor together, or during Question Time. You’ll both get a more accurate answer.
If you accidentally find yourself teaching someone, pull back and ask yourself if you really want to continue. Did the other person ask for your feedback? Is the information even helpful for them at this point in their learning? Are you sure you’re correct? Are you telling them something that might contradict what an instructor told them?
SO, DOES THAT MEAN I CAN'T ASK QUESTIONS TO ANOTHER STUDENT?
You pay your instructors to learn, wouldn't you rather ask them?
In seriousness, we mainly discourage because of the overall domino effect it can have on studio culture and environment, as explained above.
Moreover, you just don't know the accuracy of the answer you'll get. Some students may not even want to "play teacher" and be hesitant to answer your question.
If you are going to ask another student for help, make sure it's a simple closed question where the answer is "Yes", "No" or "I don't know". Still, be mindful of the answer you receive.
Definitely don't ask open questions where the other student can start to elaborate on an answer. At the end of the day, other students aren't trained to answer your questions or give you an answer that's best for you. As your instructors, our job isn't to teach you what we know, it's to teach you what you need for your level and ability. Most students will commonly give you an answer of "what they know", explaining things in a manner and language that's most appropriate for them at their level and experience. They don't understand what you know or where your ability is, thus can't give you the answer that you need.
BUT CAN'T STUDENTS LEARN BY EXCHANGING IDEAS?
Yes! Our rules of etiquette are to help avoid toxic, destructive criticisms and minimize unwanted feedback being given to students.
Students can exchange ideas in a healthy, constructive manner if it is more of a discussion of opinions and experience. Discussions between students is healthy if questions are asked by one person and answers are given as personal opinion.
It's also best to have discussions like this outside the context of group classes or dance events where such discussions may be more disruptive.
LET'S KEEP IT FUN!
Social dancing is really like no other hobby where you get a chance to mingle and move with so many other people.
Our joy is being able to teach and dance with so many people and see the joy that dance brings to their lives.
We hope you understand more about our dance philosophy and etiquette to be able to continue DANCING 4 LIFE!
We take great pride as a school for having a fun and positive learning environment and a community that's welcoming and friendly. Students who've danced elsewhere can attest to how different our studio energy really is. This is definitely NOT by luck and is the result of our desire to create a dance school where partner dancing is FUN TO LEARN and STAYS FUN without getting too serious or too competitive.
We've seen a lot in our careers, having been a part of many dance environments from social, to performance, to competitive, to professional and more. We've learned that dancing is great for people's physical and mental health when there is the perfect mix of challenge and fun. We've seen it bring so much joy into people's lives. It's always sad for us when we see or hear that people stopped dancing because it stopped being fun.
HOW DO WE KEEP IT FUN?
Our school does a lot to build this fun and positive energy. However, it all boils down to what OUR particular focus is at Dance 4 Life, which is the partner dance skills of LEAD & FOLLOW! This involves being able to confidently and comfortably dance with other people by knowing the body language of social partner dance!
We're not a performance or competition school. In those schools, you may dance with only one partner and learn routines, so mistakes are seen as a negative. However, social partner dancing is not choreographed and is danced with lots of different people! Connection and communication can feel slightly different with every dance partner and therefore, mistakes in communication are inevitable! It's a skill to be able to keep dancing regardless.
With experience and time, we try to show people that social dance is imperfect. Even the most advanced levels of social dance contain little imperfections that most people don't see. So let's say it again, social dance is imperfect!
Social dancing stays FUN when your dance partners know that dance is imperfect, so whenever something doesn't go quite right, you manage to keep dancing anyway. And you get better at doing it each time.
Social dancing stays FUN when you know that regardless of who you dance with, you'll both be able to adjust to each other's experience, ability and level.
To keep it fun for everyone, we encourage our students to understand this philosophy when social dancing. Everyone's in a different place in their dancing and will feel different. Connect to your partner in the best way you know how. LEAD & FOLLOW as best as you can.
LEAD & FOLLOW IS DONE THROUGH GOOD DANCING
Social dance is a physical conversation between two people. In a pure social dance, we communicate lead & follow not with words, but with our body movement.
A good leader puts their follower at ease by making his signals clear. They make the dance feel smooth and easy using good visual cues, a strong frame and awareness of the follower's position, as well their level.
A good follower is patient and understands how to respond to the most subtle of movements and directions. Good followers make it easy for the leader to guide them.
Good dance partners know that communication isn't always perfect, and work together to compensate for any miscommunications to keep the dance going using their best lead and follow.
Non-verbal communication through body and dance is something that dancers always strive to improve, no matter what level is attained.
HOW "TEACHING" OTHER STUDENTS OR "TRYING TO HELP" CAN ACTUALLY MAKE IT LESS FUN FOR OTHERS
"Don't try to be a teacher" is our top rule of etiquette for a reason! If our philosophy is that "good social dancing is leading & following without words", then teaching another student during a social dance goes against that philosophy.
In our younger days, we and our peers agreed that the worst thing about social dancing was having to listen to other dancers and students tell you what to do. That is, other students who aren't teachers or assistants, but are trying to “teach” you by giving you feedback or showing you things that you didn’t ask for. “Live” feedback on your dancing can seem like an extra opportunity to learn. But it quickly becomes tiresome and quickly overwhelming.
It's especially frustrating to be in an environment where there are multiple people behaving like this - every other person has something to say about your dancing! The first partner has something to say about your timing. The next partner has something to say about your frame. The next partner then has something to say about how you're leading or following. The next partner then tells you something that's the total opposite of what someone else just told you!
Imagine attending a group class and you’re trying to focus on what the teacher said, and instead, you’re also told all these extra things by other students! Your mind can only focus on so much, and instead you’re totally overwhelmed.
Imagine going to a dance night to enjoy using your dance skills. But with every dance, people gave you feedback on things they felt you could improve on, or people showed you things, but you felt you couldn’t do them.
When multiple people tell you things that you're not doing, then you likely won’t feel good about your dancing. This type of experience is a very common reason we hear from people who gave up on social partner dancing. It's also the top reason we have for students only wanting to learn in private lessons and avoid group classes or dance events. It's just not fun when everyone's just telling you what to do.
Helping other students can come from a good place of wanting to help, and in very small doses or small groups, it can be OK and harmless. However, it can easily become more prominent and toxic within any social dance environment. From our experience in the long-term, we’ve seen it have a negative impact on social dance and group class culture. When a student finds themselves overwhelmed by feedback from others, they usually stop attending. The students who do end up staying slowly disengage from socialization. They put up personal walls and filters and starting blocking other people. It’s not great when social partner dancing is about communication!
We know from our experience of how different the energy and culture is in environments when dancers are all just trying to teach one another. These types of classes are often too serious and very overwhelming learning environments. It can suit other schools where the end goal is competition or performance, but Dance 4 Life is a social dance school! We're dancing to have FUN!
WHAT TO DO IF SOMEONE'S TRYING TO TEACH YOU
Since this is part of our philosophy and dance etiquette, we're on anyone's side who feels overwhelmed by another student trying to teach them or show them things.
If someone's trying to teach you in a group class and you don't want to hear it, politely let them know that you want to focus on what's being taught by the teacher.
If someone's trying to teach you at a social dance night and you don't want to hear it, politely let them know what your dance level is and ask them to try to stick to that level. For example, “Can we please stick to Foundations?” or “Can we please stick to Bronze?”.
If anyone does continually overwhelm you or you feel breaks etiquette, we encourage you to let us know.
WHAT IF SOMEONE ASKS YOU A QUESTION?
If someone’s asked you for your help, be careful when answering. Don't answer if you're uncertain in ANY way.
If you’re at an event, tell them to ask their instructor in their next lesson or at a group class.
If you’re in a group class, direct them to the instructor, or ask the instructor together, or during Question Time. You’ll both get a more accurate answer.
If you accidentally find yourself teaching someone, pull back and ask yourself if you really want to continue. Did the other person ask for your feedback? Is the information even helpful for them at this point in their learning? Are you sure you’re correct? Are you telling them something that might contradict what an instructor told them?
SO, DOES THAT MEAN I CAN'T ASK QUESTIONS TO ANOTHER STUDENT?
You pay your instructors to learn, wouldn't you rather ask them?
In seriousness, we mainly discourage because of the overall domino effect it can have on studio culture and environment, as explained above.
Moreover, you just don't know the accuracy of the answer you'll get. Some students may not even want to "play teacher" and be hesitant to answer your question.
If you are going to ask another student for help, make sure it's a simple closed question where the answer is "Yes", "No" or "I don't know". Still, be mindful of the answer you receive.
Definitely don't ask open questions where the other student can start to elaborate on an answer. At the end of the day, other students aren't trained to answer your questions or give you an answer that's best for you. As your instructors, our job isn't to teach you what we know, it's to teach you what you need for your level and ability. Most students will commonly give you an answer of "what they know", explaining things in a manner and language that's most appropriate for them at their level and experience. They don't understand what you know or where your ability is, thus can't give you the answer that you need.
BUT CAN'T STUDENTS LEARN BY EXCHANGING IDEAS?
Yes! Our rules of etiquette are to help avoid toxic, destructive criticisms and minimize unwanted feedback being given to students.
Students can exchange ideas in a healthy, constructive manner if it is more of a discussion of opinions and experience. Discussions between students is healthy if questions are asked by one person and answers are given as personal opinion.
It's also best to have discussions like this outside the context of group classes or dance events where such discussions may be more disruptive.
LET'S KEEP IT FUN!
Social dancing is really like no other hobby where you get a chance to mingle and move with so many other people.
Our joy is being able to teach and dance with so many people and see the joy that dance brings to their lives.
We hope you understand more about our dance philosophy and etiquette to be able to continue DANCING 4 LIFE!