The ubiquity of dance in cultures around the world says something about the elemental role it plays in the human experience. Chart-topping artists like the late BTS and Lady Gaga amplify the power of their music with electrifying dance moves. Even though talent plays a huge role in becoming a great dancer, anyone, including you, can improve their dance skills using the following tips.
1. Find Your Core
By age 2, we can do simple dance moves like bobbing our bodies to the beat. Once we learn how to keep the pelvis in a neutral position while standing, we can begin to practice and coordinate moves because a neutrally aligned pelvis facilitates dynamic movement. Improve your dance skills by learning how to find your neutral pelvis position. You can do this by lying on your back with your knees bent to create a position in which your pelvis tilts neither into the floor nor toward the ceiling.
2. Warm-Up
Once you master the neutral pelvis position, it's time to start improving your range of motion by stretching. The easiest way to do this is using low-impact movement to generate heat. Muscles become more elastic as they warm up, so move around a bit before you start dancing to safely increase their range of motion. Doing so helps minimize the risk of injuries and makes it easier to make bending and twisting movements.
3. Shift Your Weight
Dancing is a universal human behavior. It's one of the most effective ways for people to communicate. Practice shifting your weight back and forth between each leg. Try bending your knees as far as you can and stretching as tall as you can with your feet planted firmly into the ground. These elemental movements become increasingly seamless the more you practice, making it easier to build upon them while following the beat.
4. Dance With Others
Dancing is fun partly because it activates endorphins, which trigger a sense of well-being and pleasure. It also connects people in ways nothing else can. That's why even watching others dance can be exhilarating. Trying to mirror other dancers' movements in real-time is a powerful way to learn how to dance. It's also deeply gratifying and creates a powerful bond between dancers as you pick up on the subtlest changes in people's body language.
5. Set Aside Your Fears
Don't be afraid to fail and look stupid. Fear can be a huge barrier to your progress as a dancer, so don't bring it with you to the dance floor. Dance movements have a strong connection to a person's identity, and it's one of the purest forms of expression. Your commitment to learning the skill says more about you than your ability to execute a specific move flawlessly. As you learn how to dance, trust that the best parts of your personality shine through at every point of your journey, even when you fumble a step here or there.