As they say in the movies “lady you gotta practice”, the more serious you are about being a modern jive star the more you have to work at it. The more you work at it the better you will become and the quicker those experienced partners will be lining up to dance with you. Simple isn’t it?
More experience means increasing the number of moves you know that you can dance with style and expertise. This is where practising, going to workshops and studying other dancers comes in.
We always feel incredibly frustrated at a social freestyle evening when there are amazing girl dancers, dancing easily with style, ability and attitude. But we know that once they were beginners too! One day we’ll be like them and in the meantime we practice, practice, practice and watch the experts to learn as much as possible.
Here’s what we’ve found out so far:
How expert you look is all about your dance style – hence this website. Work on perfecting an individual style and the dance floor is yours. We have tips for this on other parts of the Dance Babe website.
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Remember it is down to the guys to lead the moves in modern jive; they should be deciding what moves they are going to do and we follow them. That’s the theory anyway, and yes, we struggle with being told what to do but on the dance floor we are prepared to give it a try. They lead and we make them look good. However, the guy does have to give clear direction and finding a strong lead who knows what to do is always the challenge.
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When you see a girl whose style you like, talk to her; ask how she got so good, how she spins and if she will show you some of her style moves. Everyone likes a compliment, and soon it will be you being asked for dance tips. Of course, always check out what Dance Babe has to say and as we like compliments too, get in touch via our email link.
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The etiquette of modern jive is that guys ask girls and girls ask guys to dance. If you see a guy who’s dancing you particularly like, don’t be afraid to ask him for a dance. Unless he’s a complete loser he will be happy to partner you. Words of caution though, don’t be surprised if it feels like there’s an unseen queue to dance with the good guys -there probably is. Other girls know a good partner when they see one. Wait your turn and seize the opening when you can. Ask him to dance, dancing with the guys who know how to lead modern jive moves is the quickest way to learn, and adds to the fun!
