FAQ: Do You Need a Partner For Social Dancing Lessons?
Answer: You do not need a partner for social dance lessons. While ballroom dancing can sometimes be referred to as "partner dancing", learning social dancing does not require a partner.
Why You Don't Need a Partner
There are plenty of students that choose to learn to dance for themselves. In some cases, they have a spouse or significant other that has other hobbies that are more important. Other times, they are single, looking for a fun and healthy hobby, and they choose ballroom.
Regardless of why, a student without a partner works one on one with a professional instructor, and there are some distinct advantages to doing so.
Benefits to Learning Social Dance on Your Own
Students that work one on one with a professional instructor progress faster, pure and simple. Why? Because the teacher can focus their instruction on one student, and one role. In addition, these "single" students burn more calories, and juggling one calendar, as opposed to two, makes scheduling a smoother process.
Common Misconceptions About Learning on Your Own
Unfortunately, there are people that postpone, second guess, or never start with dance lessons because they are operating with the wrong information. Here are some common misconceptions about a ballroom dance hobby on your own.
1. You Need a Partner if You Want to Be Good
This was covered in the information above. Those that are interested in pushing the limits of their dance skills and trying ballroom as a competitive hobby will typically do so as a single, before doing so as an amateur couple.
2. Dangerous Romance
There are many would-be dancers that call off a potential dance hobby due to a misconception about a potential romantic relationship developing between the teacher and student. Regardless of what it may look like on Dancing with the Stars, at Arthur Murray Dance Studios, there is a strict no-fraternization policy that all professionals adhere to. The focus for all lessons is consistent, whether that is with a single, couple, or group class: To make the learning process fun, quick, and easy.
3. Without a Partner, You'll Never Use It
It may seem like ballroom is a wasted activity without a partner to dance with outside of the studio. However, your dance studio has plenty of dance events with plenty of dancers to practice with. In addition, think of hobbies like racquetball or basketball - you don't need a partner, or a team, to enjoy the activity, but in the right environment, you can always enjoy a game with others. Ballroom dancing is no different.
4. It's Not Worth the Time If Your Spouse/Loved One Isn't Involved
Even though it goes beyond the term, let's take a look at dancing like it was any other hobby. Can you find joy, stress relief, or other personal benefits to trying things like painting, swimming, or exercising? Of course you can.
Social dancing is a hobby that offers all of these benefits and more, with or without a partner.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with your spouse/loved having their own hobbies and interests, and the same is true for you with dancing.
5. If You Learn on Your Own, Your Spouse Will Never Catch Up
This is a common misconception for singles and couples alike. The wonderful thing about partner dancing is that each side of the dance frame has their own set of priorities. So the leader's part is different than that of the follower's, and therefore, any side of the partnership that excels in their role only makes things easier for the other.
[Read More: What is Leading and Following in Ballroom?]
Future Options
In some cases, dance lessons may not be of interest to a spouse/loved one until the other starts the process. Whether it's a restaurant or a new bottle of wine - sometimes it takes the scouting work of one to truly convince the other.
Either way, at least one person is learning how to dance, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it is permanent.
Further Reading
For more tips on this topic, we recommend the following articles for added context and ideas.
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Partner (Optional) Dancing |
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5 Ways to Convince Your Man to Take Dance Lessons |
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5 Bad Excuses for Avoiding Dance Classes |
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