You've successfully started your dance program, you've survived the ebb and flow of the Curve of Learning, and now it's time to survey the exciting horizons of Full Bronze.
For reference, this is the 3rd and 4th level of the most popular social dance program in the world, known as "Full Bronze".
You've unlocked access into an exciting and exclusive part of your program. Here are 6 of the most exciting things to look forward to.
Also referred to as "continuity movement", your Foxtrot and Waltz will get a huge makeover.
You've heard of the expression "outside the box", well that's exactly what happens to your box step in the Waltz, or any closed finish in the Foxtrot. Rather than closing your feet, you'll learn to pass your feet to create continuous, or continuity, movement.
Seem like no big deal?
This is the tool that makes dances like Waltz and Foxtrot look like they are flowing continuously around the room.
2. Bolero.
For decades, this dance was only available at the Silver level, but when the Bronze level was revamped in the early 2000's, this elegant and sensual dance was added to the Full Bronze.
Bolero is a dancing hybrid. It combines the sweeping movements of a Waltz with the rhythms and connection of the Rumba, add in some shaping from the Tango for a little extra zest, and you've got the Bolero.
One of the great advantages for anyone learning Bolero is the tempo. Immediately, it becomes one of the slowest dances which allows you to develop your styling, control, balance, and multi-tasking on the dance floor.
Oh yeah... and it's super sexy too.
Every level of your dance program unlocks a new area of your body when it comes to style and technique, as mentioned in this article: The Arthur Murray Program for Social Dancing with Style
Bronze 3 turns the quality focus to the torso. On the ballroom side, it's an emphasis on the topline. For the Latin, it's developing the torso in cuban motion.
Bronze 4 shifts further up the body. Most notably, to the arms. For any time in your dance life where you were puzzled by arm movements, it's at the Bronze 4 level where it is officially introduced as part of your dancing criteria.
Okay, well maybe that is a bit misleading, but every full bronze student has the opportunity to unlock the classic and majestic dance of Vienna, the Viennese Waltz. Made famous by the debutante balls held in Vienna, Austria.
Whether you have a trip to Vienna in your actual travel plans, or as a dream vacation in the future, you'll be able to capture the feeling of the sweeping, elegant dance in the meantime.
Imagine a book with a wide variety of characters all introduced in the first chapter. It would be tough to establish who was who and even harder to keep track of them by name.
If you imagine that each level of your Bronze program is a chapter of a book, the first two "chapters" have, slowly but surely, helped to define the dances/characters in the story.
Now, entering Full Bronze, those characters have a voice.
You've reached the point in the story where each dance has a clear role in your story, you rarely lose track of them, and confusing one for the other is no longer a normal practice party occurrence (unless it's a Tango immediately following a Foxtrot).
Earlier in the program you may have wanted to discard any characters you didn't deem necessary. In fact, you may have even contemplated putting the book down, but now, in Full Bronze, you can reap the rewards of assimilation. These characters are no longer a learning liability and you can now move forward and see how they advance your story.
Final Thought
Full Bronze isn't just the dance accomplishment of passing beyond Bronze 1 and 2. It's a major plot point in the Dance Journey, a lighthouse in the stormy waters of self doubt that can accompany even the best people when taking on a hobby that uses routes exclusively outside of one's comfort zone.
Congratulations. You're a dancer now. Associate Bronze has secured safe passage for you in this next leg of your journey. Enjoy it, you've come a long way.
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