Have you ever seen someone on a dance floor losing his balance with the coordination of an ostrich on the seesaw? Did you laugh at their bad dancing skills? Did you chuckle at their complete lack of shame? Well, you should not be laughing at these people. As a matter of fact, you should be applauding them.
In a profession like teaching and dancing, I end up meeting countless number of people, some of them having been international artists and filmstars. I have taught stars like Kajol, Ameesha Patel, Dino Morea and even international dancing divas like Shakira, Beyonce and the Queen Madonna herself. There is one thing that is common to all of them. It may be difficult to believe, but they told me that, when they first stepped onto the dance floor, they thought they would be “bad dancers”.
So it is not surprising that most of the times, I observe people make comments such as, “He has no rhythm ... or she can’t follow”. Sometimes the comments are even more harmful; “What do they think they’re trying to do, that looks simply awful”, or “He can’t dance at all, he’s just hopping around — maybe he should practise more or take some lessons”.
The “bad dancer” may not be able to Jive, may not know what Rumba and Samba is, may not have even heard or seen Salsa. In spite of being a dance lover, a dancer and a dance teacher I say — bottomline: It does not matter. No one really likes someone who can dance extremely well. A real dancer is many a time very annoying as he/she takes the art of dancing too seriously. Such obsessed souls who like to show off their skills as dancers should move out of the way and let the so-called “bad dancers” take over the dance floor.
Have you ever thought about this? Ever voiced this to your friends? What’s really important about dancing anyway? I’ve attended many social dance parties, judged many national and international competitions and have choreographed hundreds of shows by now. But one thing that caught my eye are the dancers that dance every piece, even if they can’t or do not know how to dance. And what sets them apart is that they’re always smiling and having fun. I watch these dancers with great fascination, as they are actually having a great time. When I watch people on the dance floor, I often wonder: “Why are they dancing — they look like they’re in pain? I am truly amazed that anyone would go out for an evening of torment and painstaking work when there is a time and place for everything in life.
Social dancing is all about people moving together on the dance floor and enjoying themselves. We don’t have to dance the same way. Even getting up and swaying to the music is a great way of expressing pleasure in dancing. If your friends and people around you have ever remarked about your bad dancing skills then think again, “You are not bad dancers — just a different dancer”.
A dance floor will always have people with different styles and capacities of knowledge levels about dancing, which doesn’t mean they are good or bad dancers. They are simply enjoying themselves. Maybe, if you take dancing so seriously that you’re losing your ability to laugh at yourself over a mistake, I guess it’s time to take a lesson or two from a social dancer that doesn’t perform ballroom steps but actually moves to music and has fun with wild abandon.
Without any inhibitions and rhythm, the “bad dancers” love to let their hair down and don’t give a hoot about who is watching them, and that’s the way it should always be. Dance is not about posing, posturing and doing difficult steps; it is only about self-satisfaction and joy.