Learn To Dance Online

V

VirgilBrewster

Dear Friends,

I would like to know if somebody has some experiences with
learning any form of Latin Dance Online.

- What is in your opinion the advantage and what are the disadvantages
- Do you find a online video lesson presented by a well known instructor a
supplement to your regular latin dance class.

PLease share your thoughts
 
I can only talk salsa, and in my opinion there's no subsitute for the personal attention of a good teacher. Best strategy is to research the best teachers and get privates and group classes from them. An easier strategy is to attend many group classes until you choose the best for you, and get the occasional private from that teacher, and continue to occasionally attend other classes to get a rounded picture. Video is a good supplement to this but IMO cannot replace it. Video is good for complex turn patterns once you have the foundation solid. It's good for material that you can get by unsupervised repetition. Remember that practice makes permanent so you don't want to have some small misunderstanding lead to you practicing the wrong thing many times over to the video.
 
What sweavo said about there being no subsitute for the personal attention that instructors give, especially applies to latin dance. I call it the "hands on" approach. Instructors literally put there hands on you to get you to discover muscle movement/isolation and control.

In some cases, watching videos can be helpful. For a beginner, it can fimiliarize them with the dance form. For the more accomplished dancer, it can also motivate them.
IMO, I don't think you should use videos to learn latin dance except in rare isolated cases. Ex. My daughter is a bit slow at her latin step turns. (but amazingly fast at her salsa turns...go figure.) Her problem is that she hasn't developed the muscle strength and control for the proper sequence and speed of upper and lower body movement. I will be having her watch clips of this pro. dancer that is amazing at such turns to try to get it in her head what she needs to be working on.
 
Virgil - Is DDA looking to provide learning latin dance online?

Our goal is to allow each dancer to experience the elements of dance; confidence, creativity, grace, musicality, rhythm, technique, an appreciation for music and dance and above all fun!
Click to expand...

I'd agree with Sweavo - in that there's no subsitute for the personal attention of a good teacher.

If you can't easily find a good teacher, then it's a fall back, aide memoire, though not a total alternative - those wanting to learn salsa are likely going to go to a class(es) prior to doing social salsa dancing.

So i'd say it depends. What is the learning wanting to be done? How well known the instructor is, isn't a factor necessarily in how well they can help people instruct via the web.

You've got to take into account their strategy to teach people, their content, their video quality, video resolution, accessibility of materials, accurateness of materials; scope, breadth and relevance of materials.

It would be interesting to go on figures, rather than hunches, that the majority of learners do a lesson, rather than online learning, and that even given the choice, the majority would prefer a social lesson over online learning.

Video is a good supplement as Sweavo says - not so good as a full replacement for all training and learning. It in some ways has relevance right at the start, then once the dancer's got the foundations checked by a decent teacher. (Not to say that that couldn't be done online! - It's just less common - lessons give a one to many participation - one teacher, many students. Much harder to set up a one to many with online tools (and thus effects on costs).

As barrefly mentions - the physical touch to correct position is useful at the start - it helps cement the muscle memory of both postures and movements.

For the absolute beginner, it could help alleviate that brainfreeze, trying to link foot movement to music, to beat, to hand movement to name of the salsa move - it can be very overwhelming initially! There are already resources for that, for a dollar or two, and even free - your mileage may vary.
 
Dear Friends,

Thank you for your kind reactions.
Yes we are planning to do online video lessons but our we urge
people to take real lessons in a group.

All of our instructors are teaching at congresses and teaching classes
So we offer this really as an supplement for people who like
to have some extra attention when they want it.
 
Hi Fez,

I totally agree with you.
Me as a beginner in Salsa experienced the same thing.

I started watching you tube films but because there is so much and
there is no real syllabus on you tube, i really needed a teacher that
guide me every step of the way.

Thank you for your insights
 
It is interesting that you mention this. Due to the nature of my work, I travel a lot. It is not uncommon for me to see people at the airports with their notebook computers open to a "learn to salsa" video or with people trying to learn dance moves from their Apple iPhone. At the airport between flights, frequent flyers get bored and learning to dance is a fun way to alleviate their boredom, even if it is not the best way to learn to dance, it is still fun.
 
The problem with learning online or watching videos is that you won't have someone correcting the little things. Sometime a simple weight shift change, or turn your shoulders a bit more, or step to the side a little bit, could solve an awkward point during a turn. A teacher would be able to spot it and correct you. Online/video instructions usually won't. The good ones probably will go through explanations for the "common mistakes", but everyone move a little bit differently, so you won't get your specific problem resolved.

But for people that already have experience, either with other dances or are already intermediate salsa dancers, then it'd be less of an issue because they would know to try a few different things on their own even if the details of the move is not explicitly explained.

I started by taking group lessons, now I just look at youtube videos once in a while and try to pick up some new stuff. Even then, sometimes I would have to bail on the advanced moves because I can't figure out how they twist their arms around or whatever.
 
You can see on line videos for your experience but I don't think you actually learn salsa on line if you don't know the basics of this art.
 
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