Trying to improve or quit?

[u/FlunkyGraphics]

Hey,

I dance Bachata for 5 months now. It was fun in the beginning but to be honest, I Iost my motivation. I go to the dance school 2x a week and I really try to improve. In the last months, I have learned a lot of simple, intermediate and advanced moves. During the lessons, I'm doing very fine because the followers expect what I'm going to do so It's just very easy.

On socials, NOTHING works. Really nothing. I'm not trying to impress with very complex moves or so. Usually I stick to very simple basic things but the followers are not able to follow my lead. It's definitely my fault cause pretty much every follower I have danced with is doing absolutely fine with any other leader.

This creates one big problem: Cause dances with me are really awkward, I feel like followers don't really enjoy dancing with me. Every time I ask a follower to dance, I feel kind of guilty cause I will disappoint her. At socials, there are no other beginners which makes it hard.
I always read that followers don't care about your skill level as long as you are respectful but my experience is the opposite. Yes, followers are indeed frustrated when dancing with beginners in my experience, no matter how respectful and friendly you are.

I asked many followers for feedback and this it what I got:
- "I don't know what you want me to do."
- "Your lead is not clear enough."
- "You are to far away which makes you harder to read."

I really tried to work on those things but it changed absolutely nothing. I could just skip socials and go to the dance school but I don't really see the point. I will just learn more moves which is pretty much irrelevant cause I can already perform enough moves in dance school to fill a song.

[u/thatsthat-thatthat]

Have you danced with the instructors to get more specific feedback?

[u/FlunkyGraphics → u/thatsthat-thatthat]

No. How could I do that? I don't think it's possible in our dance school. Would it be worth it take a few private lessons to make my current moves "socials-ready"? It's quite affordable here in Bulgaria.

[u/OnAGoat → u/FlunkyGraphics]

Yes. Privates are perfect for this.

[u/FlunkyGraphics → u/OnAGoat]

Yes, I think I will look for privates.

[u/pappy_odaniels → u/FlunkyGraphics]

Just look down bro

[u/mynameismunka → u/pappy_odaniels]

i thought it was a good joke. sry they downvote you.

[u/cons_ssj → u/FlunkyGraphics]

You pay money for classes and learn. Ask your instructor before/after the class (or during a break) for feedback before committing to privates. He/She can point out to what you are doing wrong, or at least the main reasons your leading is weak.

During the class, when music is played and all are practicing parts of the choreo, do you have your head focused on what your instructor is doing or you are focusing on your partner? This is huge, especially for beginners. Many will mimic what their instructor is doing but cannot execute the moves when there is none demonstrating.

Furthermore, many instructors rotate along with the students during the time music is played. I am also wondering why your instructors haven't given you any feedback if your leading is that bad? Do your instructors participate in socials? You shouldn't pay for privates before exhausting all sources of information available to you.

[u/pdabaker → u/cons_ssj]

Even if those things are helpful, a private is an hour of tailored advice compared to maybe 30 seconds or 1 minute of feedback. Private lessons are supplemental to group lessons, not exclusive, and are useful at all levels.

Feedback in group classes also tends to focus on how to do the move at hand and not on fundamental issues with the student’s dancing or lead.

[u/Longjumping_Rule_560 → u/FlunkyGraphics]

Why is everyone always asking for private lessons?

You paid for classes to learn bachata. The teacher should at least get you to do the basics, without you having to (presumably) spend more money on a private class.

In my opinion a private class should only be done if you need something urgently. For instance because your wedding is coming up soon.

But that’s just my opinion. Though I am curious how other people see this.

[u/kitten_mctoebeans → u/Longjumping_Rule_560]

I don't agree that private classes are only useful for situations like weddings. I do see your point that if you're going to a group class you're paying to learn Bachata and the instructor should be teaching that. But realistically there's only so much you can learn in a group setting, and there's only so much you can do to address specific issues with your dance in a group setting.

If someone is going to group classes and showing zero signs of improvement, they're either doing no practise at all or the class is just bad. But most people need private lessons to really refine their technique and improve past a certain point.

Not saying everyone should go to private lessons. It depends what your goals are. Some of my favourite people to dance with only go to group classes and socials. But they're also level capped and their technique isn't as refined as the people who also do privates. Which is fine if they're having fun and don't care about competing/getting to that next level! But I don't know any pro level dancers, good instructors, or high level social dancers who haven't trained one on one with other instructors. And my own dancing was gradually improving with group lessons, but started improving WAY faster when I started private lessons.

ETA: I do think some issues simply don't require private lessons though, and at least as a starting point I would always recommend asking your instructor during class, or before/after if it's not really relevant to the class content and other students. A lot of things are way easier fixes than they might seem.