I got this message through the instagram:
“Good morning, man, what’s up? I’ve been following your page here at Insta and also the blog, both very good. I would even like to suggest a theme for the blog within a doubt that I have myself, since I have been practicing ballroom dancing for some time, which is the following: is it better for the student to learn one style of dance at a time or to do several at once as is the case with ballroom dancing classes? Focus on one style at a time or learn several at the same time? What is your opinion? Hugs and success!”
Before this reading I suggest you read a short text: The tremendous difference between BASE AND BASIC.
Let’s go!
Focus on one style at a time
By focusing on one style at a time, the practitioner accelerates the specific development of that modality and achieves a higher level of dance faster. This happens because the amount of basic movement he/she ends up learning is smaller.
But aren’t the basic moves super important?
Absolutely! What happens, however, is that the volume of basic movements existing in each dance is enormous, the practitioner does not need all this volume of variations of basic movements to be able to learn something more complex within a specific dance. Of course, for each dance, one wants to reach the complex enchainments, it is necessary to go through the base of that modality.
In addition, this high volume of basic movements may end up generating an overload for the person’s information storage capacity, so they may end up having to review each movement more often, further delaying the process.
Care must be taken, however. New and challenging movements are usually more stimulating, and the practitioner of a single modality has access to them with more rapidity, so the tendency for this person not to have patience to improve basic elements, is greater. It may take a while for this person to understand that complex movements are not what determines an advanced dance.
That is why the role of the instructor is so important to reap the benefits of learning. The professional who teaches only one modality needs to know how to contain the natural urgency of the students, for novelty and complexity, without discouraging the learners. This is done, constantly showing the beauty and extreme efficiency of the study of the fundamentals.
More and more, prominent dancers on the world dance scene are specialists in one or two modalities. And if there are two, there is usually one that is the top dance, standing out over the other.
On the other hand, it’s very rare to find prominent specialists who haven’t experienced other rhythms. More and more one dance has an influence on the other. In addition, the mastery over coordination and body consciousness, which the various modalities provide, only contribute to the success of the practitioner in the individuality of each modality.
Advantages of learning several styles at once
Although it is a longer way, taking more time to form advanced dancers, there is no doubt that by arriving in the advanced part these dancers will be more complete. These people also tend to please more their partners during the dance. They spend more time trying to adapt their body to a new reality, so it is more natural for them to adapt to each different pair.
The prolonged contact with basic movements allows these practitioners to observe more calmly super important aspects of a solid foundation for the dance. For example, the way they step on the ground, the way they transfer weight (read: Balance and Weight Transfer! How to Improve Your Dance All At Once!) .
The less complex movements allow a longer time observing the quality of each aspect, the posture, the way the arm moves, besides having more time to better understand the logic of the dance and the pair movements.
With a much stronger base, there comes a point when these practitioners begin to absorb new content with ease, speed and quality. Even so, these people will find it difficult to reach the depth of a specialist if, at some point, they don’t start focusing on a specific modality.
Conclusion
The two paths are valid, what will weigh most at the time of the decision is its goal. I want to learn more solidly and I’m in less of a hurry? various modalities is the way. I want to see faster results and worry about improvement details later? One modality is the way.
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