How Line Dancing can give you confidence

Have you ever had an experience where you were scared to do something? This could be a math problem, asking someone out or even giving a speech. Whatever it is, I'm pretty sure that we have all had an experience where we felt terrified to do something.

For me, this is oftentimes dancing, even though I do it all the time. I have been dancing for about 3 years. I spend a lot of time helping other people learn moves and I teach people line dances all the time, but for some reason, dancing still terrifies me.

Here are a few tips that I have learned to keep me calm and confident when it comes to dancing:

1. Practice

The first step to becoming good at anything is to practice. Everyone always comments on how good they think I am at dancing, but the truth is, I was not good when I started. I was uncoordinated and frankly, I think I sucked. Luckily though, I stuck with it and now I am pretty good.

When I started, I only went dancing because there was absolutely nothing else to do. I think I originally came with a friend, but neither one of us knew what we were doing. It was fun though, and so I continued to go...twice a week.

From that point on, I started to practice on my own: this means I was looking up videos and looking for any excuse to practice. Whether it was in the shower, in my kitchen or in an empty parking lot.

2. Find a group of Friends

Once you have that idea of practice in your mind, make sure you find some friends that you can take with you! If you have a good group of people it can make any activity that much more fun. I know that when I started, I was scared to go by myself. I never wanted to take the risk of looking like I was alone.

Plus, there are a few perks to having friends come with you. These include having someone to save you if you don't want to dance with or talk to someone, having someone to talk to between dances, and having a permanent dance partner for when you don't get asked.

3. Learn a Dance

Once you have a group together it is time to learn a dance. A line dance that I love and that is fairly simple to learn is Toes by Zac Brown Band. There are a few different ways that you can learn a dance. First, you can look up videos of dances. Second, you could go to a dance class and learn from an instructor. Or third, you can make a friend teach you....which is generally what I do.

I have personally found that one of the easiest ways to learn a dance, is to have a friend walk you through it. This can be step by step, specific moves or with the rhythm of the music.

4. Dance with a Crowd

Once a dance has been learned, then you just have to get to work. Try to go to as many dance places as you can and get as much practice as possible! I highly recommend going to a dance hall like Peak Nights in Provo, Utah. That is my top pick for all my dancing needs.

At any dance place you can work with the instructors to learn line dances and swing moves. I really love the environment of Peak Nights and how friendly and willing the instructors are to help you out.

5. Dance by Yourself

Once you are comfortable enough to do the dance in a crowd, the next step is to be the one to start the line dance. For me, this happened when my college played Toes by Zac Brown Band. I ran out onto the dance floor because it is one of my favorites I learned at Peak Nights.

No one else knew the dance though, so I was the leader and everyone was watching me to learn how to do the dance. It was terrifying, exciting and exhilarating all at the same time.

Whether it be dancing by yourself, dancing with a friend or dancing with a team, try to find a place that feels comfortable to you and remember to practice, practice, practice.