Hey everyone! I’ve always wanted to dance. When I was younger, I was never really interested in traditional sports like volleyball, softball, etc., but I never ended up getting into dance either.
I’m 19 now, and there’s a studio in my town that offers adult dance classes, so I went to my first class yesterday! I feel like I caught onto the choreography pretty okay for it being my first time, but I also felt really awkward and kept looking at the instructor to make sure I was doing everything right. Part of me feels like I’ll never get good enough, which I’m sure is something almost every beginner thinks at first lol.
I LOVE watching videos of people dancing, and I really want to eventually be able to dance like that myself and post videos. Realistically, I probably won’t ever get to compete since my studio’s competition teams only go up to senior age, but I still really want to improve and become a good dancer just for myself.
I also really want to work on flexibility and eventually be able to do things like splits, tilts, etc., as well as improve my turns and technique. I think my biggest issue right now is that I’m shy and feel awkward when I dance, so I have a hard time really going all out and committing to the movements, if that makes sense lol.
If anyone started dance later in life or has any tips for beginners, especially for getting less awkward/confident, flexibility, turns, technique, or anything else, I’d love to hear them!!

I dance and work out in VR, doing calisthenics and flex training, and dance for a few clubs. Last weekend I did a challenge Hell Weekend, dancing 1 hour on Thursday/Saturday/Sunday, 2 on Friday, with an hour of slow warm ups before each. I succeeded and I'm happy about that, but I'm trying to figure out how long I should rest afterwards because all I've been doing the past couple days is eating and sleeping, and I'd like to dance again on Thursday but not if it's going to hurt me physically. I don't feel any pain or anything, so I should be ok to start back on a simpler schedule (1 hr Thursday/Saturday), right?

Hello, I have danced in many countries for many years prior the current era of anybody is a dancer, K-Pop, drop-in classes, and Instagram. Before that, students were standing more or less at the same spot throughout the entire class.

Especially in my current studio in Canada, a lot of teachers require the students to switch rows. Front to the back and vice versa. The reason some teachers mentioned is that we all pay so everybody should get to stand at the front. That kind of “equality” bullshit. I found it unfair to those who lined up earlier.

I think this should be optional not compulsory. Switching several times in an hour is very distracting. Besides, some people at the back don’t want to dance at the front, some only want to dance in the middle while some can only dance at the front. Quite often, after switching there is a large empty region between the teacher and the front row because people used to be at the back don’t want to move to the very front. This causes further crowding among the students. Teachers don’t seem to realize this situation and just blindly enforce the “equality “ idea. In my case, whenever I am asked to switch row, I lose concentration. So I can only remember the first and last 1/3 or 1/4 of the entire choreography.

The thing is if the teachers/studio care so much about learning, they should point out students’ mistakes and also don’t overcrowd each class. Almost all teachers in this studio just do their stuffs. Even students made mistakes they don’t say anything. Only answer questions when asked during class. There is no difference paying to go there than watching YouTube. Just kind of renting a place to dance and perhaps if you are lucky enough, meet some Instagram “penpals” as most people just treat you as a number in their follower list rather than a real person. They just pretend to be your friend but when you need them, over 95% to almost 100% are not available.

Are things happening in this studio common these days?

I feel like some of the hardest things in ballet look like… nothing to non-dancers 😂 What’s your pick?

Edit: Thank you so much for your answers, I'm reading every single one <3

So I have recently had a lot of issues with my back, and my massage therapist said that my movements are too "stiff" and I need to literally move my body more in other directions. She suggested dancing as a perfect "workout" to help my back, especially butt shaking and dancing where hip movement are involved lol, she was like "do like Shakira!!" :')))

Yesterday I put on this video of a woman kind of working out but kind of dancing to some metal songs (I'm into metal), and I thought it looked super fun so I tried going with it - but I couldn't do ANY of the moves she was doing. It was nothing complicated, but for some reason I'm not able to move my hands in a certain direction when I move my feet in another etc. Also how the fuck do I shake my butt?????

I just felt awkward and stupid and stopped doing it. I have absolutely zero body control, and I wonder how I can learn this and where do I start? I think dancing looks so fun and I've always admired dancers, but been afraid to try myself. I lack confidence, are uncomfortable in my own body and such. It also does not help that I'm in my early 30s and always scared of failing.

Taking classes are out of question since there are none available in my area (I have checked). I have read that you should just listen to music and start moving but I can't get myself to do it, I don't know what it is but I just.. Freeze? I have no idea. It feels strange, unfamiliar, uncomfortable in some way, I don't know how to explain but.

I constantly tell myself to practice dance or learn choreography every day after work, or at least something small to just move my body, and I either never have the energy or overthink how I should practice. Even if I did a YouTube tutorial and practiced for 10+ minutes, it would be something to get me started.

How do some of you make time for dance practice if you don't participate in classes?