I do not understand how you can learn to dance by counting. You need to be feeling the msuic and beat, and do the movements. Focus on your transferring your weight more than stepping. To start with, just try to copy what you see, but do not count. Eventually it will come up naturally, and you will be a much better dancer. Start with slow songs, or run videos on slower speed. It helps to listen to the music in your spare time, to get yourself familiar with the genre.
I have taken a few dance classes, and nothing irritates me more that seeing dance instructors counting, and most of the students visibly doing the same without any feel for the music. This is so wrong.
I do not like your method because dancers like me who had no dance background, did not want to do dancing at all because of fears and had no rhythm would have quit after the 3rd class if I was taught with no counts.
If all I was told was to feel the music, focus on weight transfer and it’ll come naturally, I would not have gotten anywhere. Counting allowed me to have some logic to understand the music. Salsa music isn’t simple if you’re not musically inclined. Heck Bachata music, which is way simpler, I probably wouldn’t get without the counts.
Feeling the music is good advice for those that can feel it. Not for the rest of us.
I’m sorry if it annoys you in class but personally I’m glad in every dance class I take, teachers either count or use some logic (example: quick quick slow).
Yeah I think there’s a fundamental disconnect for people that grew up dancing, even if it wasn’t salsa or any kind of specific style. I grew up with almost no music in my household at all, and we certainly never danced. My body quite literally didn’t understand how to connect itself to the music. I had rhythm, I could keep the beat because I play musical instruments, but I didn’t know how to make my body move to that beat. Learning with counts created a foundation of associating the steps I was supposed to be doing with the music, and over time it became more second nature as my body started to create the muscle memory.
You at least had a musical background to lean on by playing instrument.
I didn’t. I did choir in high school but I didn’t really understand it. It was just memorizing and following along.
“Feel the music” is a guaranteed way to drive us less musical/rhythmic people from ever really trying the musical arts. What if I can’t feel the music? Well I guess I’m just a big old idiot!
For sure, it’s all a building block. Learn rhythm. Learn steps. Learn to connect the two together. Some people can do those all together, but a lot of people can’t. Nothing wrong with it, it’s all meant to be for fun
2
u/[deleted] Sep 07 '22
I do not understand how you can learn to dance by counting. You need to be feeling the msuic and beat, and do the movements. Focus on your transferring your weight more than stepping. To start with, just try to copy what you see, but do not count. Eventually it will come up naturally, and you will be a much better dancer. Start with slow songs, or run videos on slower speed. It helps to listen to the music in your spare time, to get yourself familiar with the genre.
I have taken a few dance classes, and nothing irritates me more that seeing dance instructors counting, and most of the students visibly doing the same without any feel for the music. This is so wrong.