#1 LEARN YOUR TIMING AND CREATE Awareness FOR Music
Having a reliable sense of timing and rhythm is a crucial for any good ballroom dancer and it’s one of the things which can distinguish an amateur from a professional. Our interpretation of music when dancing to a song is very powerful, and any inaccuracies quickly gives the viewer an idea that things aren’t working quite right.
At a beginner level, it is your responsibility to dance on beat so you can lead or follow your dance partner and execute movements on time. As you improve your skill to recognize tempo, beat, and song structure you’ll find yourself being able to express more in your body and have more fun. In essence, timing is a foundational element of being able to dance with a partner. Musicality is what brings that dance to life. Learning more about rhythm, tempo, phrasing, melody and accents is worth spending the time and effort if you want to become more sophisticated dancer.
#2 Mastering Your Basic Steps
Learn the building blocks to each dance style. All complicated choreographies are made out of basic steps. A trained eye can always spot the inspiration basic step that pros are using to develop something new and intricate. These are the foundational steps to everything in ballroom dancing. You can never practice your basics enough but make sure that you don't get stuck on wanting to learn only basic technical elements and never find your own style and interpretation to the basics. Bellow is an example for those of you who want to try this advice in your next practice.
Do your Cha Cha basics on time
Do you basics in all directions (forward/backward, side to side and diagonally)
Transition between each basic step smoothly without hesitation
#3 Film Your practices
Don't be shy! The camera can be a great substitution of your dance partner or your dance teacher. The best thing is if you have a video of your dance teacher demonstrating the part you will be practicing so when recording yourself you have a point of reference to compare both versions. Be patient and remember one thing when you are watching the video, your teacher has more experinece and they've been doing it from a long time. Instead of being too tough on yourself and get discouraged use the video to give yourself a constructive criticism to better yourself. Don't be afraid to laugh at yourself.