Thanks v much for the advice. I was thinking of seam continuing onto heel so should be good. If I started going for the sides and front as well it would just overcomplicate things. When I finally find THE latin shoes I am probably going to be a bit more creative.

I had a really good lesson tonight. It's funny, when I started I was much more into latin and saw ballroom as almost something I had to get through at the beginning of the lesson before I could dance latin. Now I'm really getting into ballroom. I think maybe it's one of those things where you have to know the basics before it will "feel good." I used to feel quite awkward and clumsy and constantly like I was just looking stiff but I really really enjoy it now and feel quite elegant (some of the time anyway.) Dancing with my teacher is just lovely too - he's so good at what he does it makes me better at what I have to do. He's really pushing me at the moment too and I'm really loving it. One year in and I've come a really long way.

Thats great Ellie, keep it up. I used to be a latin girl too, dancing mainly latin with my then partner in comps, with just a token ballroom. I really didn;t like ballroom at all, I looked upon it as old fashioned when I first started - how wrong was I. My current partner didn't dance latin to a very high standard, being very tall didn't help, but he was definitely a ballroom dancer. Once I started to learn how to dance properly, I loved it. I love the challenge of learning. Quickly going back to stoning of shoes, the reason why I would err on the side of caution in both ballroom and latin, as you only want to draw attention to your feet, if they are nice/good feet ?
Everyone knows the importance of good posture, structure, frame and poise but 1 piece of advice I would give to work on, is to really feel your weight going into the floor even in ballroom. There must be foot pressure into the floor, when you are on standing leg, to be able to move powerfully. A lot of people think ballroom is nice and light and floaty - it of course is an illusion. The body and top etc will give a lifted and light look but there is a great deal of pressure into the floor and very strong legs working underneath. Remember to never straighten your knees, keep them flexed, Continue to work on keeping the legs soft. Lots of ankle strengthening exercises will help. I love the power and elegance of ballroom, we really shift around the room, this is not shown on SCD at all. Instead of the duff singers they bring on for the results show, I wish they would have a dem by a top couple. I was watching the World Pro Ballroom Champs at Blackpool last weekend and they could easily have arranged it for any one of those couples to be on the show. Even though the floor is small, I'm sure they would cope..

I see that this thread has now been re-named and I am pleased about that, I apologise if I have upset some by doing so. I see that I have been refered to as "silly" in another thread, am I bothered ? Not at all.
I started this thread as I thought it may be a good idea to have a thread JUST for questions, be it technical or otherwise, relating to those dances shown on SCD, which in the main, as its the basis of the show, are Ballroom and Latin. I like to be able to help and there are other very knowledgeable dancers and professionals out there, also able and willing to help those that may have questions.
I don't believe that by having a thread based around questions and answers, rather than discussions, is causing a divide. I just wanted this to be Q & A rather than pages of discussions and video clips, as there are many other threads for that.

Just to clarify Jennifer I did not refer to you as silly. I only meant that to me creating a division of discussions between those of us who dance the international 10 and those of us who dance 'alternative' styles was silly and to me deeply saddening.

As I said I think there is more that unites us than divides us and one of the pleasures of having shared a thread with you and other international ballroom dancers is to share, exchange and compare.

As I said it just makes me feel very sad but there it is.

I appreciate you taking time to respond, but why do you feel there is a divide ? It is simply a thread that I wanted just for questions and answers to ballroom and latin, which is where I have knowledge. It surely is no different to the thread entitled " Argentine Tango Talk"...which implies its just for AT fans. Its just another thread, just another topic thats all. People don't have to read and they don't have to contribute, which is how I feel about the AT threads, Just not my cup of tea. There are enough AT threads and I just wanted to keep this on topic. If it falls gracefully off the front page, then so be it. I hoped by putting the word questions in the title, it would keep on topic but more and more AT discussions and video clips appear which could have been better placed on one or more of the other threads started especially for AT.

So interesting that you started off preferring latin! I was thinking about why latin is more "accessible" last night and to me - learning the cha cha I felt like I had a bit more of a frame of reference because I am always first on a dancefloor at a club/disco. Of course it doesn't actually help you in anyway because there is still tons of technique in the latin dances but it's more like instant gratification. I was like "wow, I must look sooo good doing this!" then only realised later I looked a bit pants because I didn't have any grasp of the technique.

With ballroom you can't really kid yourself that you look good until you can dance to a certain standard! if you'd told me a year ago (or even a couple of months tbh) I'd be dancing a foxtrot and really really enjoying it I would not have believed you!


Aha, that's true. I think what I do are the medallist comps (where you dance against other people in your grade eg under 35 pre bronze etc) and I'm under 35 social dance... there are definitely people in my category who have clearly been dancing for AGES and have much much better technique than me so maybe not a good idea to shout to the judges "hey, I really really want you to look at my feet!) This is also a reason why I don't get that mad about the "ringers" on scd because it's not like any dance competition is going to be a hundred per cent fair



This is something my teachers working on with me at the moment. I find it really difficult for a number of reasons but I think if I was a bit stronger in general that would help. I start to feel unstable and grip onto my partner too much if I'm consciously using the standing leg to power myself onto the other foot - then I start to lose the connection with my partner and go all stiff up top. It's one of those things I understand intellectually but will take a lot of practice indeed to even approach getting right. And i'm fine with that because, to be honest, I love the journey!


I completely agree. To see the couples who are really at the top of their game in either latin or ballroom on scd would be amazing. Do you have any footage you could recommend? Particularly in ballroom...

If you want either teaching videos or to see the basics done well, I would always recommend Karen & Marcus Hilton, or even Mirko Gozzoli / Alessia Betti....stunning even in the basic figures. Any dancing videos that have Katusha Demidova/Arunas Bizokas or my current favourites Andrea and Sara Ghigiarelli are always worth a look. Kaycee or Bendymixer would be able to advise re latin I would think. Hope you enjoy them

Franco Formica and Oxana Lebedew
Sergey Sukov and Melia
Joanne Leunis and Michael

all have great videos on youtube demonstrating basic Latin routines. Either put in their names or "Basic chacha" and the name of your choice.

They will of course lead you to loads of other "learn to....." videos, but I would beware of some that look as if they are in a dance school. Not that I'm saying there's anything wrong with dance schools - VERY FAR FROM IT - it's just that a lot of these vids are from American schools and are likely to be based on American Rhythm rather than the International style danced in UK which is quite different, and can get confusing.

Trouble is this thread is named "Ballroom and Latin American Dance Questions" - which covers AT, Salsa, Merengue, Cumbia, Bachata and others.

Very few Latin Americans dance "Ballroom Latin".

Is "Ballroom Latin" ordinarily called "Latin American" or just "Latin"? Just wondering.

When people specifically say Ballroom and Latin American dances" they are almost certainly referring to the 10 dances that are used in competition.

AT, salsa, mambo, swing, etc., do not come into this category at all. So, if this is a thread for ballroom & Latin dances, and there is already one for AT, perhaps there should be another thread to cover salsa etc., which some people refer to as Club Dances.

Most people who dance the 10 competition dances would just refer to 'Latin'.

Thanks.

Thank you for your help. Ive been dancing now with my wife for around 7 years and have both achieved distinction for our gold medals in ballroom but don't really want to go any further with it just enjoy the social side. I know what you mean with youtube but there are some good lectures on there and I just want to improve the flow of the foxtrot making it smooth. I still feel its like Sloooow quick quick sloooow etc. and it can be seen in the top line which the pro's don't show, their top line is so smooth. I will try and follow your advice above and work on that.


Our teacher we only have every other week and he says it looks very good but I'm my worst critic, it doesn't feel good. I see the pro's and want it to be like them. When I mention youtube he rolls his eye's and says you don't want to follow that, he doesn't even watch strictly

Glad to hear you are working on the quality, that really is the way forward. Continue to work on the smoothness, rolling through feet, working on linear swing etc, it will pay dividends if you ensure the posture and frame doesn't break down. Good luck with it. Practice makes perfect.

I felt that Frankie was struggling to keep up with Kevin in that jive.
Do you think he should have toned himself down slightly to avoid outdancing her?

I'd be intrigued to find out what everyone thought of the dances tonight? Who was the worst/best from a dancer's point of view?

I think Kaycee and Bendymixer will be better qualified to answer this, but I thought Frankie did well and I didn';t actually feel that Kevin did out dance her but I did feel she picked up her knees and pumped her legs well, I would have liked a little more bounce. However I do know that when I have seen competitive jive, the men always seem to "outdance" the ladies, jive just seems to be a good dance for men. Look forward to hearing what the Latin experts think.

I spent quite a long time watching Katusha and Arunas before SCD came on tonight and I think it may have been a bit of a mistake to watch such amazing dancing before SCD!

Thanks to all for the recommendations (the only one I didn't need was Michael and Joanna - I actually saw them in the flesh quite recently and fell totally in love with the both of them) - lots to keep me busy!

Tbh I just really like watching videos of people dancing to such a high standard. Doesn't have to be "how to"/basic videos (though I like those too because I actually recognise the steps.)

I think you might have chased them all away.

Perhaps, but I doubt it.

EDIT: Nevermind. Thought better of it.

I was on the front row of the Worlds last week and just to witness the sheer power, speed and control of these couples was just amazing. Could have caught a cold from the draft when Arunas and Katusha went past in pivots. So silent.
Would love to see any of the top couples on SCD, doubt that would happen in reality. These magnificent dancers work so very hard to make it all look easy.
Great to watch the teaching clips, I watch these even now and there is always something to learn, not the steps, but the way in which you dance them.

It is quite insane that they don't book the top dancers. I think they had michael and joanna on there once, and dwts had riccardo and yulia.

I've seen a few people speak negatively of the really high calibre competitive dancing so maybe the producers think people won't get it. It's a great shame... yes there is great precision and enormous amounts of technique but it's still beautiful, soulful and amazing to watch. It's almost like there's a perception among some that having brilliant technique destroys the soul of the dance... I think it helps you express it.

And yes I agree about the teaching clips. I remember googling "basic cha cha" when I first started and watching a video (I think it may have been oxana and franco) and thinking "in what world is that BASIC?!" Now I recognise a lot of the steps and see that yes, the steps are basic... but the way they are performed is not. It is quite inspiring to think how amazing those basic steps can look. Makes me content not to rush ahead and learn flashy stuff badly but instead focus on learning the basics well first.

I remember when I was a low grade latin dancer, when I started dancing. I was bored with dancing the basics, which was all I was allowed to do at that level, in comps. I wanted to do all the exciting stuff. I recall seeing Barbara McColl dance a basic rumba and I was blown away, it was so beautiful I barely recognised it. I never looked at the basics of any dance in the same way again. They are the foundation of good dancing.

I've just done that on here as well.

Oh please spill the beans, I'm intrigued now!