Dancing Through the Recession

In one of our classic posts, I encouraged dancers looking to save money by switching their private lessons from a group of dances, to a single specialty dance.  But what the heck is a specialty dance?

Try the Veal: It’s Our Special This Week

A specialty dance is not a dance a studio puts “on sale,” though teachers may discount lessons in a style they want to promote.  Nor is it a dance that a teacher happens to focus on and excel in, though many teachers to specialize in a favorite dance.  Rather, a specialty dance is a dance that exists outside the normal competition and social ballroom dances, and as such usually has a following outside ballroom culture that focuses almost exclusively on that single dance.

This is, of course, a very loose label because what’s considered a “normal” ballroom dance will vary from location to location.  Argentine tango, for example, is very popular among some ballroom communities but quite rare among other communities.  That said, it has its own culture, its own followers who may dance Argentine tango almost exclusively (including associated dances: tango, milonga, vals) and quickly develop skill in this one style.  Other specialty styles include:

• Lindy hop.
• Blues.
• Balboa.
• West coast swing.
• Hustle.
• Salsa.
• Bachata.
• Cumbia.
• Nightclub two-step.
• Polka.
• Country two-step.
• Peabody.

Note that many of these dances may overlap within their communities.  Lindy hoppers will often know balboa and blues.  Salsa dancers frequently learn bachata.  Country dancers often take on the polka.

Why Bother?

The benefit of learning a specialty dance – aside from adding another dance to your repertoire, being able to join a new dance community, and the thrill of dancing in general – is that one need only pay for private lessons in one dance while developing technique applicable to all dances.

Most specialty dances place a great deal of emphasis on partnering, even more than classic ballroom and Latin dances, and this ability crosses over.  Salsa dancers usually develop amazing turning ability.  West coast swing dancers have the best partnership connections.  And I remain absolutely convinced that everyone should learn polka as a prerequisite for learning Viennese waltz.

Furthermore, most specialty dances run their own competitions which are usually less – often much less – than equivalent ballroom competitions and feature many more opportunities to dance.  If you’re trying to compete on a budget, this is one of the best ways to keep your costs down.

Finally, many teachers for specialty dances charge less than ballroom teachers do.  While we don’t recommend stopping your training to completely focus on a specialty dance, if you need to stretch your budget for a period, while continuing to improve your core skills, try a specialty dance!

This entry was posted on July 12, 2009 at 12:01 AM and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.