To Mambo, fox trot, or rumba?

[transferred post]

This is a thread that was started in our old BlissWeddings.com forums by daydreamer8595 on 9/03/01.

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posted by daydreamer8595

Hi,
It has alwyas been my dream to do a mini dance performance at my wedding. My Fi is willing but neither one of us has any, but absolutely any training. How soon should we start taking lessons (Wed in 5/02)I'd like us to do a slow dance initally and then a salsa routine after the main dinner to kick the night off. Also which is prettier/easier mambo or rumba?

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posted by Jeff Allen

It has been my experience that a couple with good athletic skills can make a dance fairly functional or in other words to dance along with the music using reasonable transitional skills (the ability to move from one figure type to the next) in about 5 hours of private lessons. This would allow for about 5 - 10 dance figures depending on the couples ability and the choice of dance.
These however are very basic figure types and NOT necessarily a show. The good news is that so few wedding couples and or their guests know how to dance that this level can become very entertaining and a lot of fun.

If you dance a Rumba (a good choice for a first dance) at around 30 bars of music per minute for let's say for two (2) minutes you would be required to dance the very basic figure or any derivative of the basic 30 times in two minutes. A basic Rumba figure takes 2 bars of music to complete. What does this mean to you? Practicing your "butts" off to under gird your lessons (homework) and to avoid great amounts of figure repetition you will need at least 15 hours of private lessons. The skill and expertise of your chosen instructor also has a lot to do with this. Find an independent studio or teacher that allows you to purchase lessons by the hour and works to accomplish your desired goal rather than some contractual commitment that may take you away from it. Rumba and Salsa (apart from the speed of the music) are very similar in appearance and if done well I love them both. Always take into consideration the length of your gown when choosing a dance or specific dance figure.

For the perfect wedding dance
video & booklet, "The Complete
Guide to Slow Dancing,"
http://www.quickstartbooks.com
For the Quickstart Series
of dance books see:"The
First Step," at this site!

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posted by MrsLeighAnn

Start now!

Seriously, it is never too early. I thought we would take a few lessons (started as a birthday gift, not prep for wedding) and we would be like pros in no time. Boy was I wrong! While we learned the basic steps pretty quickly, it took us months to really feel comfortable and able to improvise on the dance floor. But it is something that we love, and continue to do even after the wedding. Going on 2 years of private lessons now (focusing mostly on swing, but startging to learn salsa).

have fun! it is like a date every week with your fiancee/husband!