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So, you think you are a bad dancer? I am a dance teacher/ choreographer working with high school aged students who usually have zero dance experience. Let me tell you, being a dancer is not a talent you must be born with Dancing is a talent anybody can learn if they are committed enough.

Dance is the most revealing form of communication because it is visual. When you dance everybody can see what you are doing and they are constantly interpreting/ analyzing what you are doing. A dance tells a story and the audience is trying to follow the story.

Beginning dancers often feel it is difficult to practice or perform dance routines because they do not feel confident in what they are doing.

Making mistakes is natural when you are learning a new skill. Unfortunately, somewhere along the lines we started thinking that we must always be perfect, successful and that we must never allow ourselves to look silly or to fail.
If we are never willing to put ourselves out there and try something different we will never get a change to succeed. Easier said that done right? This is because our natural tendency is to avoid the unfamiliar. We like to feel secure and we like to know what to expect. However, change and risk are required if you are striving for greatness or just trying to break a vicious cycle. I tell my students this everyday.
I teach dance at the high school level and often times I am asking my students to try something they have never done before. Those students who are insecure or self-conscious are the first ones to start talking themselves out of trying the activity or dance move. The phrase that they use (that I absolutely hate hearing) is "I can't do that". The minute they say that phrase they have already begun to give up on themselves.

Being afraid to mess up or look silly is a huge issue for beginning dancers and it is the reason so many people believe they aren't good at dance. Believe me I did not come from the womb as a dancing star. I have looked silly many times and I have had my share of nasty falls and mess-ups. The difference between me and the average person wanting to dance is this: I did not stop trying or give up when I sucked.

So much of life is based on attitude and perceptions, if you tell yourself you are a bad dancer then you will be a bad dancer. If you truly want to improve then you need to allow yourself the freedom to make mistakes, you must be forgiving of yourself and you can never give up.

In the beginning it is easier for dancers to practice

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