Learning to dance -- Which style?

[kingme]

So I have heard dancing is a good thing to do on a date but I don't know the first thing about dancing and would like to learn. I've been looking at classes in my area but I'm not sure which to take. There are classes for ballroom dancing, latin dancing, salsa dancing and jazz dancing. I was wondering which is a good one to start with, like which would be fun to do on a date and maybe might not require the girl to know but to just follow my lead (if that's even possible). I'm in my mid-20s if that helps.

[machiavelli]

Jazz dancing is a term used mostly for stage style stuff, like on broadway. Won't be super-useful.

Essentially, there are three broad groups of dance. Partner dance, club dance, and art dance. Partner dances include things like waltz, tango, salsa, blues etc. -- the "ballroom" sorts of things. Club dances are just what they sound like. Art dances are things like ballet, modern, lyrical, jazz. There's some overlap in the borders (a hip-hop dance class could be taught as an art dance or as a club dance, ditto with things like breaking, popping and locking, etc.)

I'd say learn about the different partner dances and pick something that fits your personal style. For example, for me, I like blues way better than I like salsa -- both are sexy, but blues feels smoother to me, less jerky/discontinuous, more like how I like to move.

Also, any kind of dance will help you be more confident and powerful in your body, as will other movement disciplines (e.g., martial arts).

(speaking here as someone who has tried out numerous kinds of dance, done martial arts at various levels of seriousness, etc.)

[Chaos]

Try not to approach it from that point of view. Learning to dance (whatever) is improving your lifestyle and would probably land you more ladies, but if that's the only reason you're doing it then you'll stop as soon as you either get a relationship or don't get the results you're looking for.

So basically whatever you do you have to like it by the dance itself, mostly because improving equal practicing so if you don't like it then you won't practice and therefore you won't improve.

What you should do is try different styles, you'll know the one that you like when you start. The first salsa class I went to I came out of it having had a great time, I enjoyed the whole class, even when I was uncomfortable because I didn't know even the basic step.

[kingme]

oh actually, i've always wanted to learn how to dance just for myself, like it's a genuine thing. i was actually waiting till i was in a relationship to start learning because, for some reason, i thought you needed a partner to take lessons which you don't. and i just had a date that went no where because we didn't really do anything, so in trying to come up with more interesting things to do i heard you could go dancing, so i figured i could kill two birds with one stone and start learning now.

but lessons are expensive and my time is a little limited, so that's why im just kind of looking for like some info on the different types of dancing before i sign up for one. i have tried searching on youtube but everything is like a tutorial video that just shows the basic steps and its hard for me to get a sense of what the dance actually is. and i don't know, are some too complicated that if the girl doesn't know how to do it we won't be able to dance? yeah, i hear what you're saying, pick one that you like, but what if i like both one that is too complicated and one that is simple enough that she can dance w/o knowing how, i'd want to start with the one that i could get the most out of. or maybe it doesn't matter because they're all too complicated for a girl that doesnt know how to dance? or maybe this isnt even the right kind of dancing you would do on a date? like i don't know any of this and so, for instance, hearing that jazz dance is not really a partner-type dance, is really useful because i had no idea

[TeenWolf550]

I personally recommend either Salsa or Swing PREFERABLY BOTH if you can. Salsa can be sexy and is the foundation of other latin dances such as Rumba and Chacha; once you know salsa the others are easy. On the other hand, Swing isn't really sexy but it is insanely fun.

I want to learn blues, as it looks fantastic. I would also try that if you can.