Much Ado About Dance Lessons

Much Ado About Dance Lessons

April 19th, 2010 @ 5:50 pm by Miss Jellyfish
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A long time ago, we decided we wanted to take dance lessons before the wedding so that we wouldn’t look like 7th graders awkwardly swaying at their first dance.

Much Ado About Dance Lessons : wedding dance pleasanton 12 1

Awk-WARD.

Now, it’s less than 5 months to the wedding and I’m realizing we really need to get on this if it’s going to happen. The problem is that Mr. Jelly’s deploying at some point before the wedding, so if we start now, we will have a 2.5 month period where we won’t be able to practice together and we might forget a lot of what we learned. But starting the lessons when Mr. Jelly gets back seems cutting it too close. I guess this is just one of those times where I’m feeling sorry for myself for Mr. Jelly being gone so much.

Much Ado About Dance Lessons : wedding dance pleasanton 222 222

Still kind of awkward…but prettier. Source

On a more technical note, I’m not even sure where to start with lessons. Should we do group or individual? Individual lessons are probably more effective for the time-constrained, but they are a lot more expensive. Then there’s the issue of style: what kind of dance should we learn? Waltz? Foxtrot? Salsa? Rumba? Mr. Jelly seems to have no opinion other than “no waltz” (I get the sense that he thinks waltzes are too stuffy and formal; I think he hasn’t seen enough waltzes!).

Are you taking dance lessons for your wedding? What type of dance are you learning? Do you have any tips for what type of lessons to take?

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44 Responses to “Much Ado About Dance Lessons”

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Bee

Miss Hamster (message) 3,864 posts, Honey bee

Awww - love that first photo - especially your expression in it

4/19/10 @ 5:53 pm (reply)

Member

farmersdaughter (message) 1,658 posts, Bumble bee

We had 18 months to get on the dance lesson train…and with 2 months to go, we’re still not on it. I have a feeling this might go by the wayside for us….our PLAN was to do salsa.

4/19/10 @ 5:56 pm (reply)

Member

alivoo01 (message) 2,318 posts, Buzzing bee

This is a good question for Mrs. Piglet and like Miss Hamster - cute pic of you two. lol

4/19/10 @ 5:57 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Sewing (message) 2,430 posts, Buzzing bee

ruummba! haha. mr. sew and i checked out some dance instruction dvds once..then promptly decided to go with the ‘first sway’ instead. good luck with the lessons!

4/19/10 @ 5:58 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Dachshund (message) 666 posts, Busy bee

Haha! We have a month. Mr. Doxie’s idea of dancing is standing in one spot, swaying back and forth with his hands in fists up by his chests and his elbows down at his sides. You know the one?

We still don’t know what we’re doing for our first dance. We have the song, though!

4/19/10 @ 6:00 pm (reply)

Member

RedCactus (message) 124 posts, Blushing bee

I would recommend Individual Lesson with the time-frame you have. If you find that you enjoy dancing, you can always add group lesson later! Also it would help if you do individual lesson and he deploys, the teacher will later know where to pick up. I am sorry you guys have to be apart, but I am confident you will do just fine!

My husband and I did ballroom dancing in college, so we learned all of those dances. We actually couldn’t agree on a dance lol. I got to pick the first dance - which was a Foxtrot. He picked the Cake-Cutting Spotlight dance - which was a Tango.

Also if you have time, learning a little Swing, Salsa, and Cha Cha Cha will make the rest of the reception really fun.

Congratulations! I am so excited for you. It’s a lot of fun!!!!

4/19/10 @ 6:05 pm (reply)

Member

gill84 (message) 358 posts, Helper bee

We did swing, and it was fun! Good luck choosing. And we did a group class, and we definitely learned enough to be able to make do during our dance (I hope…)

4/19/10 @ 6:08 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Cardigan (message) 8,203 posts, Bee Keeper

We’re going to be learning the Rumba, but this summer we’re taking two group classes (so much cheaper!) to learn the Foxtrot/Waltz because our instructor said that they have really similar steps. So the plan is, we’ll take those two workshops to learn some basics, then in the fall we will take a few private lessons to get a more specific plan for our dance! Since we’re taking the group lessons first, we won’t need as many private lessons and it’ll be cheaper!

4/19/10 @ 6:09 pm (reply)

Bee

Mrs. Spaniel (message) 5,714 posts, Bee Keeper

We took two (individual) lessons for a “choreographed” first dance–we wanted to learn a specific dance for a specific piece of music. It was enough not to trip over each other, although if we had never taken dance lessons before, we might have needed an extra lesson or two.

If you want to dance in general and it’s not for a specific song, I’d do group lessons. A ballroom dancing class is always good, but certain kinds of swing dancing are pretty versatile. I think in 5 lessons you will be better dancers than most of your guests.

4/19/10 @ 6:21 pm (reply)

10.

Member

JoyfulBee (message) 51 posts, Worker bee

Dancing has always been something that I loved doing. The moment I entered college, I immediately joined the ballroom dance club and signed up for the dance classes as my “physical education” classes.

I believe that one of my earlier dates with my fiancé was a trip to one of the dance classes with the ballroom dance club. It just made my heart flutter, seeing this big guy try so hard to do something I loved! I’ve gotta admit that it made him that much more attractive, hehe.

Anyway, I asked him about our first dance, and he has agreed to let me choreograph it. What a sweetie! He knows that I know what he likes, what he can and cannot do, and I think he’d be much more comfortable with me doing the choreography. Ta-da!

4/19/10 @ 6:21 pm (reply)

11.

Bee

Mrs. French Bulldog (message) 7,030 posts, Bee Keeper

We took individual dance lessons… we took them for a few months and went once a week, but there were a other couples that took them for a month and went a couple times a week and did really well There’s hope!

4/19/10 @ 6:27 pm (reply)

12.

Member

10.10.10 (message) 110 posts, Blushing bee

My FI is a professional ballroom dancer, so we’re doing a medley of our favorite songs and including waltz, cha cha, and both east coast and west coast swing.

You will learn more in a quicker time frame with private lessons. However, if you’re on a tight budget, group classes are much more affordable. Ballroom dancing is an expensive sport.

4/19/10 @ 6:47 pm (reply)

13.

Member

traceylynne (message) 54 posts, Worker bee

You can do it!! We are also long distance (though not nearly the same as a deployment). We did a package of 5 individual lessons plus a free consultation. We played our music for the instructor who suggested fox trot and rumba and we have been learning some steps for each, and we practice on our own when we’re not together. Its probably been a month and a half since our last lesson since we haven’t been in town, but I think we’ll still be ok!! Good luck–I think its so much fun. Even if we don’t wow the guests, I smile THE WHOLE TIME we are dancing.

4/19/10 @ 6:47 pm (reply)

14.

Member

MarriedinMay (message) 71 posts, Worker bee

I’m glad you guys found a route that works for you but don’t hate too bad on the sway…a lot of us are going (or went) that route!

4/19/10 @ 7:10 pm (reply)

15.

Bee

Miss Jellyfish (message) 1,212 posts, Bumble bee

@MarriedinMay: Not trying to hate on the sway - works for many people, we just feel like we would look awkward. It’s a personal preference! Depending on if we can squeeze in lessons or not, we may well end up doing it too!

4/19/10 @ 7:23 pm (reply)

16.

Bee

Miss Pretzel (message) 1,510 posts, Bumble bee

Individual lessons all the way! I would let your dance instructor know what song you are dancing to, he or she can help you select the appropriate dance type

4/19/10 @ 7:26 pm (reply)

17.

Bee

Ms Potato Chips (message) 1,171 posts, Bumble bee

LOL at Mr. Jellyfish’s expression in that picture. Love it. We want to take lessons too but not sure if we’ll fit them in. Maybe you’d be able to do a couple classes now and one final one before the wedding?

4/19/10 @ 7:50 pm (reply)

18.

Member

amariem25 (message) 2,600 posts, Sugar bee

don’t do them. We took them and they made us so nervous and we felt uncomfortable. They ruined our first dance. I wish we would have just done the sway. We would have been more comfortable and had more fun. But we did dance lessons and it made us feel like we were putting on a dance show at our first dance. I would not recommend them.

4/19/10 @ 7:55 pm (reply)

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Member

sapphirebride (message) 1,094 posts, Bumble bee

We’re doing lessons starting about 6 months before our wedding. Like your fiance, I’m going to be gone a lot in the 6 months after that so there’s not much to be done about it. We’re doing a group ballroom series that teaches a new style of dance each week. We got a good deal on the classes so it seemed like the best way to go. We’re going to see whether we need a few individual lessons after that.

4/19/10 @ 7:56 pm (reply)

20.

Member

Hgiel46137 (message) 21 posts, Newbee

We pretend to do the 7th grade awkward dance all the time at home. We’re actually thinking about starting off our first dance that way as a joke. And maybe even shaking hands as our first kiss…haha.

4/19/10 @ 8:05 pm (reply)

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