Uncomfortable Dance Truths

Uncomfortable Dance Truths

You’ve always thought about how awesome it would be to join a dance class. But when it comes time to join a dance class, there’s always a reason why you can’t do it. It’s on at the wrong time of the evening, you’re feeling tired today so maybe you won’t be feeling great come class day, or you’ve got something on for one of the class term weeks and so you shouldn’t go to any of them?

Sounds like the uncomfortable truth, right?

But… what if this wasn’t the real reason you were worried about going to a dance class? We know that you know the real truth behind your avoidance, and this blog post is about to help you blow that excuse away. So read on… if you’re game!


Uncomfortable dance class truth 1 – Everyone starts somewhere

Start Here.

You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. – Zig Ziglar

All of the great dancers, musicians and artists all sucked at their trade at the start.

Every. Single. One.

It will look weird. You’ll think you look bad. Every time you learn a new move you’ll feel like you’re slipping even further away from the goal of being a beautiful dancer. You’ll feel like everyone in class is staring at you and judging you (including that dancer in the mirror who looks a lot like you).

You’ll have fat ankles, fat bum, short legs, bad lines, horrible angles and really you’ll just feel bleh.

But guess what? That’s all in your head. You are judging yourself by the where you think you should be, not by where you are.

You’re in a class to learn how to dance. Not to bash yourself up with judgements. Let the teacher guide you in how well you are going. They will let you know when you need to make and adjustment.

You may even find… just maybe, you actually enjoy the feeling of moving without worrying about how you look, or if you have the right things happening.

Uncomfortable dance class truth 2 – It’s going to hurt

Unless you just happen to have tuned every muscle in your body to be perfect level, chances are you’re going to be using muscles you’ve not used before. And the day after you have a class, they’re going to hurt.

But, you can manage this. Make sure your teacher cools you down. In a cool down, you gently move and relax the muscles to try to make everything hurt a little less.

If you can’t remember what your teacher did, you could look up a few gentle stretches to ease those aches, have a bath in some Epson Salts or apply an oil or linament to help ease the muscle pain.

Also take a look at how much water you are drinking during class and after. The more hydrated you are the faster your muscles will recuperate.

Uncomfortable dance class truth 3 – It’s addictive

Dance generates dopamine in your brain. This is the chemical that makes you feel good, fell happy. The body feels great because the brain feels great.

Moving, unhindered, without any judgement feels GOOD!

And so it should. It’s fun.

No matter if you’re just starting out, or if you’ve been at it a while. It should be fun. When you get bogged down in the fine details or judging yourself, then it stops being fun and you need to go back to where things felt good.

As a beginner, just dance and not think about what you’re doing. You don’t have to be perfect. None of us are. But by just dancing and letting yourself be free within the music to do as you want to, then you are perfect. No matter what the rest looks like. Trust me.


Want to see what it’s like to give a dance class a try? Why not join in on one of APB Dance’s weekly classes?