Beginner Tips

I've recorded and released a web lesson and dance practice to give you guys something to work with while I work furiously around the clock putting together my jam-packed Level 2 DVD!  In the web lesson, I cover basic musicality to the song "Dangerous" by Kardinal Offishall featuring Akon.  I've covered transitioning moves in my Level 1 DVD, but here it is put to use dancing to a real club song.

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Also, at the request of some students, I've put up a forum.  It's empty right now because I'm super busy making a quality video for you guys (and girls), but I intend to get active on it once I release my Level 2 DVD. 

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In this second part in a series presenting the different nightclub music styles to beginners, this article presents urban music played in nightclubs - Hip Hop, Contemporary R&B, Reggaeton, and Funk .  Urban music is by far the most popular style rounding the clubs today.  Its roots stem from black culture and urban music is fantastic to dance to because of the freedom in style and interpretation.

Regardless of the music categories, dancing to Urban Music can generally be placed under hip hop dance, which includes breaking, popping, locking, and freestyle, amongst other styles.  I use elements from all these styles in my nightclub dance syllabus.

Whatever style of dance you do, what's important is musicality - how well a dance move fits the song.  For example, if the song has a hard, pronounced beat, such as in the below Kanye West song, then you definitely want to pop (flex your muscles to come to abrupt stops) at times.  If it has some soulful vocal sections, then perhaps some body waving or a slower, smooth dance move should be used.

If you have no knowledge about the different music styles/genres played in a nightclub, then this series of articles will help you sort out the confusion. By recognizing different styles of music, you can match your dance style to the music, have a lot more fun in the club, and show a bit of musicality to impress the ladies.

I generally prefer clubs that cater to a general club crowd (Top 40) and play a bit of each genre, so that I can switch up my dancing. though I go salsa dancing at least once a week to keep myself sharp as well as go out to a music-specific nightclub once a month. I've included samples from imeem.com (allow some time for the players to load).  If for any reason any of the links are down, contact me and I'll put up new playlists.

Introduction 

In this article of a series of three, I'll introduce some different categories of electronic dance music - specifically Club/Top 40 Dance, House, and Rave.  Rave is actually not a style, but it refers to music associated with a rave.  I've put the sub-styles together since this article is only an introduction and rave music isn't as pronounced in most nightclubs.

Electronic dance music is usually the easiest to dance to because of a consistent beat.  Regular nightclubs that play all kinds of music will often play a lot of Club Dance, some Classic House, and almost no Rave music.   However, if you find yourself on a dark nightclub with lots of lasers and lighting, and where only electronic dance music is played (no Hip Hop/R&B), then you'll hear a little Club Dance, some Hard House, and lots of Rave styles.

Club/Top 40 Dance

This style of electronic music is heavily associated with pop and is characterized by catchy vocals.  If you listen to a Top 40 radio station, it's the "danceable" songs you'll hear.   Madonna's current hits are great examples of Top 40 Dance as are songs by Kylie Minogue.  Visit Billboard.com's dance chart "Hot Club Dance Play" for more examples.  Often, pop songs are remixed to be danceable club songs and fall into this category.

If you've decided to become a better dancer and make going out to clubs or social events more enjoyable, starting out can be pretty intimidating.  You're more self-conscious and at times, feel like you'd rather hide in a corner.  Here are some tips to maximize your learning curve and get you moving forward.

1. Smile/Genuinely Have Fun

Standing around and looking tough is for bored tweens in a suburban skate park.  This is the easiest thing you can do that will get you better results.  If you're not in a good mood, at least you're faking it until you make it subconsciously.  You'll dance longer and feel energized to dance the next time around.  I wrote a full post about smiling here.

2. Don't Look At Your Feet

You hear this for any sport that involves your feet - skiing, skateboarding, tae kwon do.  The same applies for dancing.

It's easy to get self-conscious while dancing, especially if you've decided to move out of your comfort zone.  Looking at your feet averts eye contact with people who "might" be watching you fumble your new moves and shows lack of confidence.  The reality is that unless you're in a dance competition, no one really cares.  Practice your moves, fumble a bit, try again.  Feel free to ask friends or strangers how your dancing looks.  Just keep your head up.

3. Don't Bounce too Much

Often times a song is too fast in the night club and you can't do a basic two step to the song.  You have to dance to every other beat, or half time.  This is better explained in a video lesson, but essentially, suppose a fast dance song has 4 beats (1-2-3-4) repeated over and over again. 

For a basic two-step, you step left on 1 and step right on 3.  On beats 2 and 4, you're pausing or doing an inside kick, with the right foot then left foot respectively. 

What I see many of my students do is they bounce their heads and/or bodies on every beat, which for most night club songs, looks too bouncy.  For a two step, bounce only on 2 and 4, and the dance looks much smoother.  If you're bouncing to keep rhythm, try  subtly snapping your fingers or padding a hand against your hip instead.

Sometimes you go into a bar or a club for the sake of going out or because it's a Friday.  But you're tired - from work, a workout, don't like the scene, or "you're just plain tired".  The whole night falls apart, everyone seems to be having fun except for you, and you feel less inclined to go clubbing again. 

Hey, I've been there.  I once went on a three-year stint without clubbing because I was tired of the scene.  It seemed to repeat itself night after night.  Then I changed my state of mind (and outlook on life, for that matter), and everything changed.

Some people call a good mood state or being in the moment.

Being In The Moment

If you've never read any of Eckhart Tolle's work, I highly recommend you give it a try.  Start with The Power of Now, and if you find his work interesting, next read the highly popular A New Earth followed by Stillness Speaks.  He offers great exercises and tips on getting out of your head and enjoying every moment as it is.  Especially in a night club, this means just having fun without concerning yourself about what others might think of you, whether it be approaching a girl or doing a ridiculous jig on the dance floor.

It's not just applicable to the dance floor, but pretty much every moment in your daily life.

I'll try to translate his work for a bar or club environment.   Say you're standing on the sidelines, and you're not feeling like you're in the moment.   First accept the feeling.  Then observe it.   Don't think about it - don't think about what you want to say to a girl or how much the club sucks.  

It's like feeling sad, but consciously not thinking about why you're sad, but instead, just focusing on the feeling of being sad.  Your mind loses its reason to be sad, and the sadness disappears.

Just look at the negative feeling like it's some kind of entity in you.  It will go away, and you'll come out of it.  Then, with a slight smile on your face, look around the club environment.  All the tiny details - what people are wearing, the umbrella in a drink (which hopefully you aren't holding).  But don't think about it or judge anything.  Don't think about how skanky a girl is dressed, how uncomfortably loud the music is, how dirty the club is, etc.  Just let everything be.  

Without this judgement, everything just becomes "all good".  This is being in the moment.

Below are some other tips which will help get you into the moment.

Smile.

That's it.  Sound simple really, but it's something most guys miss, especially if you're learning new moves and trying them on the dance floor.  At other times, the music gets a little repetitive, and we lose momentum.  I know, I know - girls can dance the whole night with the same simple moves while we guys get bored.  The smile is the first thing to go, when in fact, it should be the last thing to go.  If you're running out of dance steam, do less energetic dance moves, but keep the smile.

Great Dancer, No Smile

This doesn't happen too often.  If you watch the show "So You Think You Can Dance", or any dance competition for that matter, you'll notice that all the performing dancers have a fixed smile the whole time, and frequently flash that smile towards the judges.  You won't be looking out at the audience, but your audience is the girl or group of friends you're with. 

I go salsa dancing often.  I've seen all the looks some guys do.  

I remember a few months ago, one of my dance partners was dancing with one of the best salsa dancers in the club.  He performed these incredibly low and dangerous dips and strong moves.

When they were done, I asked her,  "Wow.  How was that?", expecting a positive answer.

She replied, "It was weird.  Did you see that look he was giving me the whole time?"

I looked over.  The guy was giving this greasy suave look to the girl he was dancing with.

I've talked to many of my salsa partners who've told me that they get creepy vibes from some guys who don't smile, even guys who dance well.  They don't mind dancing with guys just getting into salsa, but don't like dancing with creepy guys.  You don't want to be creepy.  Once you're labeled creepy, it's an uphill battle to get in the good books of a girl.