Which dances should I learn?

[jac1976]

Hello! My family and I are taking a trip on the Queen Victoria next summer. My father as well as my father in law are coming along as well. This will be my dad's first trip with Cunard and he is very excited for the whole ballroom experience. It will be nice for me as well since my husband is not a big dancer. I thought for a holiday gift I would sign my dad and I up for a few dancing lessons so we can dance together on the ship and at least look like we know what we're doing. :-) Does anyone know the specific types of dances I should request we learn?

 

Thank you!

[cunardaddict]

Hello! My family and I are taking a trip on the Queen Victoria next summer. My father as well as my father in law are coming along as well. This will be my dad's first trip with Cunard and he is very excited for the whole ballroom experience. It will be nice for me as well since my husband is not a big dancer. I thought for a holiday gift I would sign my dad and I up for a few dancing lessons so we can dance together on the ship and at least look like we know what we're doing. :-) Does anyone know the specific types of dances I should request we learn?

 

Thank you!

 

You should be able to enjoy the Queens Room by dancing Walsh and Foxtrot. A Viennese Walsh would be a bonus.

[Midsomer Madness]

Waltz, foxtrot, quickstep and cha cha cha and jive, they tend to do lots of the first three and not so many of the latter two! You will only need to learn the basic steps as the dance floor is best suited to social dancing, although there are always some who will try and take over the dance floor with elaborate moves! Have a great time :)

[Strictly Ballroom]

You should be able to enjoy the Queens Room by dancing Walsh and Foxtrot. A Viennese Walsh would be a bonus.

 

 

Jac1976. . . I should point out here, that if you and your father are American, you may want to specify to the studio that you want to learn international style ballroom dances and international Latin!

 

If they teach you American Smooth ballroom dances and American Rhythm, you and your father will be able to dance together, but not necessarily with other passengers, or in your case, some of the dance hosts. Most US studios will teach you American Smooth and Rhythm as the default, you may have to shop around for a studio that even offers introductory International styles.

 

 

ETA: Also if in the States, a heads up that either Fred Astaire's and Arthur Murray studios teach their own separate syllabi apart from the usual bronze syllabi. You might want to look into a non-chain, independent studio!

 

 

I'm still hoping against hope that the QE World Cruise has some hosts that dance American style!

Edited December 2, 2013 by Strictly Ballroom

[Dancer Bob]

Good advice from Strictly Ballroom. But if you only want a few lessons, ask for Social foxtrot, which is essentially the same as American Smooth foxtrot. Quickstep is a fast version of social foxtrot. You can also use the figures for something that looks like tango. The American and International versions of cha-cha are quite similar. Americans tend to dance jive at a much slower tempo and call it swing, but the figures are also quite similar. If you are American, a USA Dance chapter might be a good place to start.

International styles tend to have a steep learning curve, not really worthwhile if your husband isn't much of a dancer.

Edited December 2, 2013 by Dancer Bob

[tigernut]

Jac1976. . . I should point out here, that if you and your father are American, you may want to specify to the studio that you want to learn international style ballroom dances and international Latin!

 

If they teach you American Smooth ballroom dances and American Rhythm, you and your father will be able to dance together, but not necessarily with other passengers, or in your case, some of the dance hosts. Most US studios will teach you American Smooth and Rhythm as the default, you may have to shop around for a studio that even offers introductory International styles.

 

 

ETA: Also if in the States, a heads up that either Fred Astaire's and Arthur Murray studios teach their own separate syllabi apart from the usual bronze syllabi. You might want to look into a non-chain, independent studio!

 

 

I'm still hoping against hope that the QE World Cruise has some hosts that dance American style!

 

It's interesting to read that you're hoping to have dance hosts that dance American style.

 

On some of the Cunard cruises I've sailed on, I found that the dance hosts did dance 'American style' and it was really quite different to the way we dance ballroom in the UK.

[Strictly Ballroom]

It's interesting to read that you're hoping to have dance hosts that dance American style.

 

On some of the Cunard cruises I've sailed on, I found that the dance hosts did dance 'American style' and it was really quite different to the way we dance ballroom in the UK.

 

I'm crossing my fingers to be honest! My strongest style competitively is American Rhythm, although I do know basic Latin, I compete both at the Bronze level. I'm Silver level in American Smooth, but I've never so much as danced a step of International Standard. The idea of being in hold all the time is very daunting, I really enjoy the freedom of Smooth! :D

[BobBranst]

If they teach you American Smooth ballroom dances and American Rhythm, you and your father will be able to dance together, but not necessarily with other passengers, or in your case, some of the dance hosts. Most US studios will teach you American Smooth and Rhythm as the default, you may have to shop around for a studio that even offers introductory International styles.

 

OTOH, if you choose to dance at a typical US ballroom, the odds are that no one in the room will be dancing International Style. However, my wife and I have decided to learn the International Style Quickstep just for dancing on our QM2 crossings.

 

Bob

[dancer11]

Learning a social level of foxtrot is manageable in a few lessons, enough to get by and enjoy yourself. I'd stick to that and chacha if I were you. We are gold level dancers in American style, but don't compete. After watching the beautiful dancing of the British and Australian passengers, we decided we'd learn the quickstep and Viennese Waltz. Almost 2 years later,incorporating it into our weekly lesson and dancing socially at least once a week, I have many days when I wonder why we branched out. They are HARD dances and if you continue dancing in the U.S. you will find they are rarely played.

During formal nights, the dance floor onboard will be very crowded. It's nice to go early and dance to the recorded music, when there are a lot fewer people.

[Dancer Bob]

I agree with dancer11, the live music sessions can be challenging, you'll probably find the recorded music much more fun.

[fantasy51]

Don't bother with Viennese Waltz as it is very difficult and you may only get one of them a night. Some nights on my last cruise we didn't even have one of these.

 

Cha cha seemed to be played a lot on the Queen Victoria, so this is worth learning.

 

The social foxtrot is a must. It is so easy that you could learn it in a few lessons.

 

As for Dance Hosts, most that I have danced with are American, and as one who has danced International Style, I have had to learn to adapt to the American style. That's fine. Every cruise differs, of course, but on my four cruises, the American dance hosts have predominated.

[Slow Foxtrot]

.... After watching the beautiful dancing of the British and Australian passengers, we decided we'd learn the quickstep and Viennese Waltz. Almost 2 years later,incorporating it into our weekly lesson and dancing socially at least once a week, I have many days when I wonder why we branched out. They are HARD dances and if you continue dancing in the U.S. you will find they are rarely played....

 

It's a mystery to me why American dancers find the Quickstep so hard to do. In the UK it's taught at every dance school and most social dances in the UK begin with a Quickstep. The chassis, locksteps and spin turns are quite easy to master and these will get you smoothly around the dance floor. It's true that at competition level many dancers jump up and down as though they are standing on hot coals but there's not much of this even at good social dances. As always, smooth basics always look better than attempting stuff that is beyond the average social dancer.

 

Dancer Bob is right about the basic Social Foxtrot. This is simple to learn and can be adjusted to several rhythms.

 

Foxy

[BobBranst]

It's a mystery to me why American dancers find the Quickstep so hard to do. In the UK it's taught at every dance school and most social dances in the UK begin with a Quickstep. The chassis, locksteps and spin turns are quite easy to master and these will get you smoothly around the dance floor.

 

I'm not sure that it is a matter of Americans finding the Quickstep hard. It is more of a matter of it not being taught in most dance classes and then not being able to find a place to practice the dance. In general, American dance bands simply do not know or play music for the quickstep. The best we have been able to do is to practice our Quickstep dance steps to faster foxtrot music. Not a perfect solution, but better than nothing.

 

Bob

[Dancer Bob]

Quickstep can be tricky on a crowded floor (that word "floorcraft" again) especially if your partner doesn't have a good grasp of basics like "toe pointing" on a quarter turn, or the body flexibility to handle stepping outside partner.

And any dance becomes boring if it's played too often.

[nez168]

I'm Silver level in American Smooth, but I've never so much as danced a step of International Standard. The idea of being in hold all the time is very daunting, I really enjoy the freedom of Smooth! :D

 

Strictly Ballroom,

 

You shouldn't have to worry. I am an international style dancer. I recently pair up with a smooth dancer for a company talent show. It took us 3 practices to get used to each other. After that we danced well. Some lessons learned in Waltz: for international style, lady starts with left foot. your twinkle to the right is natural turn. the twinkle to promenade to impetus, ...She is not used to closed position too long, either. So, I turned her from time to time like in Rumba:)