Your perfect dance teacher will be able to combine your natural abilities with their dance knowledge to help you pull off the wedding dance that you want to do.  The more experience and knowledge a teacher has, the more tools they will have to help you learn faster and with less stress.

A high-level dance teacher has a trained eye to see the little problems that end up making learning to dance difficult and sometimes totally frustrating.  Yes, you’ll pay more per lesson for such a skilled teacher, but you will take fewer lessons, learn faster and enjoy yourself much more.

A high-level dance teacher will recognize that you’re not planning on becoming the next member on Team Canada, and not push you more than what you actually want to do. They’ll be able to assess your abilities and get it just right for you.

Without a doubt, dance lessons can help anyone, especially for those who feel that dance doesn’t come naturally to them.  Will you become the next Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers?  Probably not, but then again that’s probably not your goal for your wedding.

A good dance teacher can quickly understand your goals and assess your natural abilities.  From that base of understanding, a good teacher will teach you figures that perfectly suit you and your fiancé, and give you tips and technique that will help you learn it in the easiest way possible.

Dance lessons aren’t cheap, especially if you learn from a real dance teacher and not a self-proclaimed weekend socialite dancer, so you want to make sure that you get the most out of your lessons.

Your teacher should give you an outline from the first to last dance lesson so that you’ll understand the process you will be going through.  Within each lesson, you will become more comfortable in proper dance hold, and learn different techniques that will help the Groom to lead and the Bride to follow the figures that you’ve learned.  Notes that can help you remember what you learned are useful, although not too many teachers provide this service.

The more lessons you take, the more figures, turns, spins and dips you will learn and the more confident you will become to dance in each other’s arms on your special day.

The number of lessons needed totally depends on what you want to do for your dance.  If your main goal is just not to look uncomfortable and awkward on the floor in front of everyone, a couple of lessons will do the trick.  Yes, you’ll still be shuffling around the floor, but that’s okay… At least you will be doing it with confidence.

If you want to look like you are able to dance together, with a few more steps up your sleeve, then you’ll need about 4 lessons.  This will give you and your fiancé a chance to learn some basic step patterns and be able to match them with music.  A few simple turns, moves and spins will make up your wedding dance.

If you get excited about seeing dance scenes in your favourite movie or TV show, then here’s your chance to do it yourself!  A 7 lesson package will give your dance teacher the time to choreograph and teach you and your fiancé a dance specific to your wedding song.  It can be slow and romantic, fast and crazy or anything in between…whatever you want!

If you don’t want to do anything fancy, but you are somewhat of a perfectionist and feel that 4 lessons are just not going to be enough, you may also choose the 7 lesson package. Many people who have never danced before and tend to have performance anxiety choose the 7 lesson package in order to be as confident and at ease as possible.

The idea of dance lessons is often a very foreign idea to many people here in Vancouver. It’s just not part of our culture.  Many people look at TV shows such as ‘Dancing With the Stars’ or ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ and say that there’s no way they would want to do that.  However, dance lessons for your wedding dance don’t have to be that intense; they can be totally different.

Unlike our modern society today, the dance floor is still a traditional place where the man must take full responsibility in leading his lady.  It just looks too awkward when a lady is leading a man around the floor.

Therefore, dance lessons are very much about a man learning how to lead his lady and for a lady to follow the indications given by her man.  All the fancy steps, extra arm styling and emotional gestures are just optional additions to an otherwise very technical skill of leading and following.

For most wedding receptions, there is a transition from the formal sit-down events of the evening, such as the dinner and speeches, to the more informal dance party at the end of the evening.  It is customary for you, the Bride & Groom, to be the first couple on the dance floor.

Although there are no rules about how this first dance is done, if you are not used to dancing together, especially to your special song, this first dance can be a source of anxiety and stress.

Dance lessons will give you the experience and confidence to dance your first dance without stress, so that you and your fiancé can truly enjoy your time together on the dance floor.  Your dance can be anything from super simple, involving a few figures done through lead and follow, to more complex, involving a specifically choreographed number that wows everyone at the reception.

A good dance teacher will be able to help you with whatever you are looking for.