Partner Dancing: Ballroom and Latin

Foreword on the Goddard Method of Ballroom and Latin Dancing

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Some key themes and principles running through this book.

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My book aims to be the key that unlocks your understanding and potential so you can get the most out of dance classes, private lessons, social dances and on-line presentations.

How to do dance moves is standard practice, how to interpret this standard practice is what my book is about.

I have deliberately picked similar dance moves, and description styles on how to execute the moves, to show patterns and links. Other books concentrate on the technical side of dancing, whereas my book emphasises the pattern/spirit in easy-to-remember key points. It also includes technical information on how to improve your dancing as you gain experience.

There are many and varied dance steps which can be performed in a variety of holds, too many for me to mention all of them in this book. So I have focused on a select few as a quick-start guide to dancing. Once you have tried them in the order I have suggested, you can fit them together in different combinations.

The box below is what a Goddard tip looks like – where you see one, it is one of my key things to remember, to help you improve your dancing.

Chapter 1 Sharing my Dance Experiences and Introducing the Goddard Method of Ballroom and Latin Dancing

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Dancing is Fun - Let’s enjoy it together

The reason I wrote this book is that people can get overwhelmed with the level of detail in lessons, books and YouTube videos. I want to get across to readers an executive summary level of detail; so I have written instructions that break down dances into bite-size chunks to help you better understand what you are doing when taking lessons, looking at reference guides or perhaps learning new moves with a partner.

Dancing is a continuous journey of life-long learning. This book will give you the information you need regardless of whether you are a complete beginner or an experienced dancer. 

When attending dances and dance classes, I have noticed that people have the same issues, regardless of how long they have been dancing:

Too much focus on ‘what’ to do,

not enough on ‘when’ and ‘how’.

My instructions will show you ‘what’, ‘how’ and ‘when’; plus the key principles you need to know to make techniques work.

My aim is to give you advice, encouragement and guidance on how to do everything; from taking your first steps on the dance floor, to improving your technique - even after years of practice.

You'll find information on:

What you need to know to get started – where to go, what to wear, and so on.

Basic dance steps - first step guides for Ballroom and Latin.

More advanced dance steps - guides to taking things further.

Technical points – to really help you improve your dancing.

Are you ready? Let's get started!

Chapter 2 Before You Start Dancing

What Should I Wear?

There is no dress code for