What is the best Ballroom Dance to learn first?

It is worth mentioning that everyone finds different things easy and therefore different things difficult and there is no ‘one size fits all’ for what the easiest dance is for everyone.

Having said that, from our 20+ years of Ballroom and Latin experience and teaching a wide variety of people from around the world, we know what people generally find easier and the answer may not be what you expected.

A lot of people tend to presume that a dance like the Waltz, with its slow tempo and only three beats per bar, would make it the easiest dance to get started with however it tends to be the Quickstep! Surprising, I know!

When watching Strictly Come Dancing, you may think of the Quickstep as being a lively, hop-skip-jumpy dance and whilst that is true for competitions, when danced socially this is a lot more calm.

Not only that but Quickstep repeats itself very quickly and doesn’t need to have corner groups. It’s possible to use your basics to bend around the corners before you have your first corner group such as your Spin Turn or Tipple Chasse. And once you have your basics, it is easy to add in your next basic group, the lockstep.

With the right tuition and guidance, all Ballroom and Latin dances can be made to feel easy and we highly recommend giving them all a go!

Speaking of which, one of the best Latin American dances to learn first would have to be the Cha Cha Cha. These basics also repeat themselves quickly with additional groups such as the New York’s or Hand to Hands being a nice change from the basic movement whilst still resembling a very similar action.

And once you have learnt the Cha Cha Cha, the Rumba basics will feel very familiar as they follow a similar pattern and technique. The differences being that the Rumba is slower and with a side step instead of your ‘side close side’ from the Cha Cha Cha. You may think that this makes the Rumba sound easier, however the holding of beat 1 (rather than stepping on it in the Cha Cha) can often make this a little fiddly at first.

If you are interested in learning to dance, we offer a wide variety of Beginner Courses throughout the year. Click below to see what courses we have coming up next!