Contra dancing is distinctly not my thing (I don’t want to be told what to do), but I have done it and everything in that blog post is in line with my experience.
If you’re concerned about difficulty, I think merengue or bachata are great starter dances.
Otherwise figure out what music you like or makes you want to tap your toes and search out the dance that goes with that.
That is exactly what I was thinking about contra, it seems like the kind of thing where the reward and structure is best for beginners looking to learn broadly by trying everything but not as much as something to just go do often because the skill tree hits a wall quickly.
If I’ve learned anything its that I can learn everything, I think I’d be decent at dancing because I do things which I think might be dance-like in the kitchen where I turn parts of my body just a little bit more here and there to get the most reach and dexterity out of various parts, I’m not crazy flexible but I think I can go a bit more than most and I’m rather tall and lanky so everything feels better to just be moving often.
I think I got the favorite music part down, but ill have to consider what of the music I like is danceable, that’s a good tip I hadn’t considered, pretty much I’ll find a way to enjoy anything but I do have things I like more than others but its very all over the place.
I know of plenty of people who go monthly/weekly and have been for years. The pleasure is probably less in the learning and more in the doing of the thing. incidentally I feel similar about my other hobby of crochet. I have been doing it for literally decades and still mostly do beginner rated patterns because I just like making a thing with yarn.
Contra dancing is distinctly not my thing (I don’t want to be told what to do), but I have done it and everything in that blog post is in line with my experience.
If you’re concerned about difficulty, I think merengue or bachata are great starter dances.
Otherwise figure out what music you like or makes you want to tap your toes and search out the dance that goes with that.
That is exactly what I was thinking about contra, it seems like the kind of thing where the reward and structure is best for beginners looking to learn broadly by trying everything but not as much as something to just go do often because the skill tree hits a wall quickly.
If I’ve learned anything its that I can learn everything, I think I’d be decent at dancing because I do things which I think might be dance-like in the kitchen where I turn parts of my body just a little bit more here and there to get the most reach and dexterity out of various parts, I’m not crazy flexible but I think I can go a bit more than most and I’m rather tall and lanky so everything feels better to just be moving often.
I think I got the favorite music part down, but ill have to consider what of the music I like is danceable, that’s a good tip I hadn’t considered, pretty much I’ll find a way to enjoy anything but I do have things I like more than others but its very all over the place.
I know of plenty of people who go monthly/weekly and have been for years. The pleasure is probably less in the learning and more in the doing of the thing. incidentally I feel similar about my other hobby of crochet. I have been doing it for literally decades and still mostly do beginner rated patterns because I just like making a thing with yarn.
Yeah I’m just saying difficulty is not an issue