5 Foundational Skills Every Good Social Dancer Should Develop
- Rafael Piccolotto de Lima
- Aug 20, 2020
- 3 min read
Updated: 3d
What makes someone a good social dancer?
Not necessarily an advanced dancer. Not necessarily someone with an impressive repertoire.
But someone who creates dances that feel functional, enjoyable, musical, and comfortable.
In social partner dancing, and especially in forró, good dancing is not built around only one skill. It emerges from the combination of several abilities working together.
The video below explores many of these same reflections in a more spontaneous and conversational way, based on my experience teaching and observing social dancing over the years.
Based on more than 20 years dancing forró socially, teaching weekly classes in New York City, and observing thousands of dances in classes, festivals, and parties, these are some of the most important foundational skills that strong social dancers tend to develop over time.
The ability to connect with the music
Musicality is one of the most important elements in dance. Musical dancers not only are able to identify the beat and dance in time, but usually interpret the music in a personal way and connect their movements to the sounds of a song.
A strong social dance is not only built on movement vocabulary. It is built on the relationship between movement and music.
If you want to explore this topic more deeply:
The ability to connect with a partner
Forró is a partner dance, a social dance. The ability to connect with a partner is a key element to a good partner dance.
Good social dancers are able to create empathy during the dance.
In many cases, even technically simple dances can become extremely enjoyable when there is attention, comfort, adaptability, and genuine interaction between both partners.
Over time, this sensitivity becomes one of the clearest differences between mechanical dancing and connected dancing.
Control of weight transfer and balance
The ability to control body movements, weight transfer, and balance is very important. It is essential to the proper execution of movements.
This body control facilitates the whole dance and enhances the possibilities of interaction with a partner.
Many dancers think mostly about “which movement comes next,” but the quality of movement itself often changes the entire feeling of the dance.
Good social dancers are not only thinking about where to move. They are also aware of how movement is organized inside the body.
A functional repertoire of movements
Dance is language, and good dancers know enough “words” and “sentences” to be able to communicate and be creative.
You don’t need to know a crazy number of moves or complicated sequences to be a good forró dancer, but you need a functional repertoire to keep the dance interesting and adaptable.
In social dancing, movements become much more meaningful when they can be adjusted to different partners, different songs, and different musical situations instead of being repeated mechanically.
Be able and willing to adapt
Each partner is different. Each song and music performance is different.
Good dancers have the ability to adapt and make the most of every dance.
This ability connects directly to number one and two on the list: it is the ability to change aspects of the dance to match the music and connect to the partner.
Adaptability is one of the clearest signs that someone understands social dancing as a shared experience instead of a fixed performance.
None of these elements exist in isolation.
Musicality affects connection. Connection affects movement choices. Body organization affects comfort. Adaptability affects everything.
Over time, strong social dancers learn how to integrate these elements naturally instead of treating dance as only a collection of movements.
And in many cases, this integration is exactly what makes certain dances feel memorable, even when they are technically simple.
If you want to continue exploring these ideas:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rafael Piccolotto de Lima is the Founder and Educational Director of Forró New York, as well as a Latin Grammy-nominated composer, arranger, and music director.
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