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You all think I'm going to say stuff such as "increase fitness" and "meet new people" etc. Well I'm not going to write about the stuff that might convince you to go to Dance lessons. I'm going to talk about why you might want to take Dancing out of the classroom and onto the Dance Floor.

If you are into learning to Dance for the first level reasons such as fitness or social activity, then that's great - enjoy yourself. However there is so much more to Dancing than that beginner level. If you are into Dancing for the competitions, that's great too - grab lots of trophies. There is however more to Dancing than that.

You will get out of Dancing what you put into it. If you strive to move from beginner level to intermediate level then you will discover a whole new world of dancing. Intermediate level dancing is like a drug. If you dance at intermediate level and can manage to get one dance with another intermediate dancer then its like a three minute high. You will go home having had the best time. Lets be straight about this, intermediate level is having mastered lead and follow. Intermediate level is not how many moves you know or how long you have been learning.

There is a down side to dancing at intermediate level though. Very few people can dance at this level and it can be very depressing if you don't have a dance partner at this level or if there are no dances to go to. Intermediate Dancing is a high but there can be the lows from rarely getting your fix of dancing.

I've often wondered why people seem so addicted to Dance lessons. My primary reason for going to Dance Lessons was to learn to Dance. It follows that at some point one would move from Lessons to Dancing. However many people never graduate from Lessons to Dancing - they just continue Lessons for life.

What's really odd, is that these self same people believe that the number of Lessons they have attended imbues them with some sort of karmic expertise. It's like using a simulator to learn to drive and believing you are an expert driver because you've attended simulator classes for a year - but never got into a real car.

My advice for anyone out there who wants to learn to dance is to go to lessons and after a couple of months get out there and Go Dancing! If you want Dancing to be more than a social occasion and would actually like to be good at dancing, then you do need to practice - and the only place to practice is the dance floor.

I once had someone tell me that they were an advanced dancer because they knew 23 advanced moves. Unfortunately knowing an "advanced" move does not make one an advanced dancer. A move is a move is a move. Some of the simplest moves executed perfectly can be a cause for pure joy. An "advanced" move executed poorly is uncomfortable to watch and to be involved in.

One of the best hallmarks of an intermediate dancer is the ability to lead or to follow. In a Male/Female partnership the male usually leads and the female usually follows. All dances that have partners involve lead and follow. Dances such as line dancing do not require leading or following. However line dancing does look better if all dancers are in synchronisation with both the music and each other. Partner Dances do require lead and follow and include Rock & Roll, Latin, Ballroom, Country Partner Dances, New Vogue/Old Time Partner Dances and the Salsa family of dances to name just a few.

If you are a beginner dancer with a beginner partner and are happy to stay beginners, then lead and follow simply don't matter to you. Enjoy your time on the dance floor. However for those who have experienced the sheer joy (if only for a brief moment) of dancing at intermediate level, lead and follow is the gateway to a profound joyousness seldom found in other activities.

I recently watched a couple dancing. To the untrained eye they looked like advanced dancers. They were fast, they moved together and they were having a fantastic time. However there was no lead and follow. How can two people look so good on the dance floor without lead and follow?

They use something that can be called "Cue" and "Sync". The leader cues the move and they both perform the move in synchronisation. Cue can take a couple of forms. In dances in which the moves are laid out such as New Vogue/Old Time or Country Partner Dancing the cue is the fact that both know which move is next. In more freestyle dances such as Salsa, Rock & Roll, Latin or Ballroom the cue can be given to the follower via a signal. The cue can be a hand signal, delivered verbally or via a body movement.

So what is the difference between a cue and a lead? Simple, a cue lasts for a short time and its purpose is to signal the follower to perform a move. A lead continues throughout the move and guides the follower in performing the move. A cue basically just informs the partner of which move is next and is never meant to be followed. A lead guides the follower through the entire movement and can inform the follower of pace, style and rythmn. A good lead will last for the entire dance, whereas a dance where the leader uses cue is a dance with a series of signals.

So what is the difference between a sync and a follow? A follow is where the follower can continuously feel the leaders lead, and is guided by it. The follower dances a fraction behind the leader for the whole dance. A sync is where the follower feels the lead, guesses the move and does it. In a sync there is little connection between the partners once the move is guessed. This is different from backleading, where the leader starts the lead and then the follower takes the lead for the rest of the move. In backleading a connection is maintained whereas in sync there is no connection. Both syncing and backleading are signs of a beginner dancer.

Some people believe that an open position negates lead and follow and that lead and follow are only relevent to a closed position. I will agree that an open position makes leading and following more difficult, but it certainly doesn't mean that lead and follow are not relevent to that dance. Open position simply requires more skill to both lead and to follow.

Cue and sync are performed by almost all social dancers, it's easy and it just requires memory - this cue equals that move. I have nothing against beginner dancers, thay are having fun and that's great. However the pleasure of intermediate social dancing is well worth the extra effort entailed in jumping from beginner level. Lead and follow requires that partners are attentive and connected to each other for the entire dance. This connectiveness gives each person a feeling of profound beauty and joy.