Posted by: Gareth   on:  24/08/2016   Category: advice-tips

Here's some really nice, polished dancing from South Australian dance teacher George Davison with one of our regular stars Ann DiFabio Caruso.

This display highlights some of the most important rules to give your dancing great visual appeal. Let's look at some of them.

Both George and Ann are highly experienced and although that helps, it isn't the key. We see lots of very practised Rock 'n' Roll dancers who look rough and uncoordinated, whereas they look extremely smooth. It's what you practice that counts, not how much.

Keeping it simple is a great rule to follow when dancing rock 'n' roll. George doesn't make his dancing look frenzied and rushed by making a lot of fancy moves. He performs some lifts and drops, but uses these sparingly, allowing plenty of time for them both to get properly into position under full control before attempting the next move.

Both dancers swing nicely in time with the music. Notice that George is highly animated, not simply standing there spinning the girl so that she does all the work and he takes it easy. That's a lesson that a lot of men would do well to observe.

Anne spins very quickly. Notice that she remains upright, turning her upper body in towards the centre of the turn rather than letting it drift outwards. Both of these factors are highly important for keeping balance and control. Also notice that she spends a lot of time on the balls of her feet. My experience is that many ladies who are learning can initially find that difficult, particularly mature ladies for whom it may be an unusual thing to do. However, it's definitely worth practising as it makes spinning far easier and smoother.

Most importantly, both of our star dancers look relaxed during their performance. There's no stiffness and jerkiness in this display - and if you want to dazzle like they do, that's one of the most crucial factors you need to master.

Adelaide residents who want to learn can find George's details here