Latin Show Dance

A first class adds gaze, direction, and stage energy to the steps. Before making it bigger, the teacher should settle timing, weight, and safe group spacing.

For practice, list a few figures and connect them with basic steps; it is a simpler start than a long choreography.

In a first class, try a short entrance, one rhythm phrase and a clear exit. Ask how the teacher divides space among the group and adapts the routine for a learner. Add a broad arm line once you know where the next step begins.

Find out whether performing is required and which age and experience level the group serves. A child needs time to learn movement and understand what happens on stage. An adult beginner can start with a short performance phrase before choosing to appear before an audience.

This stage format may borrow from several Latin American and Caribbean dances. Learn the history of each dance it borrows from.

This label names a performance format. It may use several Latin rhythms with separate histories. The WDSF five-dance Latin programme is one defined performance tradition; a studio's Show Dance programme may also draw from social forms.

Culture and community

Story, music and costume can be rich, but a production should still credit the parent rhythm and communities and state where the chosen movements come from.

Watch how a group keeps the chosen rhythm while changing formation. A musical phrase may bring one dancer forward as another steps back. Ask where a particular step comes from and how the teacher adapted it for the performance.

Questions to ask

• How do you keep the rhythm clear as stage movement gets larger?
• Which particular dances and music does this performance use?
• How much time goes to technique, correction, and filming, and can I learn without appearing on video?