Dance Is Hard — Here's Why You Should Keep Going

So you started your dance class and the moves are too hard.  What did you expect? You thought things will be easy? So what are you going to do now? You have 3 options: 1) do nothing, 2) quit, 3) practice more.

With over 22 years of teaching experience, I still see that there is always a certain percentage of students who end up quitting after the first day. It’s a shame because I truly believe that everyone can learn. As much as I would like everyone in my class to enjoy this dance, I’ve realized that not everyone is willing to take the time to learn this beautiful art form.

For students to learn the dance, his/her mind must first believe it. The body will follow the mind. Actually, in order to learning anything, not just dance, you must allow your body and mind time to develop the skills. If you water the plant in the morning, do you get frustrated 5 hours later that it’s not growing fast enough?

I want to state for the record that I believe that anyone can learn to dance.  But if your attitude or mindset about learning is not set correctly, you will be one of those who quit too soon to see any result and end up blaming everything else instead of realizing that you just quit too early.

Read Next

• Why Hip Hop Dance Is Hard (And How to Push Through) — the companion piece: where this article gives the mindset, that one gives the real story of what 8 months of not quitting actually looked like
• 3 Reasons Why Private Dance Lessons Work — if you're going to push through, having a coach removes the wasted repetitions and bad habits that slow solo learners down
• Work with Ceech — Private Lessons — for students who choose option 3 (practice more), this is the most direct path to results
• 6 Simple Steps to Learn The Harlem Shake — pick a move and start: beginner-friendly, quick win, and exactly the kind of early momentum that keeps people going