If you’ve already started taking dance classes (probably ballet, jazz, or salsa), you may be concerned about how to dance more gracefully. Perhaps you are having a hard time dancing like the other dancers in your dance class and are worried about being as graceful as they are. Here are some important tips to keep in mind while dancing or practicing that will teach you how to dance gracefully.

Tip 1: Be Energetic!

This may not seem like the first thing to consider to enhance your grace, but it really is an important and often overlooked fact. Dancing is about movement and expression. If you lack energy, that movement and expression will look dull, dull, and possibly embarrassing. By consuming as much energy as possible (and hydrating and snacking while you practice, of course) you will be able to use the other tips in this article. Without energy as your most important component, there can be no improvement in your grace. Trust me.

Second tip: lengthen your body as much as humanly possible

If you have heard of or practiced Pilates, you will be familiar with the concept of stretching your body away from its center. What this means is that you lift your chest, extend your neck and head, extend your arms away from your core (sending your energy through your fingertips), and lengthen your legs away from your core as well (by sending all your energy through your feet). Imagine the image of a sunburst. There is a circle in the center. Visualize it as your core (your abdomen and back). Sunburst has lines or rays of sunlight that come out of the center and extend as far as possible. Imagine that these rays are your head / neck, your arms, and your legs (placed in the proper position, of course).

While you learn how to danceRemember to focus on lengthening your body. If you find it difficult to stay focused on all of these parts of your body, instead focus on the extremities – head, hands, and feet. By concentrating on these limbs, you will also be forced to extend all of your limbs. What is especially important in ballet is to extend and point the feet whenever possible. Also, you should lengthen your fingertips. Imagine that you have a small roll of coins between your thumb and middle finger. Your other fingers will spread out and away from your hand.

Third tip: try not to bobble

This can be difficult to explain, but some new dancers experience a bubble effect. What I mean is that they don’t actually bend or straighten. Instead, they are a bit nervous, so they tentatively move up and down in the mid-range between these two locations. You don’t want to be constantly locking your knees or overdoing your squats, but you don’t want to be rolling around either. Try to imitate your instructor in this regard whenever possible.

These three tips are a simple basis for enhancing your grace. It is difficult to learn to dance gracefully, but by incorporating these simple tips in addition to your instruction and routine, you will immediately become more graceful.