Places to Dance

It isn’t always easy to find places to dance and a dance floor out in the real world to practice your moves. Sometimes you have to get creative in order to practice dancing. Here are some places that tend to work well as substitutes for a dance floor.

1. Living room, bedroom and/or kitchen floor

Living rooms can be a great dance space if you just move some furniture around. If you have wood floors, it’s even better, as the flooring is well suited for moving! If you have carpet, it could be a bit of a set back, but if you have enough space, it is still a great place to practice. Same goes for a kitchen. As long as your kitchen is spacious, it is a helpful for practicing, especially because most kitchen floors are made out of materials that are more slick. Be careful on certain forms of tile. It can be slippery! The reason the bedroom isn’t a bad idea is that there tend to be mirrors to use. Whether it is the bedroom or another room in the house with a mirror in it, try to use the spacing near it or make spacing if you can.

2. Parks

Even though grass isn’t the first choice, having that much space can be helpful and they tend to have few people at certain times of the day. Plus a soft ground isn’t a bad idea if you are doing any tricks in your dances.

3. Pools

Just like in “Dirty dancing”, it is not a bad idea to try lifts in water. The shallow end of a pool is a safe place to guarantee that the person will not fall, or that if they do, they will have a safe landing. At least until you get used to the lift. You will eventually want to try it on a steady surface.

4. Long hallways

If you have moves that move you across the floor, it isn’t a bad idea to find hallways you can dance down. Whether it is a grocery store isle, the hallways leading to your cubicle, or a long sidewalk, use that kind of space to your advantage!

5. Parking Lots

The flooring may not be ideal, but the space and seclusion (if you go at a quiet time of day) is useful. I would suggest NOT trying any lifts in a parking structure. Cement is not a soft landing whether it is on your feet or not. Otherwise, it is a big dance floor to use.

Obviously, the ideal place to practice is on a wood floor, in a large space with mirrors. But when you are lacking that space, their are plenty of common, every day, places to practices, both in private and out and about. There may not always be time to practice, but even if you take 2 minutes in these everyday locations you are in and pass by, you will see huge improvements in your dancing. Now that you have some places to practice, get to it! No more excuses! 🙂

Happy dancing,

– Bella Ballroom Instructor, Tayler. Orange County premier Ballroom and Latin dancing lessons