I am Advanced in class but Horrible during dance socials

Advanced in class, Horrible during social

This individual has been taking lessons and/or clubs 2-4 times per week for a year! But they are SCARED TO DEATH to dance in a setting there they have to come up with the moves. Their mind literally goes blank and they struggle with even the most basic moves.

The short answer is that you don't have the basics or any figures in your muscle memory. What will help is going to more socials and focusing on a single move or two until you don't have to think about it when dancing. Try out a single figure with all of the followers until it becomes automatic.
Then move on to the next figure. And don't worry about the time frame. Be kind to yourself and try to enjoy the process instead of rush the process. A year is a VERY short time! Especially for a lead that has to learn how to not only move their own body, but to move someone else’s as well.
it’s common to overestimate one’s abilities. Sometimes its good to take a few lower level classes or stay in the one you are, but focusing on the technique and the fundamentals instead of combinations/patterns. Without proper technique and fundamentals your social dancing will constantly fall apart.

Let me also add that For me one’s level is as good as one’s social dancing. If you can’t pull off the patterns taught in class during the social with a competent follower then; either the teaching is not good or you’re not really that advanced.
There is a subtle but important difference between “doing” the class choreo when the follow knows what’s coming and can even do it by herself, to fully understanding it and being able to do lead it with a follower not from class. In the first situation you may think you know it, but probably you don’t if the second does not happen. This if often called back-leading, where the follower will aid the lead in class taught situations.

The problem could be that your classes are focusing on patterns instead of technique. Try to find a teacher that teaches leading and following, and breaks down each move count by count, rather than just doing a fancy pattern each class.

One tip could be to write down all of the moves you knew, and figured out a way to arrange them all in a long sequence. Then, practice those, in that order, like you are practicing a speech or learning the lyrics to a song. You just need to remember how it started, and then you should be good for a minute of more of the song. When you get to the end, just start over. the follow is not keeping track of what order you did everything in and she will not call you out for just running the same sequence again.
Eventually, what happens is, you start recognizing every "configuration" and you start to realize Oh, I know three different moves I can do from here", and one of those moves will land you in a configuration where you knew two different moves from there.

it might be time to look for a different school, take private lessons, attend advanced workshops by visiting international instructors, or get involved with a performance team to push your skills further. Most schools do not offer truly advanced group classes regularly, as there is not enough clientele for them, so the "advanced" label gets attached to the last set of group classes they offer, even if they are more intermediate in nature.

Here are some things to try next time you dance:
• smile at your partner, try to make them laugh
• laugh at one of your mistakes
• talk to your partner
Try to enjoy the music, try to enjoy your partners company, and make dancing secondary to those things. Your anxiety will go down when it's clear your partner is having fun.

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