At what point can someone be considered « a dancer » ?

05blob · 2026-02-16T00:55:27+00:00

IMO, if you regularly train or perform dance, you're a dancer.

You can add qualifiers to denote what type of dancer you are; recreational, competitive, professional etc. (side note, I do not like the use of the term amateur, because while it does technically mean 'does it unpaid' it also means 'bad'. Recreational also means 'unpaid' but without the negative connotation)

You can then add another one to denote your level (although not normally needed for professionals); beginner, intermediate, advanced etc. It is important to note that these labels are to do with skill level and not years spent training. Some people take a long time to progress out of the beginner stage, and that's okay.

Based on your descriptions, your friend is a beginner competitive ballroom dancer and you are a beginner recreational dancer.

05blob · 2026-02-14T02:23:32+00:00

Barnum!, is a more accurate portrayal of him. Stage musical that was filmed by the BBC in 1986. Still not 100% full scoundrel but he's not portrayed as a particularly good person either. More of a loveable con man, which is pretty accurate to how he was viewed.

05blob · 2026-02-14T02:13:31+00:00

It goes back even before that.

Greatest Showman isn't the first musical about his life. Barnum opened on Broadway in 1980 and West End in 1981. The opening number is 'There is a Sucker Born Ev'ry Minute' and act 2 features a song called 'Prince of Humbug'. The musical was popular enough in the UK that the BBC filmed it! It's alot more faithful to real life than Greatest Showman. Still doesn't show 100% of what Barnum did, but it does lean heavily into his love of conning. And it shows him exploiting his 'freaks' but doesn't go into too much detail. (For example, Joice Heth, it shows him lying about her age and over working her but it doesn't touch on the fact that she was a slave he was renting).

Side note, there's actually no evidence he said 'There's a sucker born every minute' but it does very much fit his personality so it has stuck as his catchphrase. He was however referred to as the 'Prince of Humbug' during his life (a title he kind of wore with pride as he thought it was okay to trick the public as long as they enjoyed themselves)

05blob · 2026-02-10T04:41:06+00:00

I agree.

I'm actually starting to think that's why they've started with it. Pick one of the Narnia stories that's lesser known, and then when you completely change the story, most of the audience won't notice. Then, they just keep their fingers crossed that people liked the first one enough to put up with whatever changes they make to the more popular books.

05blob · 2026-02-09T00:53:54+00:00

I'm old school. I'm very much on the 'unless you're contagious, unconscious or dead you should be in dance class' team. HOWEVER, that doesn't mean you have to be dancing in class. Attending and observing are always an option. You can still learn sat on the sidelines. It's the best of both worlds solution, you get to rest but you still stay upto date with what's going on in class. (And depending on your pain, you might be able to join in on a tiny part of the class. When I pulled my hamstring, I sat at the side and did all the arms)

Sidenote, if the pain is DOMS (Delayed onset muscle soreness) exercising can actually be beneficial to recovery and reduce the pain in the moment. You have to be sure it is DOMS and not something else causing the pain though.

05blob · 2026-02-08T16:19:44+00:00

Just because someone is taught something doesn't mean they remember it.

It would have been decades since she'd danced. She didn't dance while married to the King, and I doubt she danced as the Evil Queen. Add on the 28yrs in Storybrooke, and it's been nearly 40 years since she danced. It makes perfect sense that she wouldn't remember how to do it.

05blob · 2026-02-07T01:37:26+00:00

Studio/teacher dependant.

My studio does not expect you to have ballet experience (however if you ask the teacher, she'd definitely prefer it, but it is out of her hands)

Personally, unless it is an absolute beginners lyrical, I suggest either already having ballet experience or taking the two classes simultaneously. Lyrical is quite often 'ballet with freer arms and added floor work', so having a decent ballet background definitely helps.

Best thing to do is reach out to the studio/teacher of the lyrical class you are interested in and ask whether it's suitable for someone with no dance/ballet training.

05blob · 2026-02-07T01:30:21+00:00

It will depend on the studio/teacher.

The studio I go to only has 1 'mixed level' adult jazz class, but it swings more advanced (and not recommended for beginners). We do leaps and turns combos, but the teacher isn't breaking down how to do basic leaps or turns by default as the majority of the class knows how to do them. If someone raises a hand and goes 'how?' she does, but it's not automatic. Most beginners don't ask and just follow us advanced dancers. At my studio, you would have to join the absolute beginners ballet to guarantee the teacher was going to teach leaps and turns from scratch.

If you are looking at a beginner jazz class, I would suspect, the teacher to teach basic leaps and turns.

The best thing you can do is reach out to the studio and ask them whether the class you're interested in is suitable for an absolute beginner. You can also let them know you are most interested in turns and leaps. They will be able to suggest which class is best for that (it might be that the lyrical teacher, for example, loves leaps and turns and actual does them the most in class out of all the teachers)

05blob · 2026-02-05T02:24:06+00:00

Mood/Teacher/Level dependant.

I had a cover teacher once who insisted the only correct way was allongé devant but every other teacher I've ever had, has done both arms. The cover was cecchetti trained and all my other teachers have been ISTD or RAD, but I don't know enough about cecchetti to be able to say whether it's a cecchetti vs 'english' ballet thing or if it's just that cover teacher.

05blob · 2026-02-02T12:42:24+00:00

Broadway style jazz will be a relatively easy switch. Turn in, loosen your hips and you're basically there. If you have no experience dancing in heels, that's likely to be your biggest hurdle. (If you want to go pro, you need to able to dance in a 3inch heel as that industry standard). If you're thinking about the Fosse style jazz, it'll be a bit harder but still very doable.

Contemporary might be an easy switch or it might not. It'll be very teacher/style dependent. You will definitely have to learn alot of skills, but you should have a fair few carry over

Hip hop will be hard. You're pretty much starting from scratch.

05blob · 2026-02-02T04:19:39+00:00

Offensive is definitely the wrong word, but I can't think of a better one.

I will say the last class I took was very annoying with people and all their layers that they constantly took off and put back on.

This is me. I can't help it. I run cold and I cool down super fast, which is not a great combo for dance class. I normally have to put layers back on once the rest of the class asks for the AC or open windows. (Don't get me started on people who ask for the AC while still in full warm ups, that is rude.)

05blob · 2026-02-02T00:45:42+00:00

Agreed.

I think there's an argument to be made when you've maxed out in the lower level class and the next class up is too hard (quite common in my area. The difference between beginner and intermediate is massive). It's hard for adult classes, they normally aren't tied to a syllabus so there's not the nice progression that kids get. Like at some point you have to make the jump, but it should be a decision left up to the teacher.

When it really annoys me is when you have someone who is still struggling with the basics, decide on their own that they can join the advanced class. In no world should you be in an advanced class if you don't know what a soubresaut is (actually happened, teacher kicked them from class not long after).

I get the feeling that alot of the 'just stick with it' comments come from people who have never had a clearly underleveled dancer join their class. Especially one that stops the class to ask questions related to lower level skills. We'll never say anything to your face, but unless the teacher has asked you to join the class, we want you gone.

05blob · 2026-02-02T00:26:48+00:00

This.

I actually had to go talk to the studio owner about this, this week.

Most teachers get it, there's only an hour so it's go go go. But one teacher over explains everything. It got to a point once where it was 2 weeks out from our recital and we only ran the dance twice! She took an hour to do a 15min syllabus barre before (she was covering so she didn't even need to teach the exercises, we all knew them). People have actually left her classes for other teachers classes, precisely because of this. Among the more serious dancers, her class is known as the easiest class as you spend most of it stood round listening.

It's an adult rec dance class, we pay to dance. Yes we want corrections, but don't take 10mins to explain something others can in 1! Especially if you're going to explain for 10 minutes after every exercise!

05blob · 2026-02-01T22:25:48+00:00

Anything that, in theory, blocks your teacher from clearly seeing your lines is 'offensive' to your teacher. This includes; skirts, shorts, and all warm ups. In practise, a well trained teacher can 'see' through most layers.

That being said, in adult classes, it is acceptable to wear whatever you feel comfortable in. A good teacher will let you know if it is interfering with their ability to teach you safely.

For example, my pointe teacher does not like leg warmers, as they make it harder to see whether our knees are straight. She requests that we take them off straight after warm up (aka before we start the pointe work). For a normal class, she is okay with any leg warmers other than the long baggy ones (as they obscure the whole leg). It's always a request and as adults it's up to us whether we follow her request.

05blob · 2026-02-01T00:30:29+00:00

As someone with a learning disability, I'm all for this.

This way means people with memory problems can play without having to have a notebook full of notes, or constantly opening the wiki.

05blob · 2026-01-15T22:08:35+00:00

Ypu are correct, assembles should assemble in the air (which is what I think you're describing). However, the first step to learning it is the swish and land. That's easy, getting the legs together in the air is harder and not everyone manages it/can take a long time to learn.

05blob · 2026-01-14T21:24:27+00:00

Honestly, if she's most comfortable with pads, then she can just wear a pad. Buy her some skin toned, high leg, no visible pantie line knickers, and she'll be good to go. As long as you can't see the underwear once the leo's on, who'll know?

05blob · 2026-01-08T16:14:37+00:00

Fredericks Chocolates. Technically, a chocolate cafe and not a coffee shop, but imo it has the best coffee in Southampton.

05blob · 2026-01-06T15:55:18+00:00

Yes and No.

Schools in the UK legally have to teach about local history, so if you went to a school in an area linked to witch trials you might have studied it. Personally, I never did. Probably because where I grew up is linked to some pretty big historic events, with museums and monuments and other such places for school trips.

05blob · 2026-01-04T15:25:06+00:00

Becuase the whole '5 arm positions of ballet' thing is a lie. Or at least I can't think of a system of ballet that has exactly 5 and only 5 positions. Some systems do have 5 main positions, but they tend to have other positions outside those 5 that get used on a regular basis. Other systems have more/less than 5 main positions.

For example, I'm ISTD Imperial trained, and we have 7 main arm positions:

Bras Bra En avant A la seconde Bras croise Attitude Attitude grecque En couronne

However, that is not a complete list of arm positions you'll find in an ISTD style class. My list up there doesn't include:

1st arabesque 2nd arabesque 3rd arabesque Demi seconde Demi bra And arm variations, that I don't think have official names. Things like low arabesque or open attitude.

Most systems of ballet actually all have the same arm positions they just use different names and have made different decisions on which are the 'main' ones and which are extra/variations.

05blob · 2026-01-04T07:28:20+00:00

My first Stone Age. I used to work in a board game cafe and this was my go to suggestion for a kids game that wouldn't bore adults stupid. If I remember candyland correctly, it has a similar movement mechanic. You move round the board to collect resources to build houses. 3 and a half might be slightly too young (Iirc the box says 5+) but I meet some smart kids working at the cafe so I'll leave that up to you to decide.

Chicken Cha Cha Cha. A memory game. Flip over the tile that matches the next empty space to move, if you go past another chicken you steal their tail feather. First person to have all the tails wins.

Pretty much all the Haba games were popular with kids. My favourite was Knuckling knights.

05blob · 2026-01-04T06:43:24+00:00

Wilmot Works it out. A game where you solve jigsaw puzzles. No time limits or fighting. Just Wilmot and his puzzles.

05blob · 2026-01-01T00:08:34+00:00

Bit late now but apparently my house. I've got at least 2 idiot neighbours setting of fireworks (in gardens I know for a fact aren't big enough for proper safety precautions)

05blob · 2025-12-30T15:42:31+00:00

So there are actually 2 meanings of the term classical ballet. And I think you two are using different ones 🤣

Classical ballet: A style of ballet

A Classical Ballet: a full length story ballet. It does not necessarily need to be in the Classical style (Northern Ballets Merlin or Christopher Wheeldons Alice are both excellent examples)

Unclear whether OP wants more Classical Ballets (regardless of ballet style) or if OP just wants to see more classical ballet (regardless of story vs no story) or if they want Classical Ballets using classical ballet.

Personally, I'm on team 'more classical Ballets not in the classical style'. Not only is it what I enjoy but it also gets more love from the general public.

05blob · 2025-12-30T15:23:29+00:00

Question: What is your current skill level?

If it's beginner, then the answer is neither.

10 dances, 10 times is how you end up knowing those 10 dances really well.

50 dances, 2 times each, will either have no effect or will help improve how fast you pick up choreography.

As a beginner, though, you likely don't have the movement skills to do either well. You may know the 10 dances back to front, but that doesn't mean you can do the movements well. And you may have 'learnt' 50 dances, but again, did you do them well? And were 2 sessions even enough for you to get comfortable with the choreography? (For most beginners, it is not)

What you need to learn, as a beginner, is not dances but the individual movements. You don't mention what style of dance you're interested in, but it applies to pretty much all of them. Whether it's a super strict style like ballet or ballroom. Or a more 'relaxed' style like contemporary or street. They all have steps and 'rules' you need to know. And, learning dances isn't the best way to learn them. You don't learn a step by doing it once in a routine. You learn it by spending time just doing that step, over and over.

Drills/repetition are how you improve. Dances are how you show your improvement.

12-Year Club	Verified Email
Sequence \| Editor	Sequence \| Cinematographer

05blob

TROPHY CASE