Dancer Guy: Videos

In addition to public classes, custom classes, and private lessons, Dancer Guy offers web-based instructional videos. If you purchase a "Baker's Dozen" of Private Lessons, you're automatically entitled to two months of access to the video library; if interested, contact Dave and he'll set up your account for you. Or, for $29.95 for the first month, and $9.95 per month thereafter, you can subscribe on a monthly basis for as long or as short a time as you want. In either case, you'll be able to access any or all of the videos below as often as you like, and you can cancel your account at any time. Whether you live too far away from Dancer Guy‘s studio to attend personally, or you want to review and practice instruction previously received from Dancer Guy, or you simply prefer to learn dance in the privacy of your own home, these videos are for you.

If the kind of dance you're looking for is not yet listed below, send Dave an email and put in a request; one of the factors that help determine which style he'll put on video next is student input. New videos are being added regularly. Note that if you plan on subscribing to these videos someday, sooner might be better than later, because as the number of videos increases and the value of the available instructional content grows, the monthly subscription price for new subscribers will occasionally increase. However, current subscribers will be grandfathered in, so their monthly subscription cost will never increase.

Once you log in, all the black titles below will become clickable links that show the corresponding videos. If you are already a subscriber, simply log in by specifying your username and password above. If you are not yet a subscriber, you can become one by clicking on the "Subscribe" button above and authorizing the monthly subscription fee. Thank you!

Introduction: Dave "DancerGuy" Arns introduces himself and gives a quick description of the purpose of the videos on this site.

Audience: Describes the intended audience for these videos; those kinds of people for whom the videos were created and who would most greatly benefit from them.

Competition Style vs. Social Style: There are two main uses of dance: competing in contests, and simply for enjoyment. This video discusses differences between these two main uses, and the implications on how you do the dances.

Instructors' Teaching Styles: Every dance instructor has his/her own style of teaching, and body of information and experience from which they teach. So what gives when instructors say different things?

Students' Learning Styles: People learn in different ways, so how can one set of videos be useful to the greatest number of people?

Regional Dance Dialects: Discusses the implications of regional variations in dance styles, even when supposedly doing the "same" dance.

Couples' Dancing vs. Choreography: What is the difference between couples' dances and choreography? What are the pros and cons for each?

The Myth of the "Effortless" Dance: Good dancers make dancing look effortless. But what does that really mean?

Dance Shoes: What are good dance shoes like? What kinds of shoes should you stay away from? Can you turn non-dance shoes into dance shoes? If you don't have "official" dance shoes, what can you do?

Counts and Beats: Discusses what counts and beats are, their attributes, and why you'll need to understand them in order to dance.

Music Measures vs Dance Measures: Describes how music measures differ from dance measures, and why it's important to know the difference, and when to use them.

Labeling the Counts: There are various ways of referring to the counts; we'll discuss the pros and cons of the various methods, and specify a consistent terminology in order to converse about them.

Finding the Downbeat: Describes the fine main musical cues to listen for, so you can find the downbeats of the dance measures by listening to the music.

Counts vs Steps: Discusses the difference between counts and steps, and why mixing them up will cause problems for your dance.

Counting In: Why do people often say "five, six, seven, eight" before they start dancing? There are two very important pieces of information imparted by such "counting in," and doing it correctly will help the lady follow the gentleman's lead much better.

Steps vs Taps: Defines steps and taps, discusses the difference between them, and illustrates how interchanging them will cause problems with your dancing.

Balance in Dance: Shows how to place your feet in order to maintain the best balance when you are dancing.

The "Dance Plate": Describes the concept of the dance plate, and why, when you're learning to dance, you'll get less frustrated if you understand it.

The Dance Frame: Important aspects of the dance frame, whether you're the lady or the gentleman. Topics include the definition of the dance frame, Closed Frame, Reminding Each Other, and Open Frame.

The Leader's Frame: What are the important aspects of maintaining the dance frame, from the gentleman's point of view? Topics include Consistent Frame, Adjusting the Frame Safely, and Using Wrist Muscles.

The Follower's Frame: What are the important aspects of maintaining the dance frame, from the lady's point of view? Topics include Consistent Frame, Looking at Your Feet, and Squeezing His Hands.

Leading: In any lead-follow dance, the gentleman must be clear in his leads, so the lady can follow. Topics include Firm Leads, Stopping on Mistakes, The Best Kinds of Leads, Planning Ahead, and Dancing to Fast Music.

Following: In any lead-follow dance, the lady must "listen" through the frame to the gentleman's leads, and not make assumptions about what he will lead next, so she does the proper move. Topics include Being Ballistic, Responding to Unknown Leads, Anticipation, Closing Your Eyes, Keeping the Feet Going, Giving the Guy a Break, Letting Go of His Hands, Foot Rhythm vs. Foot Placement, and What If He's Off the Rhythm?

Pushing vs Stiffness: During following, there are certain ways to apply muscle tone that are better than other ways. In order to maximize the ease, smoothness, and attractiveness of following, these guidelines are very useful.

Spotting: Describes why people get dizzy, and what you can do about it, because pretty much every dance style includes turns and spins.

Orphan Measures: Defines what orphan measures are, how to identify them, and how to respond to them so your dancing looks the best.

The "Stir the Pot" Turn: Explains the mechanics of the "Stir the Pot" turn, a way of turning the lady multiple times without twisting anyone's fingers.

"Passive" vs. "Active" Stiffness: Explains the difference between passive and active stiffness, and why one is far superior for making your dancing smooth and fluid.

Muscle Isolation: Defines muscle isolation, and describes the three different kinds and how they relate to dance.

Intro: Introduction to Country Two-Step, including such concepts as its "progressiveness," the pivot turn, the line of dance, the two main rhythms of C2S, what it means to stay on the beat, inside vs. outside turns, the "zombie walk," and how to time the leads to various moves.

The "Waggle": Describes the "waggle," a communication mechanism in Country Two-Step that is reminiscent of how honeybees communicate. The Waggle is very useful, not only in helping the lady's foot rhythm to stay correct (or get correct), but also in helping her follow leads more smoothly.

From Closed to Promenade and Back: How to transition from the Closed frame to the Promenade frame, and vice versa.

From Promenade to Wrap: How to transition from the Promenade frame to the Wrap frame, including how to avoid a potentially embarrassing gotcha.

From Wrap to Wrap: How to transition from the Wrap frame to another Wrap frame, using an Inside Turn.

From Wrap to Skater and Back: How to transition from the Wrap frame (a Group 1 frame) to the Skater frame (a Group 2 frame), using a low lead of an Inside Turn.

From Wrap to Closed: How to transition from the Wrap frame to the Closed frame by using a low lead to a free spin.

From Skater to Closed: How to transition from the Skater frame to the Closed frame by using a low lead to a free spin; very similar to the Wrap-to-Closed transition.

Intro: General concepts in Salsa, including your "box," foot rhythm, the value of tapping, when and how to tap, and foot positioning.

Basic: The Basic Step in the Closed Frame, including foot positioning and timing, mnemonics to help you remember foot rhythm, hip movement, hand positioning when you're not in a frame, and the Basic in an Open Frame.

Side Step: The Salsa Side Step, including how to avoid common rhythmical mistakes, how to lead from Basic to Side Step, and how to lead from Side Step back to Basic.

Cumbia: The Salsa Cumbia, including tap positioning, maintaining crispness, leading Basic to Cumbia, exiting Cumbia to return to Basic, and Cumbia handwork.

Open Break: The Open Break—for transitioning from the Closed Frame to the Open Frame—including foot movement, box sliding, and hand changes.

Wrist Flip: The Wrist Flip—for transitioning from the Open Frame to the Closed Frame—including foot movement, box sliding, and hand changes.

Shoulder Check 1: Discusses the prerequisite frame, the lead, the footwork, handwork, and exit.

Shoulder Check 2: Discusses the many similarities, and the few differences, between Shoulder Check 1 and Shoulder Check 2.

Pedal Spin: The Pedal Spin is a common Salsa turn, which can be done as a standalone move or as a component of a larger, more complex sequence.

Hip Check: The Hip Check is similar in some ways to the Shoulder Checks, but has some unique characteristics of its own, especially in the handwork and the exit.

Cross-Body Lead, Closed to Closed: The first in a series of Cross-Body Leads, this one both starts and ends in the Closed Frame.

Cross-Body Lead, Closed to Open: The second in a series of Cross-Body Leads, this one starts in the Closed Frame and ends in the Open Frame; in effect, doing an Open Break while doing a Cross-Body Lead.

Swing Rhythm: Describes the rhythmical feature in Swing music or dance, without which it would cease to be Swing.

Intro: Introduces the Shim Sham, a Swing line dance, and describes its structure.

Verse 1: The Shim Sham ("slap-slide") verse of the Shim Sham.

Break Step: The Break Step ("chorus") of the Shim Sham; that part that follows all the verses.

Verse 2: The Push Step ("push and cross") verse of the Shim Sham.

Verse 3: The Tack Annie verse of the Shim Sham.

Verse 4: The Fall Step ("half break") verse of the Shim Sham.

Boogie Back: The "click-ball-change" portion of the Shim Sham.

Boogie Up: The "semi-elliptical step" portion of the Shim Sham.

Shorty George: The "slalom skiing" portion of the Shim Sham.

The Whole Thing: The whole Shim Sham, with music, shown from the front, and with verbal cues for foot movement. Then the whole thing again, from the back, without verbal cues.

Intro: Introduces the Foxtrot, notes that Foxtrot includes both eight-count moves and six-count moves, and explains why DancerGuy covers the eight-count moves first, instead of the six-count moves first, as is often done.

Box Step: Defines the foot rhythm for Foxtrot eight-count moves, how to do the Box Step, and the common mistakes to avoid.

Forward-Backward Time Step: Shows how to do the Forward-Backward Time Step, how it differs from the Box Step, and how to lead from the Box Step to the Forward-Backward Time Step, and back to the Box.

Sideways Time Step: Shows how to do the Sideways Time Step, and how to lead to and from the Sideways Time Step from both the Box Step and the Forward-Backward Time Step.

U-Turn: Shows how to do the U-Turn, a 180°-turn that allows you to gracefully, and without skipping a beat, avoid running into walls, other people, off the dance floor, etc.

Twinkle: Demonstrates the Twinkle, the first eight-count Foxtrot move that doesn't exclusively use the closed frame, the first move that actually uses the gentleman's left hand for part of the lead, and also the first progressive step.

Promenade: Demonstrates the Promenade, the first of three moves based on the Twinkle, and in the middle of which, both people walk straight ahead.

Follower's Swivel: This move, also known as the "Gumshoe," is the second of three moves based on the Twinkle, and in the middle of which, the lady does the "sturn."

Open Twinkle: This move, also known as the "Lobster Claw," is the third of three moves based on the Twinkle, and in the middle of which, both people do the "sturn."

Count-1 Spin: In this move, the lady does a 360° clockwise turn that is led on Count 1.

Count-7 Spin: In this move, the lady does a 360° clockwise turn that is led on Count 7.

Rotating Time Step, Constrained: This move is a Forward/Backward Time Step on a little strip of floor that is (conceptually) rotating and revolving while you're doing the move. It is constrained in two ways: the Quick steps don't take you anywhere, and rotation is limited to 90° every four counts.

Double Spins: Putting the Count-7 Spin and the Count-1 Spin together into a single 720° clockwise turn.

Practice Track, 60bpm: Audiovisual counting from one through 8, at 60 beats per minute, for use during practicing.

Practice Track, 90bpm: Audiovisual counting from one through 8, at 90 beats per minute, for use during practicing.

Practice Track, 120bpm: Audiovisual counting from one through 8, at 120 beats per minute, for use during practicing.

DancerGuy Video Library