I hope you enjoy the article that follows by Josie Neglia -- a lifelong student of ballet, jazz, modern dance, ballroom, & Latin Dance.  She is most recognized as a world-class Salsa performer and instructor – www.latindance.com   I love her description of some of the stages you go through as you pursue your interest in dance.  Friends used to say to me, “What, MORE dance lessons?  Haven’t you learned that stuff yet?” and I tried to explain that as the dance evolves, so does the dancer.  It really is never-ending – you can take it wherever you want to go… and as long as there is a new song, there is a new dance!  Keep on DANSN!!!  Jacki  

Six Levels of Dance

 By Josie Neglia

 Sitting in a restaurant one day, a student asked me to break down my interpretation of what skills are necessary to be the ultimate… dancer. I broke it down into six levels.

Level 1
Beginner Level. Two people are just learning how to move in unison without stepping on each other and not hurting each other.

Level 2
The man and lady are now dancing in time to the music while doing basic patterns and variations.

Level 3
The man is now dancing more complex variations and patterns. They begin to use the space more interestingly with rotation and changes of direction while maintaining flow.

Level 4
The man stops worrying about his own steps and starts leading the lady with ease and control. This is when his reading skills excel and he understands what the follower needs. It is often the time that the man starts to “show-off’ his lady with more elaborate variations.

Level 5
This is when the man and lady start to play with the rhythms. Syncopations, rhythm changes, slows, quicks, accents, and stops are all used and then the dancers can find the beat again to continue dancing.

Level 6
The ULTIMATE LEVEL. It all comes together. This is when the dancers become “the physical instruments” of the music. If a deaf person were to watch them dance, he could SEE the music through their movements and interpretation… every song looks different because the dancer is inspired in that moment to feel (and interpret) that piece of music.