What Do We Cover in the Beginner Basic Cha Cha Lesson?

The Cha Cha Basic – Closed, Open & In Place

We start the class off with the Basic in Place, using weight changes to practice our Cha Cha Cha technique and timing.

Once we’ve mastered that we then look at applying the technique to the Closed Basic, which tends to be the standard basic move. It should also be normally rotated, although most teachers (including us) would tend to teach it straight to complete beginners.

Next up is our final basic option the Open Basic. This involves taking the chasse forward and back with a locking action.

New Yorks & Hand to Hands with Spot Turn ending

Once we’d covered all the basic beginner Cha Cha options we then introduced a New Yorks with Spot Turn ending. Sometimes these are also known as New Yorkers. Here the basic movement involves turning a quarter turn and stepping across yourself from one side to the other.

A similar move is the Hand to Hands, which involves a quarter turn in the opposite direction to the New Yorks, so that you end up stepping back rather than through the middle. We’ll also finish this with a Spot Turn for the moment too.

There and Back and Side Steps

The next move introduced is called the There and Back. This involves two weight changes on the spot (like the Basic in Place) before a three step run backwards, a back rock, and then three runs forward. When danced with a partner you would mirror their movement, running away from each other before coming back in again.

Finally we introduced a move that we don’t normally teach our regular students – Side Steps to Left and Right. It’s easy to confuse yourself with these so just take it slowly and get used to whether you’re starting each section with a weight change or a side step.

Beginner Basic Cha Cha Cha Lesson Video

Want to skip ahead to particular moves? You can find the timestamps below:

[00:01:07] Basic in Place
[00:06:17] Closed Basic
[00:10:26] Rotating the Basic
[00:13:35] Open Basic
[00:18:58] New Yorks, with Spot Turn ending
[00:22:23] Hand to Hands, with Spot Turn ending
[00:25:08] There and Back
[00:27:21] Side Steps to left and right
[00:30:22] Solo Dance Routine
[00:37:16] Solo Routine to Music

Fun Solo Dance Routine

Once we’d covered all the steps we began teaching you a simple solo Cha Cha Cha dance routine to practice all the steps learnt.

The routine features all of the basic beginner steps and we’ll talk you through it as we dance, after a brief recap of the routine.

Cha Cha Cha Dance Music Playlist

We have also uploaded a Cha Cha Cha Dance Music playlist that you can use for practice. With a selection of slow and quick songs, as well as a mixture of traditional and contemporary.

We hope you enjoy the Cha Cha Cha music playlist.

About Learn To Dance

Learn To Dance is a Ballroom and Latin American Dance School based in Burnham, Buckinghamshire.

Offering regular live-stream classes, as well as useful dance uploads, subscribe to be kept informed when new videos are going live. Send us your suggestions of what you’d like to see us release and we’ll do our best!

Looking for more personal tuition on your Basic Beginner Cha Cha Cha? We provide both in-person and streamed lessons and classes. Check out https://learndance.co.uk/online for more information.

You can check out our website, or follow us online, at:

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The video lesson will last for around 30 minutes and we’ll start you off with a few basic beginner Salsa dance steps. There will be a range of steps taught and hopefully you’ll be confident in them all by the end of the class.

Throughout the class we’ll also teach you a simple basic Solo Salsa dance routine.

We’ll talk you through how to do the basic Salsa steps as well as a little on improving the technique of the beginner steps.

The Basic Beginner Salsa Lesson Video

Our lesson will go live on our YouTube channel at 11.30am on Sunday 7th March.

You can join us during the live broadcast and the video will be available to re-watch after the lesson has finished.

Whilst you’re waiting check out our Solo Salsa Dance Routine that we released during lockdown 1.0. This also features some of the basic beginner Salsa steps, as well as a few trickier movements thrown in.

It was our first ever online lesson video, so was a learning curve, but we hope you enjoy it!

Don’t forget if you want to be among the first to know about new videos and lessons subscribe for free to our channel. Make sure to click the ‘notification bell’ to be notified as soon as a new video is available or going live.

We’ll also upload a video demonstration of just the Solo Basic Beginner Salsa dance routine as well as a Salsa dance playlist for you to practice to.

About Learn To Dance

Learn To Dance is a Ballroom and Latin American Dance School based in Burnham, Buckinghamshire.

Offering regular live-stream classes, as well as useful dance uploads, subcribe to be kept informed when new videos are going live. Send us your suggestions of what you’d like to see us release and we’ll do our best!

Looking for more personal tuition on your Basic Beginner Salsa? We provide both in-person and streamed lessons and classes. Check out learndance.co.uk/online for more information.

You can check out our website, or follow us online, at:

Website: learndance.co.uk
Youtube: youtube.com/learndance
Facebook: facebook.com/learndance
Instagram: instagram.com/learndance
Twitter: twitter.com/learndance

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Sequence dancing is where you repeat the same 16 or 32 bar routine throughout a song, dancing around the room, and in sync with everyone else.

Now that’s great when you have the space! What we’re going to show you today is how to practice the basic movements in your front room.

The Dance – Balmoral Blues

The Balmoral Blues is a nice laid-back dance, albeit with a couple of tricky movements within.

To convert this into the full routine you would dance the initial chassé and lock section down line of dance, and back to where you started.

The chassé to shadow hold is danced down the room, ending facing diagonal to the wall.

The walk and points move diagonally towards the wall for the first set, turning on the point to face diagonal centre for the second set of walks.

The turn at the end commences facing diagonal to wall.

The Music

For this Sequence for Small Spaces lesson we have used Tired of Trying by Red Revision:

The Balmoral Blues video

You can see our Sequence for Small Spaces online lesson below:

Don’t forget, if you enjoyed our online Balmoral Blues sequence dance video please send it to your family and friends. Why not also check out our other online dance lessons.

About Learn To Dance

Learn To Dance is a Ballroom and Latin American Dance School based in Burnham, Buckinghamshire.

Whilst our studio may be closed due to the Coronavirus outbreak, we’re still trying to help all our students to keep dancing!

We hope you enjoyed our Balmoral Blues sequence dance lesson.

You can check out our website, or follow us online, at:

Website: learndance.co.uk
Youtube: youtube.com/learndance
Facebook: facebook.com/learndance
Instagram: instagram.com/learndance
Twitter: twitter.com/learndance

The post Balmoral Blues – Sequence for Small Spaces appeared first on Learn To Dance.

Sequence dancing is where you repeat the same 16 or 32 bar routine throughout a song, dancing around the room, and in sync with everyone else.

Now that’s great when you have the space! What we’re going to show you today is how to practice the basic movements in your front room.

The Dance – Sindy (Cindy) Swing

The Sindy Swing features a mixture of Charleston, Cha Cha, Waltz and Quickstep steps.

To convert this into the full routine you would do your lock steps and solo spin down the room. Obviously if near a corner you would still curve round to avoid crashing into the wall!

The box step and shoulder-to-shoulder would be done with the leader facing their nearest wall.

The chassés at the end would be danced down the room, but still turning around your partner. You would still end up side-by-side ready to start again after opening out.

The Music

For this Sequence for Small Spaces lesson we have used These Words Don’t Lie by Mike Franklyn:

The Sindy Swing video

You can see our Sequence for Small Spaces online lesson below:

Don’t forget, if you enjoyed our online Sindy Swing sequence dance video please send it to your family and friends. Why not also check out our other online dance lessons.

About Learn To Dance

Learn To Dance is a Ballroom and Latin American Dance School based in Burnham, Buckinghamshire.

Whilst our studio may be closed due to the Coronavirus outbreak, we’re still trying to help all our students to keep dancing!

We hope you enjoyed our Sindy Swing sequence dance lesson.

You can check out our website, or follow us online, at:

Website: learndance.co.uk
Youtube: youtube.com/learndance
Facebook: facebook.com/learndance
Instagram: instagram.com/learndance
Twitter: twitter.com/learndance

The post Sindy Swing – Sequence for Small Spaces appeared first on Learn To Dance.

The lesson will be broken down into easy to follow sections to help you learn the steps, and then builds up from there.

We give you plenty of time to practice the routine as we build it up, but if you’re happy with the basics you can always skip ahead.

Learn Merengue

The Merengue comes from the Dominican Republic but also shares similarities with other dance styles, such as Calypso.

We’ll start you off with the basic march, and add in a Reverse Top.

Then we’re going to bring in a Wrap and Walkaround, before introducing a Change of Sides for our partner.

Finally we’re going to add in the Rolling Off The Arm to tie all the moves together.

Don’t forget you can always pause and rewind to work on any steps and moves you struggle with.

The Music

For this Learn Merengue lesson we have used Swing of the Hips by Jay Cano (we couldn’t find an online player for this one).

See the Learn Merengue dance video

You can see our partner dance lesson video below:

Don’t forget, if you enjoyed our online Learn Merengue partner dance video please send it to your family and friends. Why not also check out our other online dance lessons.

About Learn To Dance

Learn To Dance is a Ballroom and Latin American Dance School based in Burnham, Buckinghamshire.

Whilst our studio may be closed due to the Coronavirus outbreak, we’re still trying to help all our students to keep dancing!

If you liked our Learn to Dance the Merengue video, you can check out our website, or follow us online, at:

Website: learndance.co.uk
Youtube: youtube.com/learndance
Facebook: facebook.com/learndance
Instagram: instagram.com/learndance
Twitter: twitter.com/learndance

The post Learn Merengue – Online Partner Dance Lesson appeared first on Learn To Dance.

Our classes are broken down into easy to follow sections that build up to a small routine for the kids to practice.

The focus is on the kids having fun whilst learning to dance.

The Dance – Social Foxtrot

For this lesson Antony & Imogen show you some basic Social Foxtrot steps adapted for kids.

The Social Foxtrot is a nice and simple dance and you can adapt it for most spaces.

We start off with the Basic. This move involves two slow walks before a quick side close, with partners mirroring each other.

Next you will learn the promenade, which is the basic walks danced together with your partner, down the room.

Finally we’ll add in a solo spin which should still feature the same number of steps as the basic, but we don’t mind if it takes a few more to get round!

The Basic Social Foxtrot For Kids Music

The music we have chosen for our Kid’s dance class is Jolly Jules by Mid Knight:

Our Basic Social Foxtrot for Kids online video

We hope your kids enjoy our video lesson showing them the basic dance steps.

Don’t forget, if you enjoyed our online Basic Social Foxtrot for Kids, ballroom dance video please send it to your family and friends. Why not also check out our other online dance lessons.

About Learn To Dance

Learn To Dance is a Ballroom and Latin American Dance School based in Burnham, Buckinghamshire.

Whilst our studio may be closed due to the Coronavirus outbreak, we’re still trying to help all our students to keep dancing with videos such as this Basic Social Foxtrot for Kids!

You can check out our website, or follow us online, at:

Website: learndance.co.uk
Youtube: youtube.com/learndance
Facebook: facebook.com/learndance
Instagram: instagram.com/learndance
Twitter: twitter.com/learndance

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There was a slight issue with our camera being set on auto-focus near the start so we apologise for the couple of moments the focus slips early on.

The routine is taught in easy to follow stages that build you up to a full choreographed routine. There’s plenty of opportunities to practice the routine throughout the video.

Solo Tango – The Dance

For this Solo Tango routine we have taken a variety of Tango steps, ranging from Bronze level all the way up to above Gold. We have adapted them to be danced on your own, and in a confined space.

You start off with some nice simple Walks and Progressive Side Steps, rotating around or you can just go straight forward and back if you prefer.

Then we introduce our Contra Checks, and a variation on a promenade movement.

We’ll have half a Reverse Turn with some Rocks and Swivels as the music takes a break.

Then we’re into our trickier section of the routine. There’ll be an Oversway, the Chase, and a Point-cross-slip before a variation on the gold level Basic Reverse Turn. There’s some nice simple step and points to recover on the first go round too!

Finally we introduce some Progressive Side Step Reverse Turns with extra rocks so there’s plenty of challenge to this Solo Tango routine.

The Music

The music for this routine is Baby You Are Really Hurting Me by Aldenmark Niklasson feat. Edie

See the Solo Tango lesson video

Don’t forget, if you enjoyed our online Solo Tango dance video please send it to your family and friends. Why not also check out our other online dance lessons.

About Learn To Dance

Learn To Dance is a Ballroom and Latin American Dance School based in Burnham, Buckinghamshire.

Whilst our studio may be closed due to the Coronavirus outbreak, we’re still trying to help all our students to keep dancing!

We hope you enjoyed our Solo Tango routine online dance lesson.

You can check out our website, or follow us online, at:

Website: learndance.co.uk
Youtube: youtube.com/learndance
Facebook: facebook.com/learndance
Instagram: instagram.com/learndance
Twitter: twitter.com/learndance

The post Solo Tango Dance Routine appeared first on Learn To Dance.

Sequence dancing is where you repeat the same 16 or 32 bar routine throughout a song, dancing around the room, and in sync with everyone else.

Now that’s great when you have the space! What we’re going to show you today is how to practice the basic movements in your front room.

The Dance – Tango Serida

The Tango Serida features a mixture of standard Tango steps, as well as some extra moves thrown in.

To convert this into the full routine you don’t need to change anything from the first half.

The first change would be as you start the second half of the routine. You would dance the spins down line of dance and end in promenade looking down the room.

The chassés at the end, after the Contra Check, would also be danced back and forward on the diagonal – with no rotation.

The Music

For this Sequence for Small Spaces lesson we have used Desafiante by Tiki Tiki:

The Tango Serida video

You can see our Sequence for Small Spaces online lesson below:

Don’t forget, if you enjoyed our online Tango Serida sequence dance video please send it to your family and friends. Why not also check out our other online dance lessons.

About Learn To Dance

Learn To Dance is a Ballroom and Latin American Dance School based in Burnham, Buckinghamshire.

Whilst our studio may be closed due to the Coronavirus outbreak, we’re still trying to help all our students to keep dancing!

We hope you enjoyed our Tango Serida sequence dance lesson.

You can check out our website, or follow us online, at:

Website: learndance.co.uk
Youtube: youtube.com/learndance
Facebook: facebook.com/learndance
Instagram: instagram.com/learndance
Twitter: twitter.com/learndance

The post Tango Serida – Sequence for Small Spaces appeared first on Learn To Dance.

The routine is taught in easy to follow stages that build you up to a full choreographed routine. There’s plenty of opportunities to practice the routine throughout the video.

Solo Rumba – The Dance

The Rumba is a Cuban dance and shares similarities with Cha Cha Cha, Mambo and Salsa.

You may recognise it as the sensual dance from Strictly Come Dancing but the main aim of Rumba is the contrast between quick and slow movements.

It’s danced on the second beat of the music and we’ll incorporate that at the start, using a weight transfer.

We’ll start you off with some of the basic steps, before building up to spirals and Advanced Leg Turns!

Featuring Alternative Basics, Open Basics, Rumba Walks, Cuban Rocks, Cucarachas, Open Outs/Hand-To-Hands, Solo Spirals, Grapevines and Advanced Leg Turns; there’ll be plenty to work on.

The Music

The music we’ve chosen for our Solo Rumba routine is Beautiful Woman by Ramin feat. Staffan Carlén:

See the Solo Rumba lesson video

If you’re ready to learn our solo dance routine you can find the video dance lesson below:

Don’t forget, if you enjoyed our online Solo Rumba dance video please send it to your family and friends. Why not also check out our other online dance lessons.

About Learn To Dance

Learn To Dance is a Ballroom and Latin American Dance School based in Burnham, Buckinghamshire.

Whilst our studio may be closed due to the Coronavirus outbreak, we’re still trying to help all our students to keep dancing!

We hope you enjoyed our Solo Rumba routine online dance lesson.

You can check out our website, or follow us online, at:

Website: learndance.co.uk
Youtube: youtube.com/learndance
Facebook: facebook.com/learndance
Instagram: instagram.com/learndance
Twitter: twitter.com/learndance

The post Solo Rumba Dance Routine appeared first on Learn To Dance.

Sequence dancing is where you repeat the same 16 or 32 bar routine throughout a song, dancing around the room, and in sync with everyone else.

Now that’s great when you have the space! What we’re going to show you today is how to practice the basic movements in your front room.

The Dance – Sally Ann Cha Cha

The Sally Ann Cha Cha is composed entirely of the Latin American dance’s steps (as opposed to some other sequence dances that bear little resemblance to their namesakes – I’m looking at you Mayfair Quickstep!)

To convert this into the full routine you would dance down line of dance when doing the three Cha-cha-chas. You could still dance them as the chassé, lock, chassé combo, or as per the script with three lock steps side-by-side.

The follow my leader is danced on the diagonal but otherwise that, and the New Yorks, are danced as per the video.

We dance the weave down the room, and the cross basics facing line of dance.

You will then dance the turn down line of dance, turning to face your partner, with the leader ended facing their nearest wall.

The Music

For this Sequence for Small Spaces lesson we have used More Than You Know by the Chalalatas:

The Sally Ann Cha Cha video

Don’t forget, if you enjoyed our online Sally Ann Cha Cha sequence dance video please send it to your family and friends. Why not also check out our other online dance lessons.

About Learn To Dance

Learn To Dance is a Ballroom and Latin American Dance School based in Burnham, Buckinghamshire.

Whilst our studio may be closed due to the Coronavirus outbreak, we’re still trying to help all our students to keep dancing!

We hope you enjoyed our Sally Ann Cha Cha sequence dance lesson.

You can check out our website, or follow us online, at:

Website: learndance.co.uk
Youtube: youtube.com/learndance
Facebook: facebook.com/learndance
Instagram: instagram.com/learndance
Twitter: twitter.com/learndance

The post Sally Ann Cha Cha – Sequence for Small Spaces appeared first on Learn To Dance.