Find Dance teachers near you

Find Your Groove With Dance Lessons in South Africa

Do you want to learn how to dance? Do you want to move gracefully like a ballerina or are you planning to rock the dancefloor with modern hip-hop moves? Maybe you just want to surprise your partner with a special dance on your anniversary?

Whatever your reason, having the desire to dance is nothing new and archaeologists found proof that dance dates back as far as 3300BC in India and Egypt. There’s still plenty of speculation around the roots of dancing, but the most important part is that it’s an art form that stood the test of time.

People dance to continue traditions, they dance to tell stories or they simply dance to relax and be social. What are your reasons for wanting to dance? Are you trying to find dance classes for beginners, dance classes for adults or planning to take dance classes in preparation for tertiary studies towards a career in performing arts?

Dancing For All

Dancing should be something you do for the pure enjoyment of it. Whether you learn to dance for a special event or you just want to get in on the latest popular Tik-Tok dance sequence, the ability to ‘let go’ and move your body with complete freedom is an experience like none other.

If you are completely new to dance, you might be experiencing some fears and doubts about your capabilities. Will you be able to do the steps or will you fall around class and embarrass yourself? These fears are completely human and normal. Finding dance lessons for beginners or a private dance tutor will be ideal if this is you and remember that everyone else is so focussed on themselves, they won’t even notice what you are doing.

Most dance classes for adults will allow you to explore dance moves while you discover the pure enjoyment of moving your body to music. People dance for a wide variety of reasons, including:

1. Dancing as a hobby
2. Preparing for a function like a wedding or that special date
3. Wanting to take over the dance floor by moving like a pro
4. Becoming a professional dancer or theatre performer
5. A joyful and fun way of working on your fitness and health

Finding that perfect dance teacher will help to make your dance journey a more enjoyable experience.

The Benefits of Dancing with a Private Tutor

Dancing is an artform that unites us. Have you ever been to a club and found yourself dancing with a complete stranger? It has the ability to eliminate cultural barriers and allows us to truly connect with people while we express ourselves freely. There are plenty of other benefits to dance and here are some of the ways in which it can change your life:

• Dancing is fun and helps our brains to release happy hormones (serotonin) to combat depression
• It’s ideal for cardiovascular health as it raises the heartrate, gets you to sweat and helps with weight regulation
• Improves your overall balance and muscular strength
• Challenges your brain and improves cognitive abilities
• It’s an inclusive and social activity and good for group morale or making friends

Private lessons are slightly different to group classes because you get hands-on corrections and attention from a dance professional. A private dance tutor will ensure you approach dance in a ‘safe way’ and will guide you in getting the basics right before gradually increasing the intensity and difficulty of your dance routines.

Private dance sessions will also help you get rid of the fears around ‘peer pressure’ and here are some other reasons why a private dance tutor might be ideal for you:

• They will customize the choreography and dance moves according to your needs
• You can build your confidence in private before you move over to group classes
• You can do and redo the dance sequences as many times as you’d like to
• You can only do the dance style you require or like to, i.e. ballroom if you need to prepare for a special event
• Dance teachers will teach you how to protect your body through proper warm-ups, body conditioning and posture corrections
• You can do as many or as little classes as you’d like to

Where to Find Dance Lessons

If you search for ‘dance lessons near me’ you’ll find dance studios in most South African cities. A lot of trained professionals will complete their dance training, work on a couple of theatre productions and settle for a career in dance training where they develop future dancers at their own dance academy.

There are some brilliant colleges in Pretoria, Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town for beginners and aspirational professional dancers alike. Here are some of the places where you can learn to dance:

• Private dance studios & schools
• Dance or arts colleges
• Public universities and Technical colleges
• Casual drop-in group-classes
• Private one-on-one tutoring (online classes or in-person)

Finding the Dancing Style for You

There are quite an exhaustive list of different dance styles you can attempt. Most dance tutors are trained in a variety of styles, but they usually specialise in the one style that speaks to their soul. Ensure you research their forte or speak to them about the style you want to learn before booking your first class.

Some of the popular dance styles, which also form part of most dance college curriculums are:

• Jazz (theatre dance)
• Ballroom and Latin Dancing
• Tap
• Hip-hop
• Ballet
• Contemporary or modern dancing

If you are a bit more adventurous or planning a career in dancing you can research and dabble in some of these dance styles as well:

• Afro/afrobeat
• Burlesque
• Belly dancing
• Aerial
• Pantsula

Getting Ready to Roll

We understand that you might still have some questions about your first dance lesson like what to wear, how to approach injuries and what to expect from your first class? To put your mind at ease, here’s how teachers usually approach a class.

Every class usually starts with a warm-up sequence. This prepares your body for those more challenging steps and most teachers also like to include some classical dance moves in their warm-up to allow students to work on technique. The teacher will then teach the dancers the chosen dance routine, set to specific music and gradually through demonstration they will add moves until the sequence is complete. Dancers then get divided into groups and they ‘perform’ in front of the other dancers the newly learnt sequence. 

A private class will follow the same structure, but the dance teacher will customise the class and routine according to your needs and body and you won’t have to dance in front of groups of people. Make sure you communicate your reasons for dancing when booking your first lesson with your Superprof dance professional.

Here are a couple of additional pointers to ensure you approach your first class as relaxed as possible:

1. Ensure you are wear tight fitting clothes that will not restrict your movement. Big T-shirts and lose clothes can get in the way, so leotards and tights usually work the best. If you are unsure you can google dance clothes or find some reference images on dance sites when you search ‘dance lessons near me’.
2. Be patient with yourself, learning to dance is like learning a new language. The only, massive difference is you have to ‘speak with your body’. Be compassionate towards yourself and let go of all forms of self-judgement.
3. Don’t worry about what others might be thinking. They aren’t looking at you, they are all struggling to remember the steps and getting it right themselves. Every dancer was once a beginner and most dancers are still learning, so never think that you are inferior.
4. Communicate with the teacher, informing them of challenges, injuries and objectives around your dance. Even in a class setup they’ll be able to call-out special progressions or regressions to accommodate you.

Now that you have all the basics, the only thing left to do is to select your dance tutor on Superprof, put on your dancing shoes and get ready to boogie.