Step 1: Geography

First, step through the move without the proper footwork or counts. You can step on every beat, or shuffle through the move. You can even just mark certain endpoints that you need to hit. At this point, you want to make sure you get the shape of the move correct.

Step 2: Rhythm

Next, make sure you know how the geography fits in relation to the rhythm of the move. At this point, you still don’t have to worry about footwork. Try to figure out the rhythm of the move by counting (6-count, 8-count, 10-count?), scatting, or even clapping it out. Make sure you know where each part of the rhythm falls within the geography of move, and on what beats the key parts of a move happen.

Note: Scatting and counting are two different ways of interpreting the rhythm. To “scat”, means to sing the rhythm without the numbers. Both counting and scatting are important and many find that one or the other work better for a certain type of situation. Make sure to try both!

Step 3: Connection

Now that you’ve gotten the geography and counts, it’s time to think about connection, arguably the most important aspect social dancing. Try to walk through the geography of the move with a partner while scatting or counting along with your partner.

For leads, good connection allows you to communicate the geography of the move. For follows, it allows you to feel the energy and directionality of your partner and choose how to want to travel through a move. See this link for general connection tips: ‣. Ask instructors and friends to help you out with this!

Step 4: Footwork/weight shifts

Footwork comes last because connection should inform weight shifts, which then informs footwork. Footwork should not distract you from connection. If you have good connection, are responding to the rhythm of the music, and can scat/count out the rhythm of the music then the footwork might come naturally!

Try doing footwork solo and then try adding geography with a partner. You may need to iteratively try working on the move both partnered and solo in order to find the sweet spot! For more advanced moves that deviate from the basic footwork: DO NOT copy the exact footwork that you see instructors do. This can cause you to rely on memorization over good communication. Try to go through the geography of the move with your own footwork. Then, if something feels off, modify the footwork to make the move work better.