This article is available in:
The progression from beginner to international dancesport athlete requires the right guidance and support. Choosing the right club can be crucial to your success.
For the majority of dancers, their first instructor is often their last, mainly due to the very high level of skill and teaching ability that most professional instructors possess. The instructor is able to guide the dancer all the way from the first beginner steps to the point where the student can absorb, retain and perform choreographically sophisticated and visually exciting dances in a variety of styles. The dancer actively participates in competitions and is rewarded with progressively better results. The dancer is very skillfully guided by the dance instructor and the dance school/club in making choices about which choreographies to dance and which dance competitions to enter. For the most part, this is the experience of almost everyone in dancesport.
But sometimes a different situation develops for the highly competitive dancers. They find themselves at a dance school or dance club that seems less and less able to meet their needs. The dance school may be organized primarily for recreational/social dancing, or they may find that the instructors don’t have the necessary expertise to take it to international and championship level in dancesport. While the club’s training environment can be welcoming and friendly, the frustration of being stunted in your development can lead you to realize that you simply have to leave the dance school/dance club to continue your growth as a dancer.
Choose the right club for dancesport
Choosing the right dance club from the start can save you the painful decision of having to leave in the middle of an active dance season. Here are some suggestions on what to consider.
- The instructor should have a pleasant personality and be easy to get along with and be willing to give private lessons/one-to-one sessions.
- The instructor should fully understand and support the dancer’s goals and be willing to spend the time required to help the dancer continuously improve.
- The instructor should demonstrate the knowledge and understanding required to help the student perform at both national and international competition and championship level in sports dance.
- The dance school/club should be accessible within a reasonable driving distance.
- The dance school/club should provide dancers with the opportunity to train on their own.
- The dance school/club should have an (international) training environment where you can train with peers, like-minded dancers at similar ages and/or dancers of the same level.
- The dance school/club should be a member of Dans Danmark and/or the instructor should be a member of De Danske Danseskoler, which gives access to compete in all national and international federations, such as WDSF, WDC and WDO.
The training environment at Bendixen Dans
At Bendixen Dans, we understand the importance of having the right training environment to develop you from a beginner to an international dancesport athlete. We offer:
- Experienced Instructors: Our instructors have the expertise and experience required to guide you from the first steps to advanced choreographies. All of our instructors have extensive experience in dancesport, both as top dancers themselves and through many years as teachers with a high level of training.
- Focus on Competition: While we value social dancing, we are also dedicated to supporting our competition-focused dancers and offering them the resources they need. We have an international training environment where dancers and instructors from different countries train together and often travel to international competitions and championships abroad in dancesport. See our tournament calendar here.
- Flexibility: We understand that every dancer is unique and we customize our classes to meet your individual goals and needs.
- Memberships: At Bendixen Dans we have dancers who compete in all three major international federations. In addition, Bendixen Dans is a member of Dans Danmark under the Danish Sports Confederation (DIF), which gives access to competitions in WDSF and allows our dancers at national team level to receive support from Team Denmark such as 4-year high school, national team gatherings, etc.
The development from beginner to international dancesport athelte requires the right guidance and support. Choosing a dance club that offers a ladder of development opportunities can be crucial to your success. At Bendixen Dans, we focus on creating an environment where talent can flourish and where dancers of all levels can find their place and grow. Whatever your goals and ambitions in dance, we are dedicated to helping you explore and realize your potential.