How to Partner Dance Socially

Discover the incredible world of social partner dancing. Complete beginners welcome. Learn in your living room or on an enormous dance floor.

This is the second edition of a book previously called the Partner Dance Handbook. It teaches a “social” style of dancing common on dance floors around the world. This is different from the “formal” style seen in shows and on television. This social style is easier to learn for beginners, is arguably more musical and interpretative and can offer variations if you are already a formal dancer. Note that most other books and videos teach the formal style. The author’s experience is that at social dances this social style is far more common; obviously though this can vary from place to place.

The author, Dr Duncan James, has taught thousands of people to dance in person at his classes and thousands more to dance via his YouTube channel.

You can learn with Duncan for free on YouTube with his 44 free instructional videos. However, the videos and this book were created at the same time to work together; getting this book will give you a richer learning experience. Note that this book has no illustrations as it relies on the videos which are linked for free from the text. The particular benefit of this book is that it goes into much greater depth, appropriate for keener students.

This book and the videos are designed to work even if you only have a small space available for dancing.

How to Partner Dance Socially will guide you from complete beginner all the way to popular social dancer in the ballroom dances of foxtrot, quickstep and waltz and the latin dances of rumba, salsa and cha cha. A unique, practical approach means you will quickly learn to navigate a crowded dance floor, feel the music, improvise and enjoy dancing with your partner.

A couple who have never danced before can realistically join a social dance (and not look out of place) after only an hour of practice with one of the complete beginner lessons. Advanced dancers can use some of the simple social moves as variations, work on the connection with their partner, learn to recycle moves between dances and discover ways to improvise to the music. If you are a teacher this book has detailed teaching advice and lesson plans.

Remember this book is teaching a “social” style of dancing and not the “formal” style.

The 44 companion videos can be watched on YouTube for free (via links in the text) or downloaded for free as a zip file (a link to this is also included in the text; the download is provided by the author and is limited by his internet host to a certain number of downloads every month).



Buy How to Partner Dance Socially now to join in the fun on the dance floor!