Dancing can be a perplexing and polarizing activity at times. At the crux of the matter is how difficult dance can be at times. Why is dancing hard?
In this article, we get into the nitty-gritty to address this important topic. Our principal author Jake draws on his 20 years of dancing experience to answer why dance is hard. From clubs, to studios, to competitions, he has seen most of what you will encounter in the dance world.
As a general rule, dance is hard because it is a complex task that is technical, athletic, emotional, creative, conceptual, and social. It is also rarely practiced.
Make no mistake though, there are many reasons why dance is hard. To gain a complete understanding of this topic, keep reading friends. There is useful information for both new and experienced dancers.
Why is anything hard?
Let’s first address why anything is hard.
As a general rule, we find things hard when we are unfamiliar with them.
Think of any activity, generally when we become familiar with it, its ease of completion is increased.
We may still it somewhat challenging, but we will generally have more tools and knowledge of how to overcome those challenges. This is relatively inevitable if we stick with something.
However, we humans tend to have ‘comfort zones’.
What is a comfort zone? A comfort zone is an area where we feel competent.
We have these comfort zones because there is simply not enough time in our day to be good at everything. Environmental factors may be at play as well (for example culture, country, family, etc).
Generally, we each specialize in different areas and are rewarded for our expertise in these areas.
So you can see how learning something new has a barrier to entry.
Demonstrating this is a quote below by zen master Suzuki Roshi.
“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind there are few.”
Zen master Suzuki Roshi
A combination of head, heart, and body
When you think about it, dance is a combination of head, heart, and body. This is one of the reasons why dance is hard.
We break this concept down below.
Head:
In our head we need to guide our moves to a certain extent. Think of a general of an army issuing broad orders to highly skilled units. The units then carry out what their drills have taught them.
This is the same principle of our head in dance. The general is our head, and the highly skilled units are our muscle memory of dance moves.
Heart:
In our heart, we need to feel emotion and let that emotion come out in our dancing. We also need to be judging how much of that emotion we should show on a dancefloor.
Body:
In our body, we need to use factors such as balance, agility, strength, and flexibility to perform dance moves.
Perhaps more importantly, we also need to drill dance moves into the body’s muscle memory for automatic competence.
Bringing it all together:
To dance, we need to bring the head, heart, and body together seamlessly. There is a lot going on! Just having heart doesn’t work, nor does just having head and body. You can see why people say dance is hard.
The rarity
A reason why dance is hard is due to its rarity.
What we mean is as we become adults, the opportunities for organic dancing become less.
The reason is that other activities that are seen as more practical take priority. Activities such as:
- Increasingly important jobs. These jobs pay for increasingly expensive items to keep up with peers (eg. houses, cars).
- Maintaining a relationship. A relationship that will usually result in a family.
- Chores to maintain our lifestyle (eg. cleaning, tidying, school runs, etc).
- Traditional health maintenance such as the gym.
Even if you remain single and don’t climb a career ladder, your friends likely will. This leaves you with few/no friends to dance with, such as when you were younger.
When we rarely dance, we start to lose the skill. In the end, for most people, what was once a bit of fun turns into a challenging alien activity.
Social restrictions vs letting it all go
Dance can be an inner conflicting activity at times.
What we mean by this is that broadly our normal state takes into account social expectations and norms.
For example, we don’t sing karaoke on public transport, because we are adhering to social norms.
Similarly, we don’t stop in the middle of a busy walkway to meditate because people would think we are strange.
So, as you can see there are numerous societal restrictions to which as normal people we adhere to.
However, if we imagine a dancefloor, this inner conservativeness is switched off. Suddenly it is permissible to have few social inhibitions. To sing loudly and to dance wildly.
This is one of the reasons dance can be so pleasurable. The reason is it allows us to enter into an extraordinary mindset, as opposed to an ordinary mindset.
However, this switch from ordinary to extraordinary is one of the reasons why dancing is hard. We need to be able to adhere to societal norms as functioning adults. But then be able to switch that mindset off and be free to dance.
The emotion cup
Dance is all about emotion.
Now, emotion comes from the Latin word ’emovere’ which means to move. So essentially the logic of how dance works is this:
- We experience something
- We feel emotion from that experience
- This emotion tells us to ‘move’
- One option to satisfy this need is to dance
However, what happens when we are a bit empty emotionally? What happens when we are jaded long-term? Or we lack experiences that cause emotion?
Well, this is part of why dance is hard. As sometimes our emotional cup is half-full or perhaps even empty.
It is my belief that this is why children and teenagers dance more than adults. Because they feel emotional highs and lows more keenly than adults.
So how do we target this emotional aspect as an adult? We cover this in part 9 of our article How To Become A Good Dancer: The complete guide people need. It is well worth a read as it covers many important aspects of learning to dance from scratch.
The need for athleticism
Let’s address an elephant in the room. Dancing needs some athleticism.
If you have a bad back/knees or lack any sort of agility, you will likely find that dance is hard.
So dancing needs some body integrity, particularly from the lower back down.
However, some people take this view too far. And they think that in order to dance you need to be the next Ironman or look like Enrique Iglesias.
This view is also problematic, as it gives an excuse for not dancing.
So, a balance is required here. Yes, you need some athleticism, but no you don’t need to have crazy flexibility or agility to dance.
The exception to this might be ballet, as ballet dancers do require high levels of flexibility. This leads us neatly onto the next topic.
Dance style challenges
Different dance styles will have different challenges. This is one of the reasons why dance is hard. You can be great at one dance style and terrible at the next.
Let’s do a comparison of say ballet and hip hop.
| Ballet | Hip hop | |
| Athletic skills | High flexibility and complimentary leg/hip strength are important. Toe, ankle, and foot strength and mobility are also key. | General agility is favored. A toned upper body is useful for popping and locking. Strong/mobile ankles are also key. |
| Attitude | Effortless, graceful, and light | Gritty and grounded |
| Movement type | Long/elegant extensions, lifts, and jumps. Movements are traditional and rule-based. | Creative and dynamic movement. Generally explosive. Few rules. |
| Music played | Classical music | Hip hop music |
So you can see how different these two styles are. And this is just one comparison.
We do ourselves a disservice when we use an umbrella term such as ‘dance’. The reason is dance contains many subtypes which are all different.
We have written an article on all the different dance types and their nuances. This can be useful to understand what is out there and what is possible in dance styles. It can be viewed here The Best Style Of Dance: An experienced dancer weighs in.
Overestimating how easy dance is
The context of dance has meant that people tend to over-overestimate how easy it should be.
What we mean by context is that dance is generally done in pleasurable circumstances. For example, parties, weddings, celebrations, etc.
Something such as martial arts has a much harsher context such as octagons, street fights, etc.
Given the pleasurable context of dance, people tend to assume dance itself should just come easy. Another factor is if you dance well, you make it LOOK effortless and cool.
People will literally say ‘it’s easy!’ or ‘it’s not hard!’.
As a general rule, this is not the case.
Dance is a physical skill much like any, such as martial arts. It takes skill, practice, and a certain level of coordination and athleticism to do it well.
So, be aware, that just because good dancers make it look easy, and the environment is supposed to be pleasurable, dancing is generally not easy.
And when we underestimate an activity’s level of ease, it inadvertently becomes harder. The reason is that we are not adequately prepared to do that activity. It’s like trying to fix a car engine with no tools.
Dancing is difficult, but anybody can learn
There is a notion in dance that because dance is considered hard, it’s not accessible to everyone.
It’s like becoming wealthy. The general attitude is that only a few can become wealthy due to luck and talent. But this is not generally the case.
A more accurate statement would be most people can become wealthy. But only if they put in extraordinary effort, discipline, consistency, and perseverance over 10-15 years. This is mentioned in the international bestseller The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ Demarco.
The same principle applies to dancing, albeit not as difficult.
So, this helps answer the question ‘why is dance hard’. The reason is most people can learn dance. However, few are willing to put in the effort, discipline and consistency required to learn.
We have written a complete guide to if anybody can dance. This can be viewed here Can Anybody Dance?: Factors, evidence, and tips. This is a good read if you are doubting whether you can dance, particularly as an adult.
The dancefloor: Where insecurities are revealed
Sometimes, on a dancefloor, something interesting happens. This something is other people’s insecurities.
Have you ever been with people who, despite not being good at an activity, will critique others to make themselves feel less insecure?
A good example is the classic amateur skinny gym-goer who tries to give advice to a 150kg seasoned powerlifter.
This is what can happen on a dancefloor as well. I have literally seen someone who is a great dancer be critiqued by someone who can hardly dance at all.
It’s annoying, to say the least.
This is part of why dance is hard. For even when you become a good dancer, there will be those who seek to pull you down.
Common tactics by such people are snide comments or mockery.
So, it’s good to be on the lookout for this sort of thing. And remember, it’s not a ‘you’ problem, it’s a ‘them’ problem.
Class structure
Dance classes can be notorious for taking something highly complex and trying to fit it into a 1-hour class. Often without great results sadly.
Let’s break a regular dance class down to demonstrate the above.
In one hour you are generally expected to be able to:
- Learn a large volume of dance moves by listening to instructions and watching the teacher
- Store the dance moves in your memory
- Recall the dance moves from your memory
- Do the dance moves
- In a loaded stimuli environment
- Correctly- with the right timing, amount of steps, shapes, angles, right or left side, etc.
- With the right internal emotion and external appearance
- With music
- Whilst adding your own interpretation and style
- Whilst overcoming any feelings of self-consciousness as a crowd of strangers watch you
- Coordinating the whole affair to look effortless and cool
Unfortunately, in such a class structure, there’s a lot going on! Because of this, it comes as no surprise that dance can be polarizing.
Even for someone who is a good and experienced dancer, the above structure can turn me off dancing. So you are not alone.
This is one of the reasons dance is hard.
The ability to compare yourself with others
Dance tends to be an activity where it’s easy to compare yourself with others. This is a reason why dance is hard.
Much like any athletic activity, we find joy in watching someone else do that activity well. But we also find joy in doing that activity ourselves.
Cue comparing ourselves with others.
Dance tends to be a bit more raw in this regard than other activities. The reason is the emotional aspect, rarity, and insecurity that comes out in dancing. Not to mention any social anxiety/pressure as well.
Let’s picture the following scenario. Let’s say Bob finds himself on a dancefloor with the following context:
- He hasn’t danced in ages
- He is feeling pumped up with good emotion
- But he also feels insecure because he is not used to dancing
- He feels social pressure to look cool- perhaps to impress a girl he is interested in
- He looks around at other great dancers who look like they’re having a great time
- Someone critiques his dancing
You can see how such a scenario lends itself to comparing yourself to others. There is little insulation or buffer for such a dancer against insecurity or comparison.
This is why building up your dance skill to form a ‘skill fortress’ of sorts, can be very useful.
That way when you enter a dynamic dancefloor, you can withstand the opportunity for comparison.
Choreography, social, and competition: Three very different dance challenges
When people ask ‘why is dance hard’, there can be multiple answers.
You see, there are different structures of dancing. We are not talking about dance genres such as ballet vs hip hop here. We are talking about choreography vs social vs competition dancing.
People tend to lump all these dance structures together as if they are one entity.
But, they are quite different. And each has its own challenges.
Let’s break this down below:
| Choreography Dancing | Social Dancing | Competition Dancing | |
| Technical Challenge | Being able to quickly and accurately memorize dance steps/timing etc, and recall these dance steps. | Being able to interpret the music and creatively come up with your own dance steps in the moment, all done with rhythm and swag and without feelings of self-consciousness. | Being able to overcome nerves, and perform under pressure in front of a crowd where there is a reward at stake. |
| Inner Challenge | Being able to enjoy structure. | Being able to enjoy freedom. | Being able to enjoy pressure. |
So you can see how each dance structure is quite different.
I myself find choreographed dancing quite hard, yet I excel at social dancing and find it easy. Others are the opposite. Some perform their best when in a competition.
So if you do find dancing hard, ask yourself which type of dance structure you find hard. And it’s okay to say all three!
Vulnerability or raw strength?
Dancing can either be a place of vulnerability and weakness or raw strength. If it’s the former, this is a reason why dance is hard.
Dancing can be polarizing at times.
What we mean is that if you are a good dancer, the dancefloor is a place where you shine. Where you can drop the small talk and get to the real essence of life, the real emotion. It’s like a veil is dropped to reveal your raw strength. You can show your style and swag and vitality. This is the beauty of dance IF you’re a good dancer.
But what if you’re a bad dancer? Well, the script is switched quite dramatically. Suddenly the dancefloor is a place of vulnerability and weakness. The veil is dropped but instead of raw strength, there is raw weakness. This is why so many people want to learn to dance better. Because it hurts to not be able to dance.
Many things come to the fore in dancing. Things that are generally hidden in normal day-to-day life.
If you’re a bad dancer, take heart. For the reward at the end of the tunnel is more than you might imagine.
Conclusion
In the end, dance is hard for numerous reasons. It can depend on what sort of dancing you struggle with.
There are many different challenges from ballet to ballroom to hip hop. From choreography to social to competition.
In this article, we hope to have enlightened and provided genuine, pragmatic insights into why dance is hard.
If you have any questions, drop a comment below. Or let us know why you think dance is hard. We always like to hear about other people’s experiences.