October 4, 2014

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU CAN’T DANCE?!

brandon_question6

Hey Brandon,

My school is having this big dance and practically everyone is going except me. I really want to go but I can’t dance. I have like NO rhythm!

I’ve checked myself out in the mirror and it’s really painful to watch! I’m afraid if I try to dance, everyone will laugh at me. How can I go to the dance and not make a fool out of myself?

Anonymous

Dear Anonymous,

Don’t be too hard on yourself for having no rhythm. There are far worse things not to have – like a sense of humor, or common sense, or a pulse. Luckily, you have all the important things!

I’m sure this doesn’t help you feel any better about going to this dance, but it sounds like you really want to go. And if you want to go, you should!

The way I see it, you have two options: learn some moves, or go but don’t dance.

Just because it’s called a “dance,” that doesn’t mean you need to spend the whole night doing the Cupid Shuffle.

You could always just go, hang out, talk to your friends, and leave the dancing to people who don’t feel like they have two big, awkward elephant feet.

If you want to dance, you could look up “how to dance” or “dance tutorials” on YouTube and then ask one of your closest friends to give you their honest opinion about how you’re doing.

It might take a while for you to watch yourself in the mirror without cringing, but you’ll get better if you keep at it.

And you don’t even need to become the best dancer ever. You just need to get good enough to feel confident so you can relax and have fun.

When I first started dancing, I thought for sure I looked like one of those little monkeys that wear vests and bang symbols together (but larger, and less cute).

But eventually, I started to feel less gawky, and that made it so much easier to focus on the awesome girl I was dancing with. Luckily, she’s the kind of girl who’d never judge me on how I dance, so I never feel intimidated.

If whomever you dance with is worth your time, she wouldn’t either!

I hope this helps!