Step in Right Direction // Getting Over The Paralyzing Fear of Dance

Phil Collins isn't the only one who can't dance.

Neither can I. So when the music cranks and bodies startgrinding, I tuck myself as far as possible into a corner and hope noone will notice me.

The thing is, I want to dance. I really do. I'm just notgood at it. With that in mind, WeekendPlus sent me on a mission:Help people, like myself, get over fear of dancing.

It was a beautiful thing.

Step 1: Learn the basics

Few dance studios teach freestyle nightclub dancing. Our panel ofexperts suggests readers take the hands-on approach: go to the clubsand just do it. But plenty of schools offer sessions in linedancing, ballroom, salsa, folk, etc. Don't get frustrated if youdon't master the dance in one session. Remember, it's a professionaldancer's job to make difficult steps look easy.

"Structured dances are difficult to learn because there's a lotto remember," says John Pearce, a stuntman/country dance instructorwith the Chicago Stunt Team & the Windy City Two-Steppers. "Forinstance, the `Achy Breaky' (popularized by singer Billy Ray Cyrus)is very difficult - it's about at advanced intermediate level. Buteveryone wants to do it because they know the song. That will takea little more time to learn than something like the Electric Slide,which is a very easy line dance."

Step 2: Educate your body

Don't be mad at your legs and hips because they aren't carryingout your brain's order to look like a swan. "You have to becomfortable with your body to be a good dancer," says Jan Erkert,artistic director of Jan Erkert & Dancers. "For people who want tofit in at clubs, I would suggest they take modern dance classes.The instructors teach how to move rhythmically and creatively. Andclub dancing basically is improvising."

Step 3: Wear something appropriate

I went to a street-funk dance class dressed in what I'd wear to aclub: jeans and nasty ol' clunky shoes. Big mistake. The shoeswere rigid and hard to move in. And the jeans - well they cut offthe circulation in my thighs for a few days. The students who woresweats looked the most comfortable and moved the most freely.

Step 4: Lose your inhibition

No one's looking at you. Really.

But if they are, it's because you look so good out there. Really.

"The best thing is to go to big clubs where there are a lot ofpeople doing a lot of different dances," says Lesli Manning, aChicago-based dancer/actress. "Watch them, and then jump in and dowhat they're doing. No one's going to laugh at you."

That's what her fiance Alan Jaworski, bassist for Jesus Jones,did. He has no rhythm, Manning said, and can't compete with her onthe dance floor. So he created his own style, flinging hisdreadlocked head of hair around and jerking his body to the beat.Few could pull it off, but Jaworski looks incredibly cool doing it.

Step 5: Practice the moves

"Everyone can dance," club kid Felicia Stanley, 22, says, evenafter watching my pathetic attempts to imitate her at Shelter.

"Technically, I'm not a good dancer, but I think I look gooddancing because I enjoy moving to the beat. I dance a lot at homeor in private with my friends and we cop moves off of each other.Some of (the moves) look really stupid when we start, but once we getused to them, they're definite keepers. Just remember, anyone candance. Especially anyone who's exposed to music a lot."

Not anyone. Ever watch a rock critic dance?

Step 6: Watch yourself

Professional dancers practice in front of mirrors all the time.(And you thought it was because they were so in love with theirbodies.) "It's important to see what's comfortable for you," saysNana Shineflug, founder and artistic director of the Chicago MovingCompany. "You may have seen a guy doing a killer move, but if youdon't feel right doing it, you're not going to enjoy doing it."

For instance, at 950 Club, a regular crew of quasi-punks circlethe dance floor during Ministry songs doing the mosh walk - the dancepreamble to slam dancing. Even though the slow, panther-like moveslook great on them, it doesn't work for me.

Step 7: Don't believe everything you see Paula Abdul once saidmen were afraid to ask her to dance because they thought she wouldtap and spin all over the dance floor like she does in her musicvideos. Don't worry. She doesn't and most people don't do thatfor real either.

"Real people get intimidated by what they see in movies and onTV," says Tito Rodriguez, an instructor at the Ruiz Belviz CulturalCenter who teaches Afro-Puerto Rican dancing.

"Those lambada movies and that `Salsa' film were so fake. Wedon't throw ourselves on the floor and lift the girls' skirts up.That's bad manners. Hollywood distorts reality to make what theythink will sell."

Step 8: Join a group

Find other people who are shy dancers and make a point of gettingtogether regularly. Folk dance instructor Paul Collins says thereare about 15 folk dance groups in the Chicago area that meet everyweek to learn new steps and enjoy dancing.

"We always devote the first hour to the basic steps," he says."Then as the evening progresses, the steps get more intricate. It'sreally a fun way for the more experienced people to pass on theirknowledge to the newer dancers."