You’re Doing It Wrong!
The Myth of the “Correct Way” in Dance
Let’s talk about something that gets thrown around a lot in dance: “the correct way.”
If you’ve been around long enough, you’ve probably heard that phrase from a teacher or seen it in a comment thread where someone insists their way is the right way.
It’s funny how confident people can be when they’re repeating something they were told instead of something they actually understand.
Here's the truth ...
There is no such thing as correct in dance. There’s only what works better or worse depending on what you’re trying to create.
A lot of ballroom studios still teach from official dance manuals. They treat those books like law. Someone, somewhere, decided that this is how a waltz or a tango must be done.
But those manuals weren’t written by nature or gravity. They were written by people. Normal dancers who happened to move a certain way and decided to make it the standard. It was never truth. It was preference.
In Country Dance and West Coast Swing, we don’t have official manuals. Not yet, anyway. But there are some people trying to create them. They call it “standardization”.
It sounds good on paper, but it’s a trap. The moment you start locking things into rules, creativity dies. Innovation slows down. Everyone starts worrying about whether they’re “doing it right” instead of whether it feels right. That’s exactly what happened to ballroom.
Dance should evolve. It always has.
Look at how West Coast Swing has changed over the years. Music changed. Fashion changed. The way we connect changed.
Back in the 80s and 90s, ladies danced in high heels and skirts. A heel lead on count one made no sense then.
Now, styles and shoes have changed, and so have the mechanics of the dance. That’s growth. That’s real progress.
When I teach, you’ve probably heard me say things like,
“I do it this way, and here’s why.” Or, “Some other great dancers do it differently. They’re not wrong. They’re just creating a different result.”
That's how it should be.
Every choice you make in dance creates a different look and a different feel. You should always know why you’re doing something and how it affects everything else.
If your instructor can’t explain the “why,” you’re not learning. You’re memorizing.
So next time someone says, “That’s not correct,” ask yourself who decided that. Because every time dancing has evolved and grown started with someone brave enough to do it “wrong” first.
See you on the floor.
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