Ballroom Dancing: The Key to Good Communication
Body Language
Humans are vocal creatures. We love to hear ourselves speak, but too often words get in the way. After all, it's only natural to put your foot in your mouth sometimes! Fortunately, body language is often the key to successful communication. Nonverbal cues have been the signal to discomfort, to lying, to attraction, to a myriad of subconscious decisions and feelings for as long as humans have been communicating with each other. Whether it be noting how someone is using their hands, the position of their arms, or even their proximity to you, body language speaks volumes about how someone is unconsciously feeling.
Ballroom Dancing and Communication
And dancing is the celebration of body language. Ballroom dancing is an excellent way to perfect one's understanding of physical communication, not only in general but between two partners. One must come together with their partner to learn the steps of a dance together, to time their movements together, and perhaps most importantly, to express themselves together. Ballroom dancing is the perfection of a pair's give and take, a mastery of a pair's ability to compromise and understand the necessities of a partner's needs or the lead's decisions. It is the understanding of what your partner is capable of and comfortable doing, and of how to combine the individual actions of two people to create a cohesive and successful movement.
Listening and Attention
But perhaps most importantly, ballroom dancing emphasizes the importance of listening and paying attention. There is no successful communication without being mindful of one's questions, concerns, or fears, just as there is no beauty in a dance between two people who don't trust each other to bring out the best of a movement or step. Especially when learning a dance, listening and noticing the body language so imperative to dancing is essential to building trust with your partner and ultimately creating something beautiful—both within the dance and within the confidence that must be built between two people.
Contact us to better understand the art of nonverbal communication and the beauty of building trust and understanding through ballroom dancing!