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Many great and famous dancers and choreographers have released a dance video or dance DVD teaching their dance moves and dance routines. Are dance videos and dance DVDs the best way of learning to dance?

Well 1 thing’s for sure, many people are grateful for such videos because there aren’t a lot of opportunities to learn to dance where they are. Imagine living in a small rural village and wanting to learn break dancing or urban dance moves. Next to impossible!

These dance DVDs/ videos make these moves accessible to people who would otherwise only have the chance to learn them if they moved out of their hometown. This is why sites such as YouTube are so great! The difference of course is that the tutorials on YouTube are usually short whereas a dance DVD will usually cover quite a bit of ground.

Dance DVDs are also great because once you have it, you have it. You can watch it over and over again as you have the teacher in your home. All you have to do is practise the dance moves! And we all know that practise makes perfect.

Dance DVDs and videos also are great value for money, you pay once and you can take the class over and over again. For people who are really pushed for money, they can make a great investment. It is possible to get a great DVD with a great choreographer or teacher who would be hard to get hold of in real life.

The thing to remember with dance DVDs is that they can never replace a real-life, real world dance training. It’s just one dance lesson. A DVD cannot cover everything or provide the ongoing training needed to become a better dancer. A great hip-hop dancer for example has most likely taken hundreds of dance classes.

The big difference really is in the ongoing training. If you are looking into buying a dance DVD, it’s probably good to buy a DVD that teaches the techniques and basics and not just dance routines. A dance routine is good to have on a DVD, but it’s better if it’s combined with lots of break-downs of techniques. Certain basics which you can practise and get better with time.

Also don’t go easy on yourself just because you’re learning from a DVD. Don’t say, “I’ll watch 20 minutes now, then I’ll watch some TV then maybe watch another 15 minutes of the DVD.” Actually participate and take the class in the DVD like you would in real life. Practise slow then at full tempo with the music, don’t just practise really slowly.

If you do buy a dance DVD the most important thing is to actually do the exercises and routines being taught in the videos! If you just watch it, you won’t get much benefit apart from becoming more knowledgeable. You probably want to actually be able to do the dance moves in the videos, not just be knowledgeable about them.

If you really want to learn a certain style of dance or you find a great choreographer or dancer you want to learn from then by all means buy their dance video. But where possible, also try and attend real-life dance classes and dance workshops when you can and you’ll find that you’ll be making even faster progress.

Gel Man writes for Dance Gel, a dance portal and directory that answers many of dancers most pressing questions and features the latest news in the world of dance.