
FAQ
We have never danced before, will this work for us?
Who should learn how to dance?
Dancing is like the global language that everyone understands, and knowing even a little of this language can go a long way…. At AO dance we specifically focus on future bridal couples, and people in general, who want to prepare for a certain dance-related event.
We do not draw a line there, however. We are there for everyone who wants to dance but does not want the hassle of physically going to a dance school, or deal with finding parking spots and babysitters. We are there for the people that want to learn how to dance in the privacy and comfort of their own home (and without any time pressure).
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How much practice time should I schedule, so I can impress on the dance floor?
With three lessons, or some videos and if necessary an additional online private class for the final touch, you are well prepared.
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So what sets apart the dancing lessons at AO dance?
Couples that learned how to dance with our online private lessons, practiced additionally by themselves without the aid of a teacher and were also very satisfied.
All variations and combinations of online learning that we offer are proofed and have positive reviews from our customers. Every one of them has indicated they would recommend learning and practicing for their first dance or a flash mob through our online videos and private lessons.
How much space is required for practicing?
What do you mean by “out of the box”?
Depending on which service you have booked, you will learn the basic steps and figures in a specific dance, as well as finishing poses or lifts, that can be integrated into a dance. Also, we can teach you how to open the dance. If you opted for a customised dance, you will receive a choreography that fits the special song you selected, including the movements that sync up to the highlights of that song.
For a flash mob you usually do not learn the typical ballroom or latin dances, but a line dance that fits your desired flash mob. If you want to, we offer jazz- and modern dance-related or couples dance (if your flash mob involves couples dancing) choreographies.
Whatever dance it is you would like to perform, you can learn it with videos or live lessons, online or on-site. Our teaching is step-by-step, and all our videos include practice segments.
When should we start learning our wedding dance?
With the emergency dance lesson you can almost start immediately, when you opt for a personalised dance it will take some more time, as the dance teacher has to be available, and you would need to select a fitting song.
- If you opt for the customised course, you will receive access to a first selection of videos that will teach you the basic steps while we create a special choreography for you. When you actually practise and how much time you take to do it is of course up to you. You receive unlimited access to our videos, and you can view them as many times as you like. We recommend requesting this service a couple weeks before your wedding, the earlier the better and the less stress.
- When you should start also depends on you, how fast you learn, how confident you want to be, and how much time you want to invest in learning your first dance. It is doable to learn it in a week, however it is our experience that dancers are more confident and stress free when they take a couple weeks to learn and practice.
How do the video lessons work?
In the best seller flash mobs, all videos are available from the beginning, for the customised choreographies you will receive all the videos that you need little by little as not to overwhelm you.
The videos contain explanations with and without music, (in case of first dance: with and without partner) and all contain practice segments, that come with counts so that you can participate while watching.
Why should I pay for dance lessons when Youtube is right there?
Importantly however, we think that there are a lot of free products out there that fail to explain the steps exactly at the moment the difficulty level increases. Also, none of them offer customised dances. With us you always have the possibility to call and ask us when something is unclear. You can always get individual support and we will not teach you anything that is ‘wrong’
A lot of people find it harder to stick to a routine with free products. Who hasn’t tried to learn a language on a free app, but eventually ended up forgetting about it. Paid courses often have that added benefit of feeling obligated to spend time on it simply because one paid for it. One of the reasons dance courses function so well is why they have that built-in discipline. Practicing together and getting the best value for money are excellent drivers. With free alternatives there is always a reason not to do it, especially in the busy time leading up to a wedding.
In conclusion, at AO Dance we guarantee a level of care, individuality and professionality that is rarely found in free alternatives.
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How do the online classes work?
Which payment types do you accept?
IMPORTANT: all your personal details are always protected with a 256-bit SSL certificate.
First of all: don’t give up! Everyone learns at their own pace, and it takes some patience and practice before two people can dance together harmoniously. Learning to do a proper flash mob also takes a little patience. This is completely normal. A few things that might worth thinking of in case of couple dancing:
- Do you let the other person lead? It is quite challenging for the leader to give the right cues, and for the follower to give away control. Especially because in 8 out of 10 cases, the person who follows in the dance is actually the person leading in the relationship. To then give away control when dancing is sometimes hard. Most couples I taught have had to work on this, but where there is a will there’s a way.
- A great way to practice this is for the follower to close his or her eyes, and try to concentrate 100 % on the partners guidance and body language. Please ensure that your arms are not too tense, and that your hand is not pushing. Just lightly hold the arms, and the basic tension needed for dancing will come by itself, don’t cramp up.
- The leading part can practice the steps by him or herself, without a partner, to be able to concentrate fully on the steps themselves. This way it will be easier to focus on leading the next time. Humans have a limited capacity for concentrating on things, and it is important to create a routine in the steps so your body will automatically do the right thing.
- What are your expectations of yourself? Perfectionists always have a harder time when learning new things, because they don’t immediately live up to their own expectations. Again, the answer here is practice and time. Try to temper your expectations and those of your partner, and to do things step by step. After a while you can of course raise the bar for yourself and challenge yourself to perfection. Which does not mean that you don’t have to pay attention in the beginning though! Just allow yourself a little more room to learn, to make mistakes in the beginning. Mistakes are human, laugh about them and try to get back into the dance. Practice makes perfect!
- How do you communicate? Try not to criticize your partner but for instance to say that it would be easier for you when he/she holds their arm less stiff, their grip a bit looser or the steps a bit smaller. Try to avoid saying that all at once and work on things one by one before proceeding to the next improvement, that helps a lot.
- If you have no idea what the problem is, you can always call us. Maybe a short video call is enough to figure out what is going wrong :).
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We are not getting married, but we do want to learn dancing. What would you recommend?
Of course all of our online courses can be booked regardless of whether you want to learn to dance for a wedding or not, simply pretend like the comments on weddings and wedding dresses are not there ;).
Private lessons and customised dance choreographies can be modified to fit every occasion (opera ball, carnival, father-daughter dance, mother-son dance etc.) and be booked for different group sizes.
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What is your policy for journey compensation/ room rental?
With private lessons that are on-site, for example in your living room or in a rented space, we charge 0,80 € per kilometer for journey compensation, with a minimum amount of 10 €, because in the city travelling just 5 km can sometimes take over 30 minutes.
Renting a room is really only necessary when we cannot use your kitchen, living room or garden to dance. If you book a private lesson and want to practice with for example your friends when you are eating in a restaurant, it is useful to know that sometimes restaurants offer a spare room when you buy some extra drinks. So it does not always have to be expensive to have no place at home ;).
How long would it take to do the dance lessons you offer at a regular dance school?
Let’s say you learn the steps and figures separately, like with us, and then in addition to that learn the choreography, you could broadly say the following:
- A customised choreography, befitting a beginning dancer, lasting about 2 minutes with personally chosen music, poses and perhaps a lift should be comparable to 5 to 7 hours of private lessons in a regular dance school (notwithstanding the time it takes to practice at home, which nobody can really do without 😉 ).
What happens if we don’t like (parts) of the choreography?
The later changes are being requested, the harder it gets to actually make them – but it is always possible. Depending on the effort it requires to make the changes, we have to charge the private lesson rate of 75€ including VAT. (effort meaning; rewriting the choreography and recording/ editing video lessons).
How long will we have access to the videos?
What are the technical requirements to take part in online lessons?
Furthermore you need a PC, laptop, TV or mobile phone capable of streaming (including a speaker).
Finally you need access to a web browser (Internet Explorer/ Edge, Chrome, Firefox or Safari), as well as operating systems Android, IOS or Windows. This is important for both our videos and video calls to work. Other browsers may work but have not been tested and are therefore not recommended.
You can test your internet speed here: http://www.speedmeter.de/
Please note that for video calls you will need a microphone and a webcam. Various video call providers allow you to test your system before making a video call, to see if everything works. We highly recommend you do that before a dance lesson to avoid disappointments.
If you are already using Skype or Google Hangouts, we can also make the video call via those channels, otherwise we use Zoom, which is a free program that can be downloaded here: https://www.zoom.us/. You can download and install this program on your system as well as run it via a browser window (if your internet speed allows it).
You can test whether you meet the technical requirements for zoom here:
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362283-How-Do-I-Join-or-Test-My-Computer-Audio-
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362313-How-Do-I-Test-My-Video-
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/202952568-My-Video-Camera-Isn-t-Working
info@ao-dance.com
+49 (0) 1511 7557151
Or click on contacts in the menu list and fill out the contact form. We will get back to you as soon as possible!