Do I need a partner to practice learning to dance with?

Learning to social dance is a partner activity, but there are many reasons why singles do not need a partner! Learning to dance requires the ability to recognize the feeling of dance elements. For those learning the lead, they have to first learn where their feet go and the focus on weight change as a lead. Then they learn coordination of their arms, so they can lead turns with proper timing and how to keep their partner balanced. Then they learn shaping leads. Next they might become aware of music, or what their partner is doing. For a follower, we often hear "I can follow a strong leader" from people that cannot dance an introductory pattern themselves. That's a big ask from a leader, and limits these followers to only being able to enjoy a dance with high level, very experienced leaders. So we recommend that leaders and followers focus first NOT only on feeling the dance partnership, but learning the elements of dance so well on their own that they can focus on the partnership. If you have not yet developed the muscle memory for your body to recognize the dance elements being lead it's going to be challenging - but don't give up, just shift your focus. You don't need a partner, and when you are new you don't need a NEW partner who might be struggling themselves...mistakes will be made and without eighter of you knowing enough to know why, or how to fix it and maybe assigning blame to the wrong part of the partnership. So at the beginning everyone needs proper training to become that dancer everyone enjoys dancing with!