I can't even exaggerate at this point; social dancing is like a cheatcode.

I'm the last person to encourage "this one trick" type posts because I think they're all bullshit, but learning to dance is a real, applicable skill that has given me much more drastic results than I ever thought and I have to share. I'm going to share about my experience a bit and give some advice and encouragement for beginners.

For starters, I don't mean clubbing. There are countless posts on that already. I mean proper social dances like Latin (Salsa, Bachata...), Swing, Ballroom, etc.

For the past couple months I've been going Latin dancing at a fairly small studio in my city. The vibe there is excellent. The first time I went, I took a girl who has been dancing for years and I was honestly pretty nervous. My anxiety was shattered quickly.

People were friendly, nobody gave me so much as a look for being a total beginner, and everyone was out to have a good time. I danced with girls my age all the way up to the owner's wife and enjoyed every second. I've taken several girls out there since then and had excellent results.

I've picked it up quickly and went out Country Swing dancing for the first time this last weekend, where I really noticed my improvements. I'm taking a couple different girls to both this coming weekend as well and already have more asking me to join in the future.

I don't want this post to become a long coffee-fueled rant, so here are some tips and takeaways:

  1. Make fun and learning the goal. I had to accept my first time out that I had no idea what I was doing at all and made it my mission to learn, have a blast, and disregard what people thought. If you can do this, you will learn very quickly and have a blast every time. This also indicates that you are comfortable and confident to the other folks there, which will get you more attention from girls and respect from the guys even if you aren't much good. Maintaining this vibe has earned me much more attention from the regular girls there even though some of the other guys are leaps and bounds (literally) better dancers than I am.

  2. Dancing is Kino on Autopilot. This is pretty self-explanatory, but it's worth outlining. Social dances, especially the Latin styles like Salsa and Bachata, are very sexy. The entire nature of dance is the two of you, whether it's one song or the whole evening, being right up in your physical space and moving in very sensual ways. Even the most basic steps and movements allow you to really make the night as sexy as you want it to be, and the fact that you can dance with any number of women throughout an evening is excellent practice getting comfortable with this. Spending an entire night with your hands on women will make you much more comfortable touching girls in other settings as well. If you have any problems with Kino, dancing will help immensely.

  3. Learning to Dance Will Skyrocket Your Confidence. Women love guys who can dance. Women love guys who are confident and fun enough to show up on the dance floor despite being beginners. Women will go out of their way, both on the dance floor and out in the real world, to join you if they know you can dance. This is a skill that every man should have but few actually do, and knowing that you can (or are learning to) spin a girl around and show her a great time will translate to other areas of your life as well. This isn't a magic bullet; it works because it's a learnable skill where progress is immediately observable and applicable. I have a hard time describing the rush to my confidence when I backflipped a girl and dipped her to the ground after she told me she hadn't ever danced before. The look in her eyes was priceless.

I meant this to be brief, but I finished two cups of coffee and here we are. I'd be thrilled to join in a discussion with anyone who has any input or wants to share their own dancing experiences.

TL;DR:

Social dancing is an excellent way to meet beautiful women and interesting men, learn a valuable and very attractive skill, work on social anxieties, become totally comfortable with kino, and become more confident in a real way. It's not a magic bullet; it takes actual practice and pretty large steps out of your comfort zone, but the results are quick and easy to see. Dancing is a skill that every man should have.

EDIT: Loads of excellent input and discussion here, folks. This is what this sub is all about.