Dance craze is at its all time high. Many of us tend to sign up for dance classes to learn specialized dance forms such as Salsa, Tango, Hip-Hop and more. Apart from being fun, these dance classes are a great form of workout and thus require us to take some precautions and etiquette measures, especially when the weather is hot and humid. Here are some tips on essential etiquettes that we must follow while learning dance in a group during summers:

Smell fresh with mint

Always have a mint on you. While practicing those rigorous steps, when you feel your mouth is getting dry and your breath is getting stinky, pop in that handy mint. After all you don’t want all those others around you to stop dancing with you because of your bad breath.

Beat the smell of sweat with a deo

Don’t forget to carry a deo in your bag. While following those funky steps, you are bound to get sweaty. So when your instructor announces a break, do remember to quickly spray on your deo to beat the sweat and the body odor.

Carry your own bottle of water

It is natural for you to feel thirsty while dancing continuously. Asking people for water all the time is not such an admirable habit and staying thirsty is not advisable either. So do carry a bottle of water in your bag. If you like, you could carry lime juice with sugar and salt both, instead of plain water. Do sip on it before and after the class, and preferably at least once in between to stay hydrated.

We all know that to do something right, the right equipment is most crucial. Dance is no exception to this rule. If you hit the dance floor without the right footwear, you will neither look graceful nor be comfortable while performing. So it is very important to ensure that you wear well-fitted and the right type of footwear while dancing.

Most Indian dance forms like Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi and Kathak are performed bare foot. But for dance forms like Ballet, Ball room dancing, Tap dance and Salsa, there are recommended types of shoes that you must stick to. For example, for Salsa and Ball room dance, girls must essentially wear heels and guys must wear formal shoes. For Tap dance, it's important to consider how shoes sound as well as how they look and fit. Ballet is performed in Ballet Slippers or Pointe Shoes.

But apart from the type of shoes for the type of dance, there are three things you must keep in mind while choosing shoes to wear for a night of dancing. Your shoes must be comfortable, resistant and of good quality. Be careful about the fit because well-fitted shoes will enable you to dance much longer with less effort.

Do consider durability while choosing shoes because your shoes should not snap while you are on the dance floor. Shoes with back support are generally considered more secure on the foot for dancing than open-back styles. Keep in mind that very thin straps are less supportive than wider ones. Also, thin non-stretch synthetic straps tend to dig into your skin and cause discomfort and bruises. Wider straps with a non-stretch backing are a better choice.

So choose your footwear smartly and get ready to stun everyone with those deadly moves!

Dancing gives you a great mind-body workout and of course, it is a must to warm up before you indulge in this holistic workout, irrespective of the dance form you are about to indulge in. Your muscles can be stiff and tight and can get injured easily if you are not careful. So all you need to do to be safe is leave a few minutes earlier for your class to give yourself enough time to stretch and warm up.

Both men and women can easily hurt their shoulder joints when leading turns and following them. Even knees and hip joints can get hurt due to rotating incorrectly or because of wearing wrong kind of shoes that stick to the floor. Stretching exercises reduce these dangers by relaxing your body and readying it for rigorous movement to follow.

Your stretching exercises should include raising your arms up above your head and behind you; rolling your head around to loosen up neck joints; rolling shoulders in a backward and forward rotation and also pushing them backwards and downwards for a feeling of proper dance posture; circling ankles in and outwards so you don't twist them; moving legs from the hip joint forward and back to loosen those joints up as well.

Now you are ready to swing!