Taking a group dance lesson can be timidating at first and result in your feeling rather diffident about the prospect of attending. I know when I first started taking dance lessons, I avoided group lessons because it reminded me of grade school when I tormented by teachers who forced me to take lessons. The lessons were really bad and irrelevant. They taught us waltz. then left us to dance on our own and nobody waltzed, they just swayed for 3 minutes (like most newly married couples do).

I hated group dance lessons, and yet now I'm a professionally trained dance teacher. So there is hope and help for you, too. Here are some tips that can help you learn to dance.

1. Find a friend who can show you a few simple moves. Practice in private. (I used to sneak into my study room in college at 2am, when everyone else was asleep to practice.)

2. Take some private dance lessons from an expert, a patient, experienced instructor.

3.. Study some salsa instructional videos.

4. Take some group lessons when you feel ready. Find out what the lesson will be about and prepare yourself by doing your own independent study ahead of time. You'll be amazed at much more relaxed you'll be and much more you will learn.

5. Find a dance partner. This doesn't have to be someone you are romantically involved with. It fact, it may be better this way for several reasons (but that's a subject for another article).

There's a free group dance lesson you can take every Thursday in Sacramento. It's featued in the video. You can learn more at http://www.ProGuildSocial.com: