Everyone has a dancing style. Even if you have

one that makes you look like a chicken in an

electric chair, that's still a style. However,

if you feel like you have two left feet and are

tired of embarrassing yourself by dancing like

said chicken, then follow these steps to hone

your personal style without ever having to walk

into a dance studio.

Make sure you're alone. After all, you're going

to have to do some pretty goofy stuff before

you can perfect your personal dance style and

unless you want to be laughed at, solitude is

your best option.

Wear something comfortable. This means really

comfortable, like those ratty sweats you'd

never wear in public or that boxer

shorts/T-shirt combo that your spouse keeps

threatening to throw away but never does.

Grab a hairbrush... Or anything else you can

use as a "microphone." This is optional, but it

may help you become more at ease if you can

start singing in that voice of yours that you

keep saving for the shower.

Stand in front of a full length mirror. You're

going to be the star of your own personal show,

and you need an audience. What better audience

than one which will appreciate you no matter

what you do? Fake applause is optional as well.

Turn on the tunes. Make sure it's something you

like and it's got a beat to it.

Get a Feel for the Music. Close your eyes and

listen to the music. Relax your body, feel the

music in your body and start to sway. Open your

eyes and...

Go for it! Move your feet and tap to the

rhythm. The point here is to get comfortable

moving your body to music. Use the hairbrush to

sing if you want. Don't worry, the only one

you'll scare is the cat, and who cares what it

thinks?

Watch yourself in the mirror. Are there any

moves you like? Any you'd like to toss out the

door with yesterday's newspaper? Make a mental

note of it, then move onto the next step.

Emphasize the positive. Really like that

shoulder roll you do when you've got your

groove thing on? Try to do it on purpose. Try

to do it at different angles and speeds to

discover which one looks best. Once you've got

it to where you like it, feel free to bow to

the "audience." They'll love you for it.
Repeat. No need to lather and rinse here, just

repeat the step above for each move you like.

Eliminate the negative. By now you've realized

that the thing you do with your head where it

moves back and forth only emphasizes the

electrocuted chicken look. Your "audience" may

not be complaining, but you sure know about it,

and it ain't helping out your groove thing one

little bit. Don't just toss it out the door;

fix it! Do the same thing you did with the

things you've liked. Try it slower and faster,

change the angle, roll instead of jerking it

back and forth.

Repeat. Still no shampoo tips here, just fix

what needs fixing until you're happy with what

you see.

Practice combinations. Remember: emphasize the

positive, eliminate the negative and blend your

all-too-groovy moves until your "audience"

can't help but cheering at your fantastic self.
Strut your stuff in public. Just remember to

leave the hairbrush at home and wear something

besides the ultra-comfy clothes.
 
Have fun. If you don't, you won't loosen up

enough to just dance.
This technique may take several practice

sessions, so if you have a wedding to go to

next week, enroll in a dance class. You can

worry about personal style later.
Remember, the goal here isn't to win any dance

contests but to simply stop embarrassing

yourself in public, so don't worry about

perfection.

Do not watch too much MTV or the like during

the early stages. You'll only depress yourself.

Only folks with years of dance training can

move like that. Besides, you have a life...Do

you really want to spend it on trying to look

like that? If so, make a career of it, but

until then: MTV bad; mirror and hairbrush good.