know the choerographed First Dance is still somewhat of a new concept to a lot of folks. What might be even more foreign is doing a lot of rehearsing on your own from a super accessible instructional DVD. I want to make this concept more accessible.
What I do is I meet with a couple to get to know them and to see them dance a bit. I then choreograph a dance to the song they've picked out, teach it to my dance partner and then make a DVD for them to practice with on their own. We meet with them for a 2 1/2 hour rehearsal to make sure they feel comfortable and confident executing all the moves in the dance and then the DVD is a helpful reminder they use to memorize their dance and work on details. The couples I've worked with have found it really easy to use. It works, it works! You don't have to spend hours and hours in a studio with a teacher. Instead you get to spend hours and hours with your honey learning something new together. Come on, that's romantic.
Here's a taste of what the video would look like. We do the dance three times; first with music, second with music while I also shout out certain lyrics of the song that match up with specific moves (easy way to memorize), third is an instructional talk through of the entire dance. Take a looksy.