Beginner
Body Wave
Beginner Level
The foundation — what every new dancer needs to know
A sequential ripple that flows through your spine — chest, ribcage, belly, hips — like water passing through your body.
Beginner focus
Forget the full wave for now. Just practice moving your chest forward and back in isolation. Then your hips forward and back. Only when each part moves independently should you chain them together. Speed kills — go painfully slow at first.
Tips
- •Practice against a wall: stand with your back to it and try to touch the wall with each body part sequentially
- •Film yourself from the side — the wave should be visible as a clear sequential motion
Common mistakes
- •Moving everything at once (the 'plank wave')
- •Only waving with the upper body and forgetting the hips
- •Making it too big — subtle waves are more powerful than dramatic ones
- •Holding breath during waves — breathe with the movement
Practice drill
Stand sideways to a mirror. Play a slow bachata song. On every 4-count, do one body wave. Film it. Watch it back at 0.5x speed. Can you see each body part move separately? If it's all one block, isolate each section and slow down more.