I don't really know which of the dances was the easiest for me to learn, but I'm under the impression that the Rumba is the easiest for the ladies. Why? I'm always able to lead a newbie without much difficulty into most of the Rumba patterns I know and I'm talking about those that are more intermediate.

I can't say as much for the other dances.

"Dancing is a contact sport; football is a hitting sport" - Vince Lombardi

rumba is a really easy dance for the girl.. easy to follow and basic steps although i found slow waltz very easy and cha-cha---well cha-cha was MADE for me!

The easiest dance for me to learn was the Merengue, I'm suprised no one else has said that. Salsa and Hustle were also pretty easy.

Luv, Kisses and Cookies,
~*Bri*~

I also find the patterns in Tango to be the most difficult to learn; this is why I have not pursued it any further for the time being.

"Dancing is a contact sport; football is a hitting sport" - Vince Lombardi

There is a really good tango song on the soundtrack of moulin rouge called el tango de roxanne.

Luv, Kisses and Cookies,
~*Bri*~

I think it's the one that you like the music most. Me, it was Foxtrot and swing. But that's because I enjoy the big band sound and fifties music.

But as for Rumba being the easiest to follow, I think that's because of the speed of the music. It's slow enough that you can easily correct in mid-step the follow, and the lead, because of the slowness, can usually be the clearest. Once the lady gets the basic tempo that is. I find it's usually the mix of slow and quick/quick that someone people have a hard time picking up on.

-TheDitz

I agree that merengue is the easiest dance to learn. They didn't teach it at the local studio until recently. So, merengue was one of the last dances I learned. So I just incorporated figures from other latin/swing dances into it.

IMHO, the trick to keeping merengue interesting is to try to maintain continual flow to the dance where you are always moving and turning. The faster the music the better it moves.

Blair

.... is that all the local teachers refuse to teach it because it's so darn "easy". So I always feel like a cow dancing it, because I don't know how to make it look "good." I also wish teachers would emphasize to the leads, that this is a great dance to play with arms, and encourage them to experiment.

*bleh*
-TheDitz
MerengueChallenged.

I agree. The only thing easier than Merengue is sitting in a chair.

The slow waltz was the dance i found easiest. I'm surprised to find others found slow fox-trot easiest. Fox-trot takes a lot of skill and good technique to make it look good. I do agree that the dance you enjoy most (and also the music you love most) would have a big influence. I don't really enjoy tango music (anyone got any suggestions for really good tango stuff??) and i correspondingly find the dance harder to master