Dance Lovers

A nice exercise to practice for your ballroom dance postion: start with your arms relaxed down to your sides. Lift the arms out to the sides with the arm muscles ... not by letting your shoulders come up with tension; then simply fold the forearms in ... leaving the elbows wide. Think about pulling the shoulders down and away from the ears. You want to have a "wide back" for a nice dance frame. This is especially true in the smooth dances: waltz, foxtrot, tango, quickstep, and Viennese waltz.
Men: in a ballroom dance hold: keep the fingers of your right hand together when in the dance position so your hand does not look like a spider on the lady's back. The hand should be placed just under her shoulder blade; that allows the lady to lean back and away.
When you're in an open position ... as in Cha Cha in a crossover break, as in Bolero or Waltz in an open break ... pretend like you are holding an egg softly with the thumb and middle finger. That's a nice generic hand position you can count on.
In swing keep your fingers pointed in toward your dance partner ... not with the finger nails digging in. You need to maintain "tone" in the fingers -- and equal pull and push with your partner. You do not squeeze with the fingers; you also do not use any pressure with the thumbs as the hands have to be free to rotate in various underarm turns.
Communication throught the dance position, hands, and arms is important in good social dancing. Offer tone and strength without being rigid, tight, or too loose.

Latin action is easiest to learn in a dance like merengue ... where you're stepping on every beat. Some things to keep in mind: think one knee straight and one knee bent; as one straightens, the other bends. Practice first with feet slightly apart and shift the weight from one leg to the other ... as if waiting at a "bus stop" ... and the bus still doesn't arrive ... then shift again, etc. You can also practice going up stairs slowly; as one knee bends, you step onto a bent leg with no weight; that leg then straightens as the other knee bends and you repeat the action onto the next step.
You'll use latin action in other dances like rumba, cha cha, mambo, salsa, bolero, and even in east coast swing and jive. When you "rock back" in the latin dances, pretend there's a rubber ball under your heel ... so you can not sink all the way to the floor. You could very lightly touch the floor with the heel ... as in a light "kiss." Do not let your rear end sink down or fall back away from your dance partner.
When traveling forward ... as in forward walks in rumba, you step with a "flat foot" rather than a heel lead. The ball of the foot very slightly lands first; the weight is toward the inside edge of the foot; the foot is slightly turned out so one is not "pigeon toed."
Practice your styling slowly first. When working on the styling in cha cha, first isolate the latin action on individual counts. For example, just do the hip action (leg action) on the "2" count; or just on the "1" count; unless you're really proficient, do not incorporate the action on the "4 and." (Cha Cha is counted "1, 2, 3, 4 and.") Remember to feel grounded and earthy rather than light and bouncy.