Any dancers here?

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Apparantly people with AS usually don't have good co-ordination skills (throwing a ball, dancing etc.) but I'm very much interested in going to a dance school or something because I feel it would be the best way to express my ctreavieness, I think I would be able to dance but are the AS odds against me? :\

any advice/feedback?

I took ballet lessons, when I was younger. I found that since I was obsessed with it, I developed an extraordinary sense of balance. My teacher said I was a natural. The only thing that I remember bothering me, was what I suspect was an issue with mirror neurons. I always got mixed up at the ballet barre, and would do things in reverse of what the other students were doing. This embarrassed and frustrated me. I would probably have worked best with one on one instruction, but that was more expensive.

PS: The dance instruction carried over into every day life. I was not as clumsy, my posture improved, and people would constantly ask if I were a dancer, because my way of walking was so graceful.

I signed up for a belly dancing course (modern egyptian/oriental style) - I have been having the same problem with the mirrors in the dance studio. I try to concentrate on the teacher without looking at the mirror, but I still am doing things reverse. Sometimes she calls out a direction - right arm up, left arm up - I (almost) invariably end up with my right arm up when everyone is holding up their left. Happily belly dancing isn't all that strict - its important to do the moves correctly (I just hope the teacher isn't getting annoyed that I seem to go opposite all the time) but happily belly dancing is a little more open to self-expression... . I can usually execute the moves perfectly at home but that is just me, a mirror and no other distractions. You can pick and choose your moves, if you can't do a particular move, then you just don't do that move. I am having quite a bit of fun with it too

Granted, its probably the only dance I could do - I am too awkward for ballet, uncoordinated for tap, and ball room I think I would end up in the emergency room - there is no way I can dance in heels, I can't even walk in them.

I took ballet and contempoary dance for three years, I liked it but there were certain problems with my dancing skills that I still dont get, like my posture. Recently, I've wanted to take up hip hop dancing which is fun, but its hard for me to flow with the moves and make everything smooth but its fun. I really like dancing for fun. Yeah my coordination sucks, when I was younger I wasnt good at ball sports. If you want to dance, you should try see if you like it.

I'm not a dancer at all, and my coordination was pretty terrible. However I do martial arts and my coordination has greatly improved. In a way martial art is like dancing in that respect you get "muscle memory", and you are doing moves involving multiple limbs. It takes some years though.

Are you generally clumsy, or just in certain ways? Some with AS aren't really clumsy at all. Often it's the grosser motor skills, but the finer ones aren't so much an issue.

I'm a contra dancer, but that mostly involves a walking step. Still, I can do fancier stuff with my feet and not have coordination issues. You might be surprised.

I can't dance (heck these days I cant even walk!) and I tried as a kid to do dance lessons. First when I was 4 (although that was more my Mom's idea...) and I just screamed the whole time and refused to uncover my eyes (sensory problems). The second time I went it was my decision. A friend of mine did disco dancing and I wanted to go along too. I must have been about 9 or 10. I have since been diagnosed with dyspraxia, quite severe, and I have to say from the amount of times I fell over, went in the wrong direction, slapped people in the face (by accident) and tripped on my own feet, that I wasn't suprised! Ask yourself (in your head... people are scared when you talk to yourself apparently...) if you really have got the coordination skills. Think about all aspects of movement that will be involved and see whether you can move around without falling over. Also, make sure you are careful choosing a dance class because some dance groups can be quite snobby and will make fun of clumsy dancers. Other places might be more helpful than scornful. I went to a snob class...

I took dance lessons for 3 years (stopped because of ongoing depression and knee problems:(),
and I was usually the best in the class, always correcting/helping the others etc.

Though, I suck at ball games/other types of sports etc.

I loved dancing and if it weren't for the depression and bad knees I'd probably have tried out for a (contemporary) dance school.

If dancing is your life (so to speak), I would continue taking lessons and try out for several dance schools, if I were you. Don't let AS keep you from auditioning!

That happened to me too. I went back to ballet school, years later, and had to learn with a bunch of snobby, stuck up younger women. The instructor ignored me, and fawned all over them. I got hurt feelings, and left.

I second grinningcat’s recommendation.

I am very uncoordinated, physically clumsy with poor fine and gross motor skills. I am also very poor at processing and copying the movement of others, cannot sense the beat, have difficulty distinguishing my left from my right, and this dance genre was accessible for me.

I'm currently a professional ballet dancer in Washington, DC. I started late (15) and I didn't think I would be that good at it, because I could never throw or catch a ball. I decided to try anyway since I was obsessed with taping music videos and teaching myself the dance routines. That quickly evolved into an obsession with the process of ballet and the footwork ect. Ever since then, I've been dancing all the time. I get anxious if I take more than a few days off. Even now, when I'm not in class I'll end up looking up dance videos on Youtube. This is one of my favorites, you have to watch it if you like dance!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHCUpEEqPSU

I was very uncoordinated at first but my teachers told me I improved faster than anyone they've ever seen. I'm sure this was because of my obsessiveness. In my opionion autistics are natural born artists. We have the determination and drive, so I think you should go for it.

Ballet was one of my obsessions for most of my life. Two of my idols, in my teens, were the late Rudolf Nureyev, and Margot Fonteyne. Rudolf didn't start training until he was in his 20's! And he achieved international fame.