Next step, step 4, is an important one that people tend to neglect.
It is "mapping your body".
You wanted to look good dancing (step 0). You stood in front of the big mirror you bought (step 1). You checked out your own body and the shape, lines, and skeleton (structure) (step 2).
You chose your music and dance, and watched the best dancers. You understood the basics of the dance, and appreciated the best dancers' demonstrations (step 3).
In particular, you checked out two aspects of "the best dances"; body usage (how they do it), and dance elements (what they do).
Now, a lot of people may have told you that you need to imitate the best dances.
The idea is not wrong. You got to imitate good dances.
Problem is that, few people can imitate a dance correctly. What you will most likely be doing is making an inferior copy of the original.
Even if you chose a dance by dancers whose body type is similar to you, your body will be moving differently, and you won't look as good. Just like that.
[by the way, choosing the "original" with the same body type as yours helps. Just like boxing is performed differently in different weight class (lighter guys are far faster and agile than heavyweights), body type makes differences in performance.]
Precise imitation of good dance is crucial in learning dancing and looking good. You don't have to reinvent wheels. By imitating the original, you may be able to get (i) how to do it, and (ii) what to do.
Here I am saying that the problem for the most is to imitate "how to do it". Copying body usage is difficult, especially when you have not got a grasp in the association between your sensation and objective looks. "What to do" is another aspect, but it is more manageable than "how to do it".
The step 4, "Map your body" is a step to prepare you to imitate the body usage effectively.
Plainly put, for the most people, what you think you are doing and what you are doing (=how you look) are different.
You got to fix the difference.
Once "what you think you are doing" matches "what you are doing (how you look)", you can imitate great dancers and you'd look like a great dancer, instead of making an inferior copy.
In short, "mapping your body" is an exercise that you'd do in front of the mirror. You draw wire frame (or "skeleton") in your own body, name body parts (like, "right shoulder","left elbow", "right toe"), move them around while you watch them, and match your sensation and the parts' positions (and motions) in the mirror.
10 years of social dancing does not make you look like a stage dancer. When you go to a dance event and dance with a professional, people will notice which one is the pro. (If not, the "pro" is not a performer-pro but likely a teaching-pro). Excellence in dancing has to show. That's why in auditions the judges/producers ask you to "show what you got".
There are techniques and skills that help you to look good dancing in a matter of months, or even weeks if you are well-prepared. "Mapping your body" is one of those little known techniques.
[Last week I had a cold that was annoying enough. On Monday I watched this Swan Lake, and began to feel like dancing again]
For the work, I am finishing up a review article and planning to send it off tomorrow.
