It's hard to force someone to do something that obviously causes them great anxiety. They may be willing to try a couples dance lesson with an individual instructor before going to a group class or a dance. That puts them with less exposure to feeling uncoordinated, ridiculous, or embarrassing. Otherwise, I try to reassure people…

The two dances are very similar and many patterns can be shared across them.  Both dances feature rise and fall (the elevating and lowering a dancer feels as he or she moves from a lowered position onto their toes, then relaxes through the knee and ankle, and ends…