What is a dance practice?
What is a dance practice and how is it different from a social?
A practice is floor time to go over what you learned in class, with no teacher in front and earlier than a social. It is the step between class and the party.
The short answer
A practice is floor time to go over what you learned in class: there is music, there are people of all levels and you dance with a partner, but nobody is teaching at the front and nobody expects it to be perfect. It is the step between class and the social.
Practices tend to start earlier and be shorter than a social. Dancetomic currently lists 10 events announced as practices, and 8 of them repeat every week; the ones that give a time start between 3 pm and 8:30 pm, while a social in Spain usually starts at 7:30 pm and in Argentina at 10 pm.
Practice, class and social: the three differences
In a class someone explains a move and everybody repeats it at the same time. In a practice each couple works on their own thing: you can stop in the middle of a song, try a turn again or ask someone to show it to you once more. In a social you dance song after song, and stopping to explain something in the middle of the floor is seen as bad manners.
That is why the practice is the place to make mistakes. What feels embarrassing to try at a social is exactly what everyone is there to do at a practice.
Who goes to a practice
Mostly students in their first months who want to settle what they learned that week, and also more experienced dancers who come to polish something specific or to help. Many schools run their own for their students, but it is almost always open to anyone.
If you are starting out, a practice is the best way to get to your first social: you dance with people other than your class partner and find out what already works without thinking.
How to make the most of a practice
Bring one or two things you want to work on, not ten. Change partners often: a move you can do with your usual partner is only really learned when it works with someone else.
Ask before correcting. If something does not work, the kind thing to say is "shall we try again?" rather than explaining what the other person did wrong. And the basic etiquette of a social applies here too: hygiene, saying hello and thanking your partner at the end.
What it costs and how to find one
They are usually cheaper than a social, and in many schools they are free for students. Some are announced as a "practice", others as a "guided practice" when a teacher walks around the floor answering questions.
In your city agenda they appear next to classes and socials. If there is none in your area, ask your school: many open the room an hour before the social so people can practise.