How to learn to dance in stages (4,2,4)
I believe the answer is:
step by step
'in stages' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adverbs. Maybe you can see an association between them that I don't see?
'how to learn to dance' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'dance' could be 'step' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'step' is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for step by step that I've seen before include "Gradually" , "A bit at a time" , "Incrementally" , "climb ladder thus" , "advance via stair" .)