More New Dancing
Sep. 25th, 2007 10:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebBad dance teaching:
"Okay, do what I'm doing." (Even if they're doing it well, I'd still call it poor teaching.)
Mediocre dance teaching:
"Okay, do what I'm doing. Oh, but don't let your arms straighten so much. Oh, and keep your feet closer together like this. Oh, and never get so far away that you have to lean forward. Oops, and always keep your arm in front of you while you're turning."
"How many times? Uh, let me count while I do it again. Um, was someone counting? Oh, let me try again. [Students count aloud.] Four times."
Good dance teaching:
Describe what the feet do, to what rhythm, in what direction, and when they spin. Describe what the body's doing, what the arms are doing, how to lead, how to follow, how the lead and follow compare to the lead and follow for similar steps, what to do with your head, how to style your arms, how to put it together. Then point out extra things you notice as you observe.
"How many times? Any even number. Two is okay, four is good, six is good sometimes, eight or more makes you look like you forgot how to escape. This is a spice, not a vegetable; use it sparingly."
**
We went to another new dance place today. They had one consistently good teacher, but only when she was the lead teacher, not so much when she was the assistant teacher. I also liked the floor, which was too slippery and thus I didn't have to change out of my comfy shoes into my dance shoes. (And our usual Saturday night dances are moving to this studio. I couldn't help thinking about R.R. who dances in sneakers but has moved to another state. So sad.) I also liked the fact that the music wasn't too loud. This is probably because there were private lessons going on behind the curtain, but still.
We came for thirty-minute lessons in two-step, single-time swing, west coast swing, and night club two step, because they were $1 each and because the good teacher, who was recommended to us, was teaching. I couldn't follow two-step other than by memorizing the rhythm. People dance so smoothly I just can't tell when they're changing feet. And we learned three steps, but I have trouble telling the difference in the lead between the second two.
Single-time swing is probably what I think of as club swing which is very like what I call singe-step east coast swing (as opposed to double-step and triple-step swing). It was not hard to adjust, but there was no Cuban motion (hip wiggling), so it was a bit boring. Also, someone again insisted that I lean away during the rock steps, which is the other way to do things besides the way I learned. I like my way better both for the safety reasons (imagine having sweating hands--do you want to be leaning in or leaning out?) and for easier dancing (I always know I should be leaning in, I don't have to keep switching back and forth, somehow magically finding out which way I'm supposed to be leaning as well as all the other stuff I'm supposed to be figuring out). We learned four steps, one of which was a new step that we'll probably be able to hang onto for future use. Woo hoo!
In west coast swing we learned only one step and it was equivalent to the second step my instructor usually teaches, but of the eight steps in this move, only two were the same (for the woman) as the way I do them. I don't mind the new coaster step, but I do mind the new way to do the other three steps which leads to a smoother, less snappy turn and which leads to me being sideways as I pass the guy, which means I would have to have my head on backwards to look at him and which means I'm in the wrong position for some of the other steps that start the same way. I'm not going to keep that step.
Night club two step turns out to be a different version that what we know. It turns out that what we know is California night club two step, and what we were taught was country and western night club two step. (Not to be confused with country and western two step.) This involved a similar basic offset by one beat. Hard to switch to. Apparently the version I know is the appropriate for songs with "a strong up beat," which means that the second and fourth beats are emphasized. The one we were taught is appropriate for songs with "a strong down beat," which means that the first and third beats are emphasized.
**
If you think partner dancing sounds fun except that I am scaring you off, just ignore all this. I don't know why I'm having all these troubles. When I went to a competition in Florida, I had no trouble dancing with people there from all over the country, so long as they were dancing "American" style rather than "International." It's not really different everywhere you go, I swear. And if you stick with the same teacher or studio, you will definitely be fine.
"Okay, do what I'm doing." (Even if they're doing it well, I'd still call it poor teaching.)
Mediocre dance teaching:
"Okay, do what I'm doing. Oh, but don't let your arms straighten so much. Oh, and keep your feet closer together like this. Oh, and never get so far away that you have to lean forward. Oops, and always keep your arm in front of you while you're turning."
"How many times? Uh, let me count while I do it again. Um, was someone counting? Oh, let me try again. [Students count aloud.] Four times."
Good dance teaching:
Describe what the feet do, to what rhythm, in what direction, and when they spin. Describe what the body's doing, what the arms are doing, how to lead, how to follow, how the lead and follow compare to the lead and follow for similar steps, what to do with your head, how to style your arms, how to put it together. Then point out extra things you notice as you observe.
"How many times? Any even number. Two is okay, four is good, six is good sometimes, eight or more makes you look like you forgot how to escape. This is a spice, not a vegetable; use it sparingly."
**
We went to another new dance place today. They had one consistently good teacher, but only when she was the lead teacher, not so much when she was the assistant teacher. I also liked the floor, which was too slippery and thus I didn't have to change out of my comfy shoes into my dance shoes. (And our usual Saturday night dances are moving to this studio. I couldn't help thinking about R.R. who dances in sneakers but has moved to another state. So sad.) I also liked the fact that the music wasn't too loud. This is probably because there were private lessons going on behind the curtain, but still.
We came for thirty-minute lessons in two-step, single-time swing, west coast swing, and night club two step, because they were $1 each and because the good teacher, who was recommended to us, was teaching. I couldn't follow two-step other than by memorizing the rhythm. People dance so smoothly I just can't tell when they're changing feet. And we learned three steps, but I have trouble telling the difference in the lead between the second two.
Single-time swing is probably what I think of as club swing which is very like what I call singe-step east coast swing (as opposed to double-step and triple-step swing). It was not hard to adjust, but there was no Cuban motion (hip wiggling), so it was a bit boring. Also, someone again insisted that I lean away during the rock steps, which is the other way to do things besides the way I learned. I like my way better both for the safety reasons (imagine having sweating hands--do you want to be leaning in or leaning out?) and for easier dancing (I always know I should be leaning in, I don't have to keep switching back and forth, somehow magically finding out which way I'm supposed to be leaning as well as all the other stuff I'm supposed to be figuring out). We learned four steps, one of which was a new step that we'll probably be able to hang onto for future use. Woo hoo!
In west coast swing we learned only one step and it was equivalent to the second step my instructor usually teaches, but of the eight steps in this move, only two were the same (for the woman) as the way I do them. I don't mind the new coaster step, but I do mind the new way to do the other three steps which leads to a smoother, less snappy turn and which leads to me being sideways as I pass the guy, which means I would have to have my head on backwards to look at him and which means I'm in the wrong position for some of the other steps that start the same way. I'm not going to keep that step.
Night club two step turns out to be a different version that what we know. It turns out that what we know is California night club two step, and what we were taught was country and western night club two step. (Not to be confused with country and western two step.) This involved a similar basic offset by one beat. Hard to switch to. Apparently the version I know is the appropriate for songs with "a strong up beat," which means that the second and fourth beats are emphasized. The one we were taught is appropriate for songs with "a strong down beat," which means that the first and third beats are emphasized.
**
If you think partner dancing sounds fun except that I am scaring you off, just ignore all this. I don't know why I'm having all these troubles. When I went to a competition in Florida, I had no trouble dancing with people there from all over the country, so long as they were dancing "American" style rather than "International." It's not really different everywhere you go, I swear. And if you stick with the same teacher or studio, you will definitely be fine.