Mo'Jive Instructors - have they sussed the secret?

[Gus]

I've already posted my views on my recent visit to Mo'Jive country (Southampton) and about what a good time I had. Being home sick with a cold (sorry ... dying of an extremely virulent form of MAN'S FLU ;) ) I've had some spare time to think back about my experience of the dancers there. From my (somewhat limited) experience of the Mo'Jive dancers it seemed to be that:
basics moves and technique were excellent
not much evidence fo more advanced / fusion dancing
I suppose that the true measure of how good a teacher is is how good your students are. On that basis the Mo'Jive instructors must be excellent. The standard of the new female dancers exceeds anything I've come across. So, I was wondering, was this just a one-off anomoly or has anyone any direct experience of this lost world of Mo'Jive dancing.

For those who don't know the history, Mo'Jive like Blitz, used to be part of the main Ceroc landmass. However, over the ages (1998) it floated away over the seas never to be seen again. Few who venture to this forgetten land return to bring world of what takes place ......

[El Salsero Gringo]

Barry Shnikov lives in Southampton. What does he think?

[straycat]

I suppose that the true measure of how good a teacher is is how good your students are. On that basis the Mo'Jive instructors must be excellent. The standard of the new female dancers exceeds anything I've come across. So, I was wondering, was this just a one-off anomoly or has anyone any direct experience of this lost world of Mo'Jive dancing.

For those who don't know the history, Mo'Jive like Blitz, used to be part of the main Ceroc landmass. However, over the ages (1998) it floated away over the seas never to be seen again. Few who venture to this forgetten land return to bring world of what takes place ......

I first learned MJ through the loving arms of Southampton Ceroc. I was there When Everything Changed - I survived the turmoil that followed, witnessing sights which are forever seared on my memory (the details of which escape me) and eventually, through the harrowing times that followed, I escaped to the Northeast of England, never to return!

Um.
What was the question again?

[David Bailey]

{ snip }
Blimey, you're in a poetic mood today.

Stop it, you're making the rest of us look bad.

[Juju]

Being home sick with a cold (sorry ... dying of an extremely virulent form of MAN'S FLU ;) )

Me too. I've got Man Flu. :sick:

And soon no doubt everyone I danced with at the weekend will have it too. Mwahahahah. :devil:



... what was the question again?

[straycat]

Blimey, you're in a poetic mood today.

Sorry. Been blues-dancing all weekend, and my head's still in that space.

If it's any consolation, I've been useless at work today :(

[Andy McGregor]

I've been visitinig MoJive venues for many years. Their instructors are just like any other organisations, there are some good ones and there are some others. At one class I even had a crew member show me how to bounce my hand...

What MoJive are good at is organisation. Their events are well organised and there always seems to be a big tean on duty to keep things running smoothly.

I've always thought that MoJive would suit Gus. They play a lot of beaty club mixes, they play them LOUD and they they cut off the end of each track to mix it with the start of the next one. It's like a Night Club and I know Gus likes this.

Me? I like to plan my moves to fit the end of a track...

.. it's very frustrating when the end never comes :tears:

[El Salsero Gringo]

At one class I even had a crew member show me how to bounce my hand...Perhaps you weren't bouncing it right, then?

Just a thought.

[Gus]

I've always thought that MoJive would suit Gus. They play a lot of beaty club mixes, they play them LOUD and they they cut off the end of each track to mix it with the start of the next one. It's like a Night Club and I know Gus likes this.Hmmm ... that very much was NOT my experience. As I said in my review (under the Clubs Review thread) the music was the worst part. It wasn't loud, very little (if any) club music. If any music style dominated it would have been 50's style jive/swing. They seemed to mix every other track or so. My main complaint was the uniform beat and the lack of anything interesting. PS, I stopped being a Club Music evanglist year ago :rolleyes:



I've been visitinig MoJive venues for many years. Their instructors are just like any other organisations, there are some good ones and there are some others. At one class I even had a crew member show me how to bounce my hand...Thats interesting, but I still have to judge them by their results. I've heard many claims by instructors (hell, I've been one of them in the past) about how we focus on basics etc. .... but our students still turn out to be a nightmare to lead or constantly off balance (yeah, yeah, I exaggerate somewhat). The Mo'Jive dfemale dancers (with one minor excpetion) were a delight to dance with. So, they must be doing SOMETHING right.:grin:

[straycat]

Thats interesting, but I still have to judge them by their results. I've heard many claims by instructors (hell, I've been one of them in the past) about how we focus on basics etc. .... but our students still turn out to be a nightmare to lead or constantly off balance (yeah, yeah, I exaggerate somewhat). The Mo'Jive dfemale dancers (with one minor excpetion) were a delight to dance with. So, they must be doing SOMETHING right.:grin:

Well - from what I remember, any follower giving a less-than-exemplary dance experience to an Visitor from Outside is noted down, and later quietly taken away for "Re-Education" (or, in extreme cases, shot) Those delightful dance experiences you talk of come at a horrific cost...

And your own participation is helping fund and spread this oppression. We need to up people's awareness before it's too late - before they start spilling out from the current Southern Containment Area into the rest of the country....

[TA Guy]

Long and boring post warning.

I do not know how long I have been dancing at Mo'jive (Ceroc South), at least twelve years, maybe as much as fifteen. This is my view :)


Back ten-twelve years, the standard of teaching was probably better than anything else outside London (possibly on a par with London), and the standard of dancing was actually better than London (tho not with the numbers obviously). It was one of the first franchises to introduce musicality (called 'style' back then) and even something straycat264 equated to Blues dancing (Prolly better described as Latin Blues as I remember it, but I could be wrong). All this started over ten years ago. The teachers (overall) were of exceptional quality, the demos and taxis too. Mo'jive (or Ceroc South as it was then) must have been a contender for the most progressive franchise around.

Those days came to an end, as all good things do. Which is a shame, but it did leave behind an excellent business model, very good organisation, and as far as I can tell from my travels, participatory numbers most franchises would kill for.

The teachers are like any other franchise now, a very mixed bunch, however, part of the organisation skills is a certain minimum standard. There are no 'super' teachers at Mojive anymore, but there are certainly no crap ones either.

The music is mostly thump thump as I would define it, but not exclusively so, and there tends to be better variation at freestyles than class nights. There is usually no shortage of latin tracks, and although I would prefer more slower numbers, they do get played. Challenging tracks as defined by this forum are not played.
This is a reflection tho of two things, the best music to get the person off the street bopping (tends to be well known songs or chart songs) for the class nights, and what the freestyle dancers actually want for freestyles as researched by the monthly request freestyle at Minstead. You can complain about the music, which is fair enough, but you'd be in a minority (which includes me. LOL).

There is no advanced dancing taught (save the occasional imported teachers, Simon Selman, Viktor, Ian & Camilla etc. for a kind of hybrid specialized class/freestyle and daytime workshop they do from time to time, apparently there is a Blues one coming up sometime etc.). That does not mean the standard of dancing is not high. The standard is actually very high, but you won't find the best dancers at the class nights very often since one and sometimes two freestyles within easy driving distance every weekend means the best dancers attend those (same as many other franchises I guess). There are a fair few good latin (salsa, latinjive) type dancers, but there are very, very few good Blues dancers (due to the music and it's reputation down here).

Mojive does not suffer from body bounce much, that gets 'taught out', but the type of music played does encourage the hand bounce (to mark a beat). Some consider this a 'bad thing' even tho really it's just a style thing. I just think people who have a problem with it are dominating the connection too much since it's only a problem if A) The two dancers can't agree on the correct beat (you'll prolly have bigger problems anyway LOL), or B) one of them fights it. (or C) it's horribly exaggerated of course, there are one or two). I've long believed that except for rare cases of exaggerated hand bounce, those complaining of it should look to their own lead/follow faults first. Maybe trying to impose 'their style', maybe not enough flexibility, maybe trying to use a WCS or Blues style lead/follow, whatever. So I don't consider the hand bounce a fault, just a style reflecting the type of music played.


Anyway, in conclusion, I consider myself lucky to live in an area well served by an exceedingly competant franchise, particularly in my early years and whilst, like most, I do not consider Mo'jive perfect, I have no real complaints :)

[tiger]

good post,not boring at all, thanks