What Ceroc does well...

[David Bailey]

I'd like to use this thread to praise Ceroc the organisation, and list all the things it does well, which other dance organisations / teachers could and should learn from (not just other MJ teachers, all forms).

I'll kick off with a couple:


Standardisation of teaching:
The CTA courses mean that the dance is taught the same way pretty much everywhere. Unlike salsa / tango, there are no major differences in opinion about the True Way - there's just One Way, and it's the Ceroc Way. This is a great help to beginners, as it means they get a consistent message from all venues.
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Crowd management / rotation:
Yes, there are usually women over, but every woman knows she'll get an equal turn dancing. Unlike, say, ballroom dancing, where rotation is usually infrequent, poorly-managed and "musical chairs" style. If there are 10% women over at Ceroc, at least the women will still be dancing 90% of the time.


Next?

[TurboTomato]

Standardisation of teaching:
The CTA courses mean that the dance is taught the same way pretty much everywhere. Unlike salsa / tango, there are no major differences in opinion about the True Way - there's just One Way, and it's the Ceroc Way. This is a great help to beginners, as it means they get a consistent message from all venues.

Speaking as a relative newcomer, I think the refresher class and taxi dancer system is also big help to beginners.

[Mythical]

and as a TOTAL newbie - I say Taxi Dancers Rule!
Seriously - it takes a very brave kind of person to dance with me more than once!!

[drathzel]

Taxis are a god send:worthy: If it wasnt for a certain (just retired) taxi dancer i dont know if i would have come back, he made me feel i could dance, challenging me but not making me feel stupid:worthy: :cheers:

Ceroc give a social environment for people to learn to dance without the pressures of being perfect. Its a fab way to keep fit, since i started dancing i have kept my weight down which i have always struggled with.

i also joined ceroc to make friends and now i have made some of the best friends i could have ever made (you all know who you are) :love:

[StokeBloke]

The way dancing is taught right from the start (moving partners around) encourages a great attitude towards dancing. This really makes it easy for newbies to get some dances early on and increase their confidence. After all they will have danced with lots of the people in the room once already ;)

[TA Guy]

What Ceroc does well is get a load of people doing basic dancing very quickly.

[stewart38]

Speaking as a relative newcomer, I think the refresher class and taxi dancer system is also big help to beginners.

Been to a few beginner classes at salsa and you made to feel 'unwelcome' wether thats in London or Hemel Hempstead

The ones ive attended also seem to be very chaotic with 4 classes at once in same hall. so ceroc more organised. this is based on my expereince

[David Bailey]

Been to a few beginner classes at salsa and you made to feel 'unwelcome' wether thats in London or Hemel Hempstead
Maybe it's just you? :na:

OK, fair enough, that's another thing to add to the list:

Friendly environment:
Ceroc encourages mingling and mixing, and engenders a strong social scene, which is generally far friendlier to dancers than other dance forms.

[drathzel]

Maybe it's just you? :na:

OK, fair enough, that's another thing to add to the list:

Friendly environment:
Ceroc encourages mingling and mixing, and engenders a strong social scene, which is generally far friendlier to dancers than other dance forms.


:yeah: as well as mixing dancers of all ages!

[SeriouslyAddicted]

I think it is sad that there are so many fewer posts on this one than what Ceroc does badly. If the organisation was that bad then it seems surprising that so amny of us are still dancing. IMHO Ceroc boosts peoples confidence, helps people make friends (and more if you are looking for it :awe: ), makes people happy, and does well at getting everyone well and truly addicted :D

[Twirlie Bird]

The taxi dancers are amazing. When I first started dancing I really felt lost and out of my depth. I was terrified of being asked to dance. However on my very first evening a taxi dancer took me out onto the floor and made me feel amazing. I really felt like I was dancing. Suddenly this Ceroc thing was going to be ok and I was going to be able to do it. I stuck at it and am now so pleased that I did. If it wasn't for the taxi dancers and especially that one I don't know if I would have carried on.

[tsh]

I think it is sad that there are so many fewer posts on this one than what Ceroc does badly. If the organisation was that bad then it seems surprising that so amny of us are still dancing.

I still dance Modern Jive, but not with Ceroc. I have also taken more interest in other styles recently. I don't feel that Ceroc does anything better than plenty of other people teaching MJ - the only factors that stand out me are things that could be improved (and ceroc arn't the only people making these mistakes)

Sean

[purplehyacinth]

Standardisation of teaching:
The CTA courses mean that the dance is taught the same way pretty much everywhere. Unlike salsa / tango, there are no major differences in opinion about the True Way - there's just One Way, and it's the Ceroc Way. This is a great help to beginners, as it means they get a consistent message from all venues.
Crowd management / rotation:
Yes, there are usually women over, but every woman knows she'll get an equal turn dancing. Unlike, say, ballroom dancing, where rotation is usually infrequent, poorly-managed and "musical chairs" style. If there are 10% women over at Ceroc, at least the women will still be dancing 90% of the time.
:

Friendly environment:
Ceroc encourages mingling and mixing, and engenders a strong social scene, which is generally far friendlier to dancers than other dance forms.

:yeah:

I would add the fact that all the ceroc venues welcome beginners every week: there is no need for a newbie either to book for a whole term, or start at the start of a "term". As extensions of this a) it means that you can miss a week or two without feeling bad, and b) the venues are all welcoming to people who wander in off the street who are not part of the regular class. This was one of the things which attracted me to ceroc: the fact that I could go to a dance class more or less wherever I happened to be at the time.

Also the friendly atmosphere is a very nice thing to encounter. Don't know how much this is down to Ceroc, or the dancers at the venues though - maybe it's a combination of both: Ceroc's attitude encourages the dancers to be welcoming, and the dancers, being nice people are welcoming. :flower:

[Paulthetrainer]

I think it is sad that there are so many fewer posts on this one than what Ceroc does badly. If the organisation was that bad then it seems surprising that so amny of us are still dancing. IMHO Ceroc boosts peoples confidence, helps people make friends (and more if you are looking for it :awe: ), makes people happy, and does well at getting everyone well and truly addicted :D

Silent majority perhaps?:wink:

[TheTramp]

Is this thread directed towards MJ as a whole (which seem to be the direction that most of the answers are given), contrasting other forms of dance. Or specifically towards Ceroc, in contrast to other MJ organisations?

Same question applies to the negative thread.....

[LMC]

Anyone asking anyone to dance is communicated well at most venues I've been to (some better than most, but can't think that it's ever been "missed out" of the teacher's patter although I don't always listen these days :blush: ). Makes it easier for everyone/anyone to join in. I went dancing on my own way before I ever went to the cinema on my own.

I know that the happy clappy stuff gets irritating after a while too, but it *does* help most nervous beginners to relax (can we lose it in the intermediate lessons though please?)

MJ really can teach a non-dancer to dance - especially for those who make the most of "extras" rather than relying purely on weekly classes to 'advance' their skills.

[frodo]

Is this thread directed towards MJ as a whole (which seem to be the direction that most of the answers are given), contrasting other forms of dance. Or specifically towards Ceroc, in contrast to other MJ organisations?

This answer is specific to Ceroc rather than Modern Jive.


While the implementation isn't perfect and not all Ceroc related organisations use it (a pity), I rather like the ability to book weekenders, dances, workshops etc. online at any time of day or night and know immediately whether it has been accepted.

While some other Modern Jive organisations / promoters must have a similar thing having the same interface across different franchises gives some confidence. Also I feel better giving my credit card number to a large central website rather than an individual franchise.

[TheTramp]

This one is specific to Ceroc rather than Modern Jive.


Are you sure? Most of the answers are non-specific....

[LMC]

Are you sure? Most of the answers are non-specific....

Bugger, and I was just about to post that Ceroc does Marketing really well...

[TheTramp]

Bugger, and I was just about to post that Ceroc does Marketing really well...

Feel free to go ahead. Don't let my ponderings stop you! :flower:

[David Bailey]

Is this thread directed towards MJ as a whole (which seem to be the direction that most of the answers are given), contrasting other forms of dance. Or specifically towards Ceroc, in contrast to other MJ organisations?.
To Ceroc - hence the title :)

(I usually try to be precise in my terminology)

[TheTramp]

To Ceroc - hence the title :)

(I usually try to be precise in my terminology)

You do.

I wasn't really questioning the title, or intent of the thread. Merely what had previously been posted.....

[Gadget]

What Ceroc does well...
Teach people the basics of how to dance with a partner.
It instills a "good" set of social rules for interaction within the dance enviroment.
It offers opportunities for willing people to improve their own dancing.
It does not pressure anyone into having to meet any standard or goals other than ones they set themselves.
It has a familure 'formula' that is constant throught the country so no matter where you are, you will never feel out of place in a venue.
It offers a choice of mixing how much tuition, dancing and social interaction every individual wants.
It provides support to all of it's staff and peple who work for it.
It introduces people to a wide range of music

...

[David Bailey]

{ stuff }
Yeah, but apart from that, what have the cerocers ever done for us? :na:

[TheTramp]

What Ceroc does well...
Teach people the basics of how to dance with a partner.
It instills a "good" set of social rules for interaction within the dance enviroment.
It offers opportunities for willing people to improve their own dancing.
It does not pressure anyone into having to meet any standard or goals other than ones they set themselves.
It has a familure 'formula' that is constant throught the country so no matter where you are, you will never feel out of place in a venue.
It offers a choice of mixing how much tuition, dancing and social interaction every individual wants.
It provides support to all of it's staff and peple who work for it.
It introduces people to a wide range of music

...

This is exactly what I've meant.

If you agree with all these points, how is this in any way different to what Blitz do? Or LeRoc? Or any other MJ organisation.

Except for the fact that Ceroc is country-wide, rather than regionalised. Having said that, how many people who do Ceroc have actually danced outside their region on even a semi-regular basis? (Yes, I know that a lot of us do, but we're less than 1%).

NB. I'm not saying that Ceroc doesn't do these things, or that other companies do them better etc. Just that I don't see any difference in this to if the thread was entitled "What Blitz does well..."

[whitetiger1518]

Employs Really Good DJs :D

[MartinHarper]

The welcoming approach to singles at weekenders is an improvement over some other organisations.

[Lynn]

I think the thing that Ceroc does really well (and yes, other MJ venues do this too, the same as they also do some of the 'badly' things) is in making people feel welcome, involved and that they can learn something right from the start. This is made up by the taxis, the rotation in class, the whole evening works (better than other dance styles I've been to) at getting people mixing and up on the dance floor.

[Mythical]

I agree with the marketing thing - sometimes I wonder wether it's the AOL of the dance world!!

I don't know how much training ceroc 'staff' go through, but if Coventry is anything to go by, it's excellent!

[Jhutch]

From my point of view, the things that got me involved in Ceroc mostly revolve around the taxi dancers. In my first lesson, the attitude of the taxis was very good. After that, having taxis around was very helpful. Being naturally a bit shy i found it difficult to ask girls to dance knowing that it would not be very enjoyable from their point of view:blush: (i finally cracked and asked one girl to dance in my third lesson - i thought she was going to end up face down on the floor at one point:blush: :blush: ). However, having taxi dancers there who are there to be asked helped enormously in my case.

As a shift-worker, i also find the fact that there is somewhere open every week night (and some weekend nights too) that is, because of the brand, familiar, very helpful:)

[StokeBloke]

I too found the taxi dances to be a great source of inspiration, encouragement and advice. The ladies danced with me, and the guys talked to me about the problems I was having in a realistic way - offering sound and timely advice. Special thanks to Roger, Big Dave, Rosemary, Maureen, Dot and Chris for helping me at the start, and for continuing to help me.

Because of the kindness and help they gave me, I make sure I dance with at least one person who was in the review class at every single venue I go to. Sometimes I just dance the four moves they learnt, and sometimes I can extend them a bit more than that. But I feel it's sort of like balancing the karma to do that.... don't you?

[Jhutch]

I too found the taxi dances to be a great source of inspiration, encouragement and advice. The ladies danced with me, and the guys talked to me about the problems I was having in a realistic way - offering sound and timely advice. Special thanks to Roger, Big Dave, Rosemary, Maureen, Dot and Chris for helping me at the start, and for continuing to help me.

Because of the kindness and help they gave me, I make sure I dance with at least one person who was in the review class at every single venue I go to. Sometimes I just dance the four moves they learnt, and sometimes I can extend them a bit more than that. But I feel it's sort of like balancing the karma to do that.... don't you?

Never sure about all this karma stuff - i just feel a bit awkward when i see someone nervously sitting at the edge knowing what it was like being in the same position. I actually like dancing with beginners as well because IMO it helps me think more about my lead and should therefore make it better. The only problem is that you get some beginners who can be a bit wild and end up crashing into people - can make your floorcraft look quite poor:blush: (although i will normally try to watch them dance with someone else later on to check it wasnt my fault)


My previous post wasn't very clear - when will i learn not to drink and post to forums:confused:

What i should have said was that the taxi dancers were a real help because when it came to freestyle they were there to be asked. I felt a bit nervous about just asking anyone but having someone there who had volunteered for the role made me think - well they have put themselves in the position so they can't complain if i ask them.