Amir Giles - 8th Nov.

[Lindsay]

Amir Giles in Edinburgh
Saturday 8th November

A fantastic modern jive workshop and party covering style, new moves, technique and musicality.

Amir Giles is a top dancer and instructor from New Zealand. He is based in London, and recently returned from the Canary Islands from a dance production. He is an outstanding dancer and very experienced teacher, having taught for Ceroc Dance New Zealand, Graciela Tango Productions and Fusion Dance Works. In 1999 he won first prize the Open Advanced Section in the Australasian Ceroc Championships. Amir will be giving away some top tips for performance and competitions. Rated as one of the top dancers in the UK, this event is not to be missed!

:nice: Groovy discount for applications received before 10th October - whole event only £15!

Venue: Marco's Leisure Centre. Grove Street, Edinburgh.
Workshop: 10am-4pm
Party: 8pm-1am

To book, print out the application form here (http://boogie.webspace.fish.co.uk/application_form.htm)

There is also a unique opportunity for couples to have PRIVATE DANCE TUITION on the Sunday. Places are limited for this, and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Please contact BoogieNights if interested.

[Mary]

I am a big fan of Amir's workshops. Have booked for another one in a couple of weeks here in London.

If you have the chance in Scotland - don't miss it. :wink:

M

[Twinkle Toes]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Lindsay
Amir Giles in Edinburgh
A fantastic modern jive workshop and party covering style, new moves, technique and musicality.

Discount for applications received before 10th October - whole event only £15

SOLD !
I heard he was a terrific dancer as well, but never seen him in action. Will look forward to this.

What is the schedule for the private classes on Sunday ?

TT x

[Grant]

Originally posted by Twinkle Toes
What is the schedule for the private classes on Sunday ?

perhaps someone should warn amir...:wink:

grant

[Lindsay]

We've booked 4 slots (4x1hr) on Sun., and it'll be around £50-60 per couple, so £25-30 each (that's Amir's fee plus venue cost). Price tbc.

E-mail BoogieNights (dance@boogienights.net ) if interested.... 2 couples provisionally booked already.....

[Divissima]

Amir is a fantastic dancer and coach. I really recommend his private lessons - Amir is the genius who taught me (after over five years of ceroc and resigning myself that I'd never do multiple spins) to do doubles and even triple spins (and now on a good day I can get more than three with the right conditions).

[Chris]

Originally posted by Lindsay
We've booked 4 slots (4x1hr) on Sun., and it'll be around £50-60 per couple, so £25-30 each (that's Amir's fee plus venue cost). Price tbc. E-mail BoogieNights (dance@boogienights.net ) if interested.... 2 couples provisionally booked already..... Wow! Fab! That's a lot cheaper than your original quote to me, Linsay! Well done! And good organisation too - obviously getting the hall for a block booking like that helps . . .

At that price I'm certainly interested (it's about what I paid Amir for private coaching in London). But as there's only four places I'm happy to let someone else get a shot this time, especially as I'm not really involved in the Edinburgh ceroc scene...
:sorry

Originally posted by Divissima Amir is a fantastic dancer and coach. I really recommend his private lessons - Amir is the genius who taught me (after over five years of ceroc and resigning myself that I'd never do multiple spins) to do doubles and even triple spins (and now on a good day I can get more than three with the right conditions).
I'd love to second this. He is not only a superb dancer but he really knows how to coach (a lot of top dancers don't have much of a clue IMO - sorry).

On spinning, as Divissima says, yeah - far more than your standard (however valid) quarter-turns-learn-to-'face' stuff. One of his style classes went through learning to spin using different parts of your body, finding the way that's best for you (bear in mind he has official recognition in ballet, ceroc and a number of other 'unconnected' styles - not surprising he teaches you how to dance using your body as an instrument rather than following a set of someone else's ideas - least that's how it seems to me)

Whilst he's NZ qualified as far as Ceroc is concered I think his dancing goes well beyond standard NZ Ceroc. Those of you who like a bit of tango styling for instance, drop everything and book up now!

(No doubt my cheque's in the post eh Lindsay? :wink: Shame my deliveries are so unreliable . . . :tears: :rofl: :blush:)

[Chris]

Whilst this might be telling some people how to suck eggs, please bear with me (or if you have more experienced advice join in) - going for your first private lesson it's easy to come away thinking you could have got more out it if you'd planned it better.

A good teacher will probably ask the right questions and tailor it to you anyway, but it saves time and helps both you and the teacher (I think) if you make a sort of check list first.

What do I want to get out of this session?
Am I wanting to improve for competitions?
Am I wanting to improve with this particular partner?
Am I wanting new moves? (If so, maybe think of some moves you like already as an example of the type of thing you like - or a category - drops / sexy moves / closed moves / ways to get out of/into a particular type of move)
Do I want to improve my lead and follow? My timing?
Do I want to expand my improvisation skills?
Am I wanting to add style to my existing moves?
Am I wanting to learn how to do my existing moves better?
Do I want to concentrate on things like posture, spinning, dancing to different speeds of music?
Do I want someone to find and correct my mistakes?
Do I want to make my dancing 'sparkle' more?

Once you've booked a class, maybe run your ideas past Amir (or whoever you've booked a private lesson with) in advance even. If you answered 'yes' to several of the above questions, think about how you want to divide the time up (or discuss this in advance with the teacher). You could also just do a short dance for your teacher and then say 'what do you think I most need to concentrate on?' (but things like are you learning with a regular partner or do you want to improve specifically for competition are still questions that can be answered best by you.)

Hope this helps:nice:

Enjoy

[Dreadful Scathe]

Originally posted by Chris


A good teacher will probably ask the right questions and tailor it to you anyway, but it saves time and helps both you and the teacher (I think) if you make a sort of check list first.



Would there be much point ? Surely if you book someone for personal tuition you are expecting them to point out areas of improvement ? Your own opinion can quite feasibly be way off the mark surely ? :) Mentioning if you want to just generally improve or improve for competitions would be about the limit i would have thought!

[Aleks]

Originally posted by Dreadful Scathe
Would there be much point ? Surely if you book someone for personal tuition you are expecting them to point out areas of improvement ? Your own opinion can quite feasibly be way off the mark surely ? :) Mentioning if you want to just generally improve or improve for competitions would be about the limit i would have thought!

I think Chris has a valid point - each teacher/coach has his/her own strengths and tendencies (after all, nobody is perfect!) and unless you have a clear idea of what you specifically want, you'll get their interpretation/passion. I think there are many different aspects of dance that can be improved/coached/taught. Taking the time to consider what might be the best aspect to take from each separate coach is invaluable. From classical ballet experience, there are some coaches that I would ONLY go to for style/technique/stagecraft etc.....surely this must be the case with other types of dance, including Ceroc?

[Dreadful Scathe]

Originally posted by Aleks
I think Chris has a valid point - each teacher/coach has his/her own strengths and tendencies (after all, nobody is perfect!) and unless you have a clear idea of what you specifically want, you'll get their interpretation/passion. I think there are many different aspects of dance that can be improved/coached/taught. Taking the time to consider what might be the best aspect to take from each separate coach is invaluable. From classical ballet experience, there are some coaches that I would ONLY go to for style/technique/stagecraft etc.....surely this must be the case with other types of dance, including Ceroc?

but that works on the assumption that you know what you're talking about - as a trained dancer you do, but a lot of us social dancers or intermediates trying to get better are not going to be able to make a good decision on that sort of thing. So maybe a bit of 50/50 would make more sense; you say what you think you need to improve on to an teacher and they respond with their opinion. Its your decision at the end of the day... but really, would you want a teacher who did exactly what you said even though they thought you were trying to improve things you didnt need to improve, or trying to reach for a style that would not suit your strengths as a dancer ?

[Grant]

i think that regardless of who decides what you do in the lesson it is always going to be constrained by the fact that it is a one-off. you would really need an ongoing relationship with a teacher to get the most benefit from each individual lesson.

grant

[Mary]

Originally posted by Dreadful Scathe
Would there be much point ? Surely if you book someone for personal tuition you are expecting them to point out areas of improvement ? Your own opinion can quite feasibly be way off the mark surely ? :) Mentioning if you want to just generally improve or improve for competitions would be about the limit i would have thought!


I think this sounds a bit like going to a hairdresser and saying "just make it look great". The hairdresser needs some input to know where to start.

I think the checklist is a brilliant idea, which I am about to note down right now. A teacher, I would have thought, would point out your strengths and weaknesses. If not, then perhaps this should be on your checklist.:wink:

M

[Dreadful Scathe]

Originally posted by Mary
A teacher, I would have thought, would point out your strengths and weaknesses.

Thats the point i was making, the teacher should point this out, so you making a list to tell them what to help you with is not always going to be a good idea- the teacher may feel obligded to not mention their opinion then and teach you what you think you need to improve :).

A hairstyle is not the best analogy, unless you're model or an actor in which case your hairdresser would decide what to do with your hair in most cases.

How many people do you see with awful hairstyles ? you can bet its not always the hairdressers fault, sometimes people just dont know whats best for them, same goes for dancing :)

[Aleks]

Originally posted by Dreadful Scathe
but that works on the assumption that you know what you're talking about - as a trained dancer you do, but a lot of us social dancers or intermediates trying to get better are not going to be able to make a good decision on that sort of thing. So maybe a bit of 50/50 would make more sense; you say what you think you need to improve on to an teacher and they respond with their opinion. Its your decision at the end of the day... but really, would you want a teacher who did exactly what you said even though they thought you were trying to improve things you didnt need to improve, or trying to reach for a style that would not suit your strengths as a dancer ?

I have no idea which areas I would be best to improve on in terms of MJ and am not sure I want to know. Part of the reason I moved to MJ was the flexibility and absence of any necessity to strive for a particular style/level of dance ability - after all it's all just for fun:wink:.

I suppose I was speaking more in relation to the experienced/competition dancer who I expect would be more able to identify which areas they would want to improve on. I would expect any coach I went to to pick out any other areas where they thought I could do with improvement as well (or would think carefully before booking another session), but my preference would be to go with a general goal in mind, knowing the strengths of that particular coach.

I was also assuming that a person would use a coach for private tuition on a relatively regular basis - either one general coach or different coaches for specific needs.

[Chris]

No worries Scathe - if it's not helpful for you that's fair enough. But wouldn't you agree that even things like 'regular partner' are helpful to know? - there's some great semi choreographed stuff for instance you can learn but not much good if you never get the chance to practice with the other person who learn't it! Then there's lots of stuff that can be learnt and taught for freestyling with strangers where your partner hasn't a clue what you did in your private class lol. Everyone to their own. I can only say what I've felt was useful based on private lessons with quite few different teachers, but if it sounds too complicated then I'm sure, a simple 'what do I need to improve?' strength/weaknesses? approach should be fine too :nice:

One last point (again, only trying to be helpful, just my view) is when there's two of you, make sure the guy doesn't get all the attention - ladies, be assertive about things to imrpove your dancing! not just fitting in with new stuff for your partner's benefit (unless that's al you want to do!)

[DavidB]

Private lessons can be the best way of improving your dancing. They can also be a very quick way of spending a lot of money, and not getting much out of it. The first thing you should ask is why you are going for a lesson? Then you can decide how to approach the lesson.

They might be worthwhile for 3 types of dancer:
- serious competitors
- dancers with a specific problem they want to work on
- keen dancers who wish to improve as quickly as they can.

A competitor is more interested in how his/her dancing looks, so would probably want the teacher to decide what to work on after seeing them dance. Just don't expect two different teachers to see the same problems.

If you have something particular you want to work on - such as spinning, or leading breaks, or a particular move - then you should obviously tell the teacher at the beginning. This is usually the easiest type lesson for the teacher (assuming he can fix your problem!)

With keen dancers it is more 50/50. You are probably more interested in how things feel that how they look. It helps the teacher if you can pick a broad area to work on, such as musical interpretation. Then show the teacher what you currently do. At most you should expect to learn a new concept or idea, some exercises to develop it, maybe a couple of moves that incorporate it, and some feedback on what you do well, and what you don't.

I'm surprised there is so much interest in private lessons. I've only heard of 3 people in total getting lessons in Modern Jive, and two of those I heard about on this Forum.

Ultimately I don't think they are worth it for the majority of Modern Jivers. Private lessons are most useful for learning technique, and there is not that much technique required for the way that most people are happy to dance. Workshops and regular classes tend to be a lot more fun, and better value for money.

David

[Dreadful Scathe]

Originally posted by Chris
No worries Scathe - if it's not helpful for you that's fair enough.

i didnt say that - i just asked a few questions of it. I think it'd be more a 50/50 thing - you must have some idea what you want to work on and you would expect your teacher to suggest other areas or mention things that you didnt notice yourself. Having never had a persona dance trainer i had never thouht how i would approach it before.


I can only say what I've felt was useful based on private lessons with quite few different teachers, but if it sounds too complicated

er...not particularly complicated no :D

[Chris]

Originally posted by Dreadful Scathe
i didnt say that - i just asked a few questions of it. I think it'd be more a 50/50 thing - you must have some idea what you want to work on and you would expect your teacher to suggest other areas or mention things that you didnt notice yourself. Having never had a persona dance trainer i had never thouht how i would approach it before. er...not particularly complicated no :D

LOL - ok think i see what you say now . . .

[Twinkle Toes]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Grant
perhaps someone should warn amir...:wink:

grant

Hey, what are you implying you cheeky whipper snapper,
you know perfectly well, I only tickle my best of friends. :devil:

TT x

[Grant]

Originally posted by Twinkle Toes
Hey, what are you implying you cheeky whipper snapper,
you know perfectly well, I only tickle my best of friends. :devil:
TT x
sorry tt, it's just that amir is so tall i was concerned you might end up tickling his...
kneecaps :wink:

grant

[Amir]

I thought I should add my thoughts on private lessons:

A workshop or class, imo, is like being in the passenger seat of a car, and being told how to drive. You get a lot of important information which you can practise later, preferably in an empty car park. If you observe a better driver you are more likely to become one.

A private class is like being in the drivers seat with a professional coach sitting next to you. You are guided through when to accelerate and when to slow down, when to brake and when to clutch, which gear your should be in, and how to stay in the centre of the road.

A good coach will let you make small mistakes but not let you crash. They can see when you will find the gear on your own, and when a guiding hand on top of yours will get you in the right direction.

Ideally people will learn to drive through a combination of the above. Obviously the time to discover that in the UK we drive on the left is before you’re sitting in the drivers seat. But even after private lessons we can learn a lot from classes: Often we are much more at attentive in the passenger seat after having had the wheel at our hands!

Of course, you could learn to drive by trial and error, after only observing other people do it. I know a couple of people that have learnt to drive that way. They get to where they are going, but not always safely and hardly ever comfortably. Little things they don’t know they don’t know would immediately improve their driving, like when to check their mirrors, and how to ease off the clutch as you accelerate.

Most of us may have had a few lessons when we started, but now drive on ‘automatic’, rarely giving it a second thought. The better you get, however, the more private coaching you need in order to improve. This is true for top race-car drivers, professional athletes, and of course, the best dancers.

You might be at the stage where the best thing for you to do is spend some more time carefully observing from the passenger seat, then giving it a go in your own time. There are many excellent workshops and classes where you can do this. (I would like to think I teach one of them!) You may, however, decide that the time has come to receive some expert and individual attention to take your dancing to the next level. Modern Jive, after all, is just for fun, and the better you get, the more fun it is.

[Lounge Lizard]

Originally posted by amir_giles
I thought I should add my thoughts on private lessons:

A workshop or class, imo, is like being in the passenger seat... and being told how to drive. You get a lot of important information which you can practise later, preferably in an empty car park. If you observe a better driver you are more likely to become one.

A private class is like being in the drivers seat with a professional coach sitting next to you. You are guided through when to accelerate and when to slow down, when to brake and when to clutch, which gear your should be in, and how to stay in the centre of the road.



err to clarify
a private lesson is being coached
a workshop is being on a coach:grin:

[michael]

Well done for coming up here to give us your experience and very cheaply too i might add can't wait:yum:

Me thinks dancing might be just like most things we do. The ability to "Think and Observe" can often be the difference between people who never reach a reasonable standard and those that are reasonably good at it. Chris observed and thought, then made up a list that i think is very helpful and others think about what they do good or bad. Some people never seem to think full stop or observe.

When DavidB mentioned in another post about Natural Ability been a great asset it probably hides the fact that such people have this thinking and observing process kicking in almost immediately and probably at a very high level at that. I am talking here in general and not at one off special rare talents that do exist everywhere. Knowing what to think about and what to observe is a stage further again. I think the natural talanted people at sports have this in-built ability also at a high level whilst most others have to work at it. ........Those that probably need the most help are probably not reading this forum. except me yeh yeh yeh... but there is no cure for me and i dont want cured anyway...better to be happy and mad than.............

[Daphne]

mad than............. what?

anyway who cares, it's a great chance to see Amir north of the border :D

[Gus]

Originally posted by amir_giles
I thought I should add my thoughts on private lessons:

A private class is like being in the drivers seat with a professional coach sitting next to you. You are guided through when to accelerate and when to slow down, when to brake and when to clutch, which gear your should be in, and how to stay in the centre of the road.


Well said. Though I think there is merit in what DavidB said about the limitations of private lessons, I think that for some dancers, they can be extremely usefull.

I've only ever had two private lessons, one with Roger and Anne some time back and one with Amir earlier this year. I found both to be extremely useful, though I should say I was fairly clear about what I wanted to get out of the sessions and so I picked the appropriate instructors to meet that need. Of course, the fact that soon after each lesson I managed to find myself unable to practice for a few months somewhat negated the effect:tears: BUT ... if you have a clear-ish idea about what you want to achieve, I can't praise Amir's coaching highly enough.:grin:

[Daphne]

I think private lessons are useful for all dancers, and I don't believe you couldn't get something out of it. Whether or not it's worth the money is another issue, and I suppose like Gus says it depends on the communication between teacher and student.

[Lindsay]

Places for 2 more couples for privates on Sunday...

[Aleks]

Originally posted by Lindsay
Places for 2 more couples for privates on Sunday...

Whose privates are they?:grin:

[Lindsay]

anyone who's up for it -??

[Daphne]

I'm up for it- where do I sign?