Post lesson practice

[Sheepman]

Stemming from the thread about the "shape" of a DJs set, it occurs to me that I should ask what do people want after a lesson? Rather than just assume everbody wants the same as me.

The usual case for me is that there is something I struggle with in a lesson, surely that's the best way? Otherwise I've not learnt anything. So after a lesson, I'd like a couple of tracks to be played that are slow enough so that I can work out those techniques/moves without frightening my partner. :eek: It's fine if things then speed up, because hopefully I've stored enough of it away to come back to it when the music is more suitable later on.

But maybe I am unique? :what:

I've separated the questions for leaders/followers, as it seems reasonable that the answers could be very different. If you are both, please choose the option which usually applies.

Greg

[Emma]

*I am a DJ...I will play something of an appropriate speed out of the class so that people can practise and then something popular to stop everyone heading to the bar and clearing the floor ;) :)

[Sparkles]

How about: I'm a follower and rarely like to practice the routien once the lesson has finished but am most happy when a couple of slower tracks are played just after the lesson to enable me to warm into freestyle properly, thereby avoiding pulling a muscle or falling over on my bum :na:

[under par]

How about: I'm a follower and rarely like to practice the routien once the lesson has finished but am most happy when a couple of slower tracks are played just after the lesson to enable me to warm into freestyle properly, thereby avoiding pulling a muscle or falling over on my bum :na:


:rofl:

I'll vote for that definition though with a leader in mind. :worthy: :yeah:

[under par]

I do actually try to complete the lesson moves during the freestyle to see how easy it is to use. :whistle:

But I don't use the first or second track solely for that purpose .

I don't think my partners would appreciate the strained look of concentration immediately after the lesson. :devil:

Lory said last night that I could always take up her fish hooks idea to maintain a smiling face. ouch! :eek:

[Rhythm King]

I like to try out new moves in freestyle, just after the class. I generally try to incorporate them into my own dance, rather than just do the routine over and over. If I don't practice them, they are simply forgotten. Very often I'll decide I like maybe just one, or two moves from the routine taught and concentrate on those. I regret my memory is not up to remembering huge numbers of moves and variations, but often if I see someone do something I learned in the past it'll come back to me, and I'll just plagiarise it as soon as I can fit it into the music :whistle: .
The most excelent Bill Cooper :worthy: has recently started incorporating one move from the previous week's intermediate routine into that night's class. Personally, I like this (although he doesn't always pick the one move I would've preferred, but hey, that's personal preference for you).
I agree with Sparkles that I like to work my way into freestyle, rather than just crash start.

[Emma]

I do actually try to complete the lesson moves during the freestyle to see how easy it is to use. :whistle:

But I don't use the first or second track solely for that purpose .
As a follower I'm happy to practise the moves in freestyle, but to be honest I'd rather have a couple of tracks of freestlye and then practise....because straight after the lesson sometimes it's nice to have a break from the moves for a bit :)

[Sheepman]

I will play something of an appropriate speed out of the class so that people can practise and then something popular to stop everyone heading to the bar and clearing the floor Put far more succintly than I managed, but I was after your view as a punter rather than a DJ.


am most happy when a couple of slower tracks are played just after the lesson to enable me to warm into freestyle properly good point, and I actually thought about the options (well for nearly a minute!), but at least from the music point of view your option is covered.

Greg

[Gadget]

I checked the "I don't care" box because it really depends on the moves, the person that's rotated to me last, if I think they "get it", and how board of the moves I am by that stage.

If I have a dancer that I feel can follow the moves from the class (assuming I lead them well enough) then I will just go into "freestyle mode" and see if any of the moves just done fit with the dance. Normally I only put one in per track... but that's more a memory thing :whistle:

If I have a relativly novice dancer that I feel is not that confident with the moves just done, I will try and mix them up, throw in a few basic moves and see how they follow.

As to warming up, I do that in the tracks before the lesson, or use the lesson as a warm-up.

[ChrisA]

I like to try out new moves in freestyle, just after the class. I generally try to incorporate them into my own dance, rather than just do the routine over and over.
......... :yeah:

I don't much care when in freestyle I try the moves.. I can usually remember the routine for most of the night these days. I'll pick a slower track and maybe ask my partner first if she minds me trying out something I'm not necessarily that confident with.

It's rare that I like all the moves enough to try them all out though.

Trying the moves a bit later on doesn't half expose (a) my poor lead and (b) any tendency to anticipate on behalf of the ladies, though :(

Chris

[Lory]

I don't think my partners would appreciate the strained look of concentration immediately after the lesson. :devil:

Lory said last night that I could always take up her fish hooks idea to maintain a smiling face. ouch! :eek:
Amazing how the mere mention of it brought an instant smile to your face though :D :whistle: :hug:

[under par]

Amazing how the mere mention of it brought an instant smile to your face though :D :whistle: :hug:


I was worried !!!really worried!!! you had them with you :eek:


:kiss: :yeah: :rofl:

[Gordon J Pownall]

I've separated the questions for leaders/followers, as it seems reasonable that the answers could be very different. If you are both, please choose the option which usually applies.

Greg

I'm a teacher - I want a fag, a drink, unplug the mic, change of shirt, shower in a can, cool down for ten minutes, get paid, thank the demo, check how the taxi's got on with the beginners and then.... :sick:

Find someone for a dance.....(which usually includes..."wil you go through the routine with me..."...


...and I bl**dy love it - every minute of it !!! :clap:

[Sparkles]

It's rare that I like all the moves enough to try them all out though.


This is something that always throws me in those first couple of dances after a class...
Someone (hopefully) asks me to dance (or I ask them) and so we start freestyling :grin: . Then during the track they start the first move of the preceeding class and my brain kicks in and goes "Oh god, he wants to practice the class moves, that means I'd better switch my brain on so that I don't look an idiot and remember what it was we did..." :what: . So I sort myself out with the class moves and am busy remembering them and dancing them :nice: and then after he's led the first or second of the moves we were taught, he changes his mind and goes back into freestyle again :what: ! It's extremely confusing :confused: to poor 'little-brained' people like me. I quite often go into the next move on autopilot and then get a blank "what the hell are you doing?" look from my partner :sad: :blush: and as result look as silly as I would have if I'd not bothered trying to remember the class' moves in the first place. It's a bit of a no-win situaion for me :tears:

[under par]

This is something that always throws me in those first couple of dances after a class...
Someone (hopefully) asks me to dance (or I ask them) and so we start freestyling :grin: . Then during the track they start the first move of the preceeding class and my brain kicks in and goes "Oh god, he wants to practice the class moves, that means I'd better switch my brain on so that I don't look an idiot and remember what it was we did..." :what: . So I sort myself out with the class moves and am busy remembering them and dancing them :nice: and then after he's led the first or second of the moves we were taught, he changes his mind and goes back into freestyle again :what: ! It's extremely confusing :confused: to poor 'little-brained' people like me. I quite often go into the next move on autopilot and then get a blank "what the hell are you doing?" look from my partner :sad: :blush: and as result look as silly as I would have if I'd not bothered trying to remember the class' moves in the first place. It's a bit of a no-win situaion for me :tears:

Sparkles,
I think!!! I did most of the lesson moves in freestyle with you last night!!! being "little brained" myself I cannot remember exactly.

The reason I try to stick the lesson moves in the middle of a freestyle dance is to see if "I" as a leader am capable of leading the lesson moves.

A follower knowing that the lesson moves are being done can begin to anticipate what is coming next and this can be counter productive on some occasions.

I sometimes take the lesson apart and use individual moves separately to see if I can lead them in freestyle.

I often leave out completely moves that I believe do not suit my style or I find difficult(I have lots of difficulty with footwork moves...long way from small brain to big feet!!)

So do not feel so confused, it is not done to upset, the ommissions are possibly there to please.(cos they're not done proper)

[Emma]

Put far more succintly than I managed, but I was after your view as a punter rather than a DJ.
See above :) :flower:

[ChrisA]

and my brain kicks in and goes "Oh god, he wants to practice the class moves, that means I'd better switch my brain on so that I don't look an idiot and remember what it was we did..." :what: . So I sort myself out with the class moves and am busy remembering them and dancing them :nice: and then after he's led the first or second of the moves we were taught, he changes his mind and goes back into freestyle again

Yep. I sometimes do it this way... if I suddenly realise I'm not going to be able to remember or lead move x from the class, so I'll abort it and maybe put it back in later when I can remember it. But don't tell anyone - hopefully everyone thinks it's just because I've brilliantly adapted my repertoire to the new moves which I've absorbed effortlessly :D :blush:

Chris

[Sparkles]

Sparkles,
I think!!! I did most of the lesson moves in freestyle with you last night!!! being "little brained" myself I cannot remember exactly.

Yes, you did - and I think we both managed quite well :flower:


A follower knowing that the lesson moves are being done can begin to anticipate what is coming next and this can be counter productive on some occasions.

I know, and I try not to anticipate, but some of the more complicated moves (especially if I've not done them before) require much concentration on my part - and once I get into the 'must-concentrate-on-the-moves' frame of mind it takes a great deal to pull me out of it. :( This is a failing in myself and I feel sorry for the people dancing with me that have to put up with it. Once I'm used to the move I'm fine again, it's just an initial hurdle, and I completely understand that I can make the leader's job much more difficult, for which I appologise. :blush:


So do not feel so confused, it is not done to upset

:kiss:
I just feel sorry for the people dancing with me :rolleyes:
S. x

[Sparkles]

everyone thinks it's just because I've brilliantly adapted my repertoire to the new moves which I've absorbed effortlessly :D :blush:


This was most certainly the impression I got :flower:

[under par]

Yes, you did - and I think we both managed quite well :flower:



I know, and I try not to anticipate, but some of the more complicated moves (especially if I've not done them before) require much concentration on my part - and once I get into the 'must-concentrate-on-the-moves' frame of mind it takes a great deal to pull me out of it. :( This is a failing in myself and I feel sorry for the people dancing with me that have to put up with it. Once I'm used to the move I'm fine again, it's just an initial hurdle, and I completely understand that I can make the leader's job much more difficult, for which I appologise. :blush:



:kiss:
I just feel sorry for the people dancing with me :rolleyes:
S. x

For the record I do not recall you anticipating last night if you did you hid it well.

I know anybody dancing with you will have as good a time as I did. So do not worry. :hug: :worthy: :yeah:

[bigdjiver]

This is something that always throws me in those first couple of dances after a class...
Someone (hopefully) asks me to dance (or I ask them) and so we start freestyling :grin: . Then during the track they start the first move of the preceeding class and my brain kicks in and goes "Oh god, he wants to practice the class moves, that means I'd better switch my brain on so that I don't look an idiot and remember what it was we did..." :what: . So I sort myself out with the class moves and am busy remembering them and dancing them :nice: and then after he's led the first or second of the moves we were taught, he changes his mind and goes back into freestyle again :what: ! It's extremely confusing :confused: to poor 'little-brained' people like me. I quite often go into the next move on autopilot and then get a blank "what the hell are you doing?" look from my partner :sad: :blush: and as result look as silly as I would have if I'd not bothered trying to remember the class' moves in the first place. It's a bit of a no-win situaion for me :tears: Interesting the view from "the other side". I rarely like a move from the class enough to acquire it. If I do I will just practice that one, (or those) seeing how it, or they, fit into freestyle. It never occurred to me that this could be confusing. Not being able to remember the class moves seems to be the rule, rather than a little-brained exception.

[ChrisA]

This was most certainly the impression I got :flower:
Hurrah. With any luck you're not the only one fooled then :D :waycool: :whistle:

Chris

[Banana Man]

I just feel sorry for the people dancing with me :rolleyes:
S. x

Don't :really: - they should consider themselves lucky to get a dance with you!! :nice: :worthy:

After the lesson, I just want to relax after all the concentration, and then by about 3 or 4 dances later I've usually forgotten what the lesson was anyway :whistle: . Maybe I was a goldfish in a previous life??

Think I'm guilty of starting the lesson moves and then realising I can't remember them all and do something else instead, sorry Sparkles :flower:

Have taken to being very sad and writing down some of the moves afterwards (when I do remember them!) so I can go over them in my head. Then I try to use them the next night, usually at a different venue where there's some different people to dance with who won't know that class.

If I go away with one of the moves embedded in my brain, that's a good night for me. :grin:

[under par]

[QUOTE=Eddie]Don't :really: - they should consider themselves lucky to get a dance with you!! :nice: :worthy:

:yeah:


Have taken to being very sad and writing down some of the moves afterwards (when I do remember them!) so I can go over them in my head. Then I try to use them the next night, usually at a different venue where there's some different people to dance with who won't know that class.


not in the slightest are you sad......unless I am too..... cos I write down move all the time to remind me.

[Rhythm King]

......... :yeah:

I

Trying the moves a bit later on doesn't half expose (a) my poor lead and (b) any tendency to anticipate on behalf of the ladies, though :(

Chris

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
As a mere mortal who has danced with a number of ladies after you have, I am advised by them that (a) above is a figment of your over-active imagination mate! :worthy:

[ChrisA]

Have taken to being very sad and writing down some of the moves afterwards
I don't think this is sad at all - I do it too whenever there's a particularly good routine. I write them down when I get home... and now I have quite a few of Nigel's and Amir's written down.

Sometimes I can even understand what I've written again afterwards... :D

Chris

[Rhythm King]

[QUOTE=under par]


Have taken to being very sad and writing down some of the moves afterwards (when I do remember them!) so I can go over them in my head. Then I try to use them the next night, usually at a different venue where there's some different people to dance with who won't know that class.
[QUOTE]

I did this when I first started, developing a sort of shorthand to do it, then stopped. I have recently started again and try to at least make the notes legible. :rofl: It does work sometimes.

[Gordon J Pownall]

Ultimately though, you cannot remember all moves and most leaders will dance, regulalry, 10 - 15 moves from 'their repertoire'.

Mentally it isn't possible to remember every move and remember what you've danced so there will always be an element of repeat.

Just remember though guys - you get the same dance every time - that's the dance you lead...ladies get a different dance everytime....lucky eh...

Unless of course lads dance as ladies - not as awful as it sounds and if I do say so myself, I really enjoy having a dance with 'Big' Tim from CerocMetro.

Lovely lead and a real laugh - (we do it only for the praise and applause from onlookers....)...

What..... :eek: :what: :eek: :what: :eek:


Well, Andy McG knows what I mean... :wink:

[bigdjiver]

...After the lesson, I just want to relax after all the concentration, and then by about 3 or 4 dances later I've usually forgotten what the lesson was anyway ... :yeah: On the rare occasion when there is a move I do not know that I want to acquire I also try it on people that have not done that class, to ensure that it can be led in freestyle, providing that there are no safety issues.