wokshops

[Swinging bee]

Linda and I in the past have organised quite a few dance workshops. Very enjoyable they all have been too, as far as we are able to judge...We have often wondered what the people really think..MJers are all so polite!......Just WHAT makes a really good wokshop? is it personalities. style, method,content.....etc etc .

[Stuart M]

Personally I feel it's the attitude to beansprouts and which oil you use.

Sorry, couldn't resist it... :whistle:

[Lynn]

Just WHAT makes a really good wokshop? is it personalities. style, method,content.....etc etc . Yes.

OK, that's not a very helpful comment I know but I think all those factors make a good workshop. I have organised a couple and can go by the comments I have heard - others on here will be much better able to comment than me!

Personalities - important to make the participants feel relaxed and make the experience enjoyable.

Content - something different from the regular, not too complicated for the participants but stretching them that bit more than a class as smaller number and more time means problems can be worked out.

Style and method - both of these will be different from the regular teaching and that adds an element of freshness. I think these are the key - if people like a certain persons style and method - that is what will draw them back - not the moves they teach, but how they teach.

[Stuart M]

OK I'll post a serious reply to make up for earlier flippancy :nice: .

I would say content is the most important of the 4 aspects suggested. Most workshops seem to have a similar presentation method, and the numbers are generally small so presentation issues can be addressed quite easily on the day. Which leads me to the main issue for me - numbers. Once they start getting over 30 the value of the workshop is seriously diminished IMHO, and I'd pay a little extra for limited numbers.

[jivecat]

......Just WHAT makes a really good wokshop? is it personalities. style, method,content.....etc etc .

The best ones for me have been where the content has been well matched to my needs at the time; that provided information that sorted out misconceptions or moved my thinking on in some way. That doesn't really help you because it's personal to me and not anything to do with the way it's organised.

Other factors that have been an influence are overcrowding of workshops, e.g. at weekenders, or the material being taught being too hard for many of the leaders on the course, (this happened especially with a dips and drops workshop I went on) so that the followers don't get much out of it either.

If I'm going on a 4 - hour workshop I'll choose it with regard to course content, definitely not the teacher's personality. But if it's a weekender workshop, I'll expect to learn less but be entertained more, so will look out for teachers that will do that.

I wouldn't book on to a workshop that I know will teach a routine to a specific piece of music. I'd be more likely to book if there was a fairly detailed description of the course content, not just e.g. "Intermediate Moves".

Teaching Methods: They're all much of a muchness, but I've enjoyed features like being given 5 minutes to experiment
with/ practice a teaching point just delivered. I also like it when teachers ask for what's just been taught to be repeated & practised in the form of a short bit of freestyle, as I think it helps leaders to assimilate what the
y are being taught and prevents that anxious copying of whatever's going on on the stage! I also like "consciousness-raising" activities designed to increase awareness of e.g. musicality, or movement quality.

[Bigger Andy]

John,

It is a combination of all those things that you mentioned (and others including the atmosphere on the day and the personalities of the other workshop attendees).

It is not so important who the teachers are as, for example, I enjoyed this Saturdays 'Unusual Modern Jive Moves' workshop with Nelson and Karen far more than I did the 'Breaks and Hesitations' workshop that the same teachers did a year or so back.

However, perhaps that is more of a reflection on myself and my level of dancing ? :confused:

Saturday was an excellent day, the weather was glorious and the atmosphere was just right. :clap:

Anyone considering coming that didn't make it really missed out ! :tears:

Thanks for your efforts in setting up these Workshops and the Freestyles. :worthy:

[Lynn]

Its interesting that other folk have focused on the content rather than the style as I probably wouldn't place as much emphasis on this - but then I don't have any regular classes to go to so I think I have moved away from a focus on moves and want to learn other things. If a teacher by their method and how they teach, can help me learn how to dance better, I would feel I had learned more than if I had extended my knowledge of moves. Someone else could teach the same workshop in terms of moves covered, and I could learn different things.

I agree as well about a good description of what the workshop will be about - lets people know if its appropriate for where they are at.

[Lindsay]

MJ workshops can be very move-focused. Swing/lindy/WCS/BW tend to be mostly about style/technique.

:eek:

[MartinHarper]

MJ workshops can be very move-focused. Swing/lindy/WCS/BW tend to be mostly about style/technique.

This is what turns me off some MJ workshops. In particular, one teacher did an hour workshop that was indistinguishable from a regular Ceroc intermediate class. I left halfway through, and I'll be avoiding hir workshops in the future.

For me, the measure of a good workshop is simple:
1) Does it teach me things that make me a better dancer?
2) Does it teach me things that I couldn't learn more easily via some other method?

[Swinging bee]

Did I really say WOKSHOPS ! Ha.

Can't imagine what one of those is ...........