Experienced Dancers...do You Still Participate In Beginner/intermediate Classes?????

[Donna]

I'd just like to know how many of you out there (esp experienced dancers) still participate in classes??? particularly beginners?? If you're a competitor..do you still bother doing intermediates or just for freestyle?? In fact, do most people mainly go for the freestyle anyway???

[Gadget]

I go to every class & freestyle I can: beginners, intermediate, workshops, partys... and I learn from every class I attend & from every night of 'freestyle' dancing.

(...or I have so far anyway :D)

{I'm sure that there has been a poll about this...}

[David Bailey]

I'd just like to know how many of you out there (esp experienced dancers) still participate in classes??? particularly beginners?? If you're a competitor..do you still bother doing intermediates or just for freestyle?? In fact, do most people mainly go for the freestyle anyway???
I'll put my hand up as experienced, and yep, I still go to classes - mainly intermediate, I'll admit.

I went to a storming intermediate class on Monday at Finchley, we learnt, I dunno, First Move Argentinian Tango? Whatever - it was superb, everyone was stetched mentally, and (:worthy: to Robin) the music was superb. Not to mention the lovely salsa class-ette afterwards :)

And I went to the beginner's and intermediate's classes last Tuesday at ISH.

The trick is, finding a good intermediate class, a topic on which I have ranted at length... :grin:

[Purple Sparkler]

I'm experienced, and I still go to Beginners and Intermediates. Though I have been known to drop out of an Intermediate class part way through if it just wasn't doing it for me (not 'I can't do this' but 'I can do this, I'm just not sure I can be arsed to'). Is that wrong?

I now go to beginners as a man (Tonight, Matthew, I'm going to be gender-confused!)- AND try and dance with the odd beginner woman after the class (because I remember waiting and waiting for dances as a beginner).

[stewart38]

I now go to beginners as a man (Tonight, Matthew, I'm going to be gender-confused!)- AND try and dance with the odd beginner woman after the class (because I remember waiting and waiting for dances as a beginner).


I know a lot of people dont like this but hey its better then waiting I guess

Sometimes we have had 8 women dancing as men and men walking around not fair :sad:

If there is more women no problem

[Purple Sparkler]

I know a lot of people dont like this but hey its better then waiting I guess

Sometimes we have had 8 women dancing as men and men walking around not fair :sad:

If there is more women no problem

If there are more men, I dance as a woman. But I think most of the London girls will testify to the fact that it's a rare, rare day that there are more men than women.

[Lynn]

If there are more men, I dance as a woman. But I think most of the London girls will testify to the fact that it's a rare, rare day that there are more men than women. Come and visit Belfast! OK there are only about 20 of us... :tears: but more men than women :grin: And of course we are all beginners or maybe improvers but no dilemma about participating as there are no classes to participate in!

[Feelingpink]

I know a lot of people dont like this but hey its better then waiting I guess

Sometimes we have had 8 women dancing as men and men walking around not fair :sad:

If there is more women no problem

Hey, if you don't want to walk around, do the follower's part :whistle:

[Minnie M]

I now go to beginners as a man......../snip/......... and dance with the odd beginner woman after the class (because I remember waiting and waiting for dances as a beginner).

:yeah:
Or if (sometimes happens) when there are men left over I will help out following.

Don't like doing the intermediate classes as I find the leads 'yank' you about too much. The only classes I do these days (try to learn that is) are Lindy/Salsa/WCS dances - need lots of help there :tears:

I fancy the belly dancing class at Southport tho :whistle:

[Chef]

For my partner and I, I suppose the answer is - it depends

I/we travel quite a distance to get to the teacher/dancers/music that we now enjoy and so the chances of us making it to the beginners class is small. If I am travelling to a local venue and get there before my partner I will join in the beginners class just to reduce the number of ladies that have to stand out in the rotation.

In intermediate classes the situation is this. Sometimes my partner and I will stick together but reverse roles. Sometimes we will both do the mans part so that my partner can get some leading practice in and to soak up some of the spare ladies.

Sometimes if the lesson is uninteresting or the dancers at the venue are known to be arm yankers we absent ourselves from the line up and grab the portable DVD player and one of the DVDs of past weekenders and work through things on our "to do" list (or just to refesh our memories to things learnt in the past but forgotten about) in a quiet corner of the venue.

So the short answer is we participate in the intermediate class unless it is boring or painful.

[DavidB]

Generally no. Personally I'm more interested in how they teach rather than what they teach, and I find that easier by watching rather than doing the class.

I'll only do the lesson if there is a shortage of men, and I've got there early enough. But I don't do lessons that involve my arms going behind my back, or drops.

Another reason is because most venues charge less if you just go for the freestyle. (I might not go at all if they charged the same.)

[Little Monkey]

I did all the classes - beginners, intermediate - the first year I danced. Then I started taxi dancing, and in most classes ended up dancing as a man. And of course ended up missing every second intermediate class as I was on taxi duty.

Was a taxi for two years, then had a break, and when I came back to ceroc, I skipped the beginners, and mostly did the intermediate as a man. I'd stand at the back and watch the teachers do the routine they were going to teach, and if it was a) something I knew already, and b) there were too many women sitting out, I'd dance as a man. Which was the case about 80% of the time. But sometimes there would be a really interesting intermediate class, and I would do it as a woman.

For a while I got a bit fed up with classes, and only came to do the freestyle, but now I'm back to being a taxi again, and back to doing beginners classes. And to my great astonishment, things have changed rather a lot since I was a beginner! :eek: Gone is the wurlitzer, the lady-spin and the hatchback, and instead we have things like the in-and-out, ceroc spin (I had noticed this when dancing with people who have not danced as long as myself, old fogies like me still do the lady-spin instead!) the back pass and the arm jive swizzle. It was so funny, the first night I was taxi-ing, and someone asked me a question about last weeks moves, and they mentioned a name of a beginner move I'd never heard of! Danced it plenty of times, but didn't know the name, or that it was indeed a new beginners move!

So maybe people who have been dancing for many years, and haven't done a beginners class for years, should go back and try one? Just for the novelty factor?? :D

Little Taxi Monkey (God, they let anyone be a taxi these days! :D )

[Lynn]

I'd just like to know how many of you out there (esp experienced dancers) still participate in classes??? particularly beginners?? I responded earlier in this thread re male-female ratio but thought I should clarify that I am not an experienced dancer! I don't do classes because there are none here, in fact aside from weekenders I have only every done 2 intermediate classes ever :what:

[ducasi]

Don't like doing the intermediate classes as I find the leads 'yank' you about too much.
... the dancers at the venue are known to be arm yankers ... Is this a common problem? :confused:

I don't do lessons that involve my arms going behind my back, or drops... I can understand not wanting to do drops with random strangers, but what's the problem with having your arms behind your back? :confused:

[MartinHarper]

Sometimes we have had 8 women dancing as men and men walking around not fair.

Overheard...

Teacher: We have two leaders over, Ms X, so...
Ms X (cutting hir off): And now you have three.

If a woman has paid the entrance fee, she has as much right to learn the lead role as any of the guys who have paid the entrance fee.

[Robin]

As a general observation, whilst I personally don't generally participate that much in classes for obvious reasons :whistle: , it strikes me that whilst there are all the above reasons not to do the classes, its a great help to those less experienced for the benefit of your comments - ie "please don't yank my arm like that, a gentle pull would suffice and I'd follow you much more readily" or "could you please pin your elbow to your waist for me so that I have a something other than a limp arm to dance with" .

It seems to me that this little extra bit has disappeared in recent years .... personally I can remember lots of pointers made when I was learning .....(especially the "you're rubbish" and "you'll never be any good") and some moderately more helpful ones!

[Dazzle]

There are many different angles to this topic. Firstly, if experienced dancers didn't take part in classes, beginners or intermediates, we would all have taken a lot longer to improve. I think participating is part of repaying what we have taken along the way. :flower:

Secondly, dancing next to an experienced dancer is great if you cannot get a clear view of what is happening on the stage, just a pity they rush through the moves often. :rolleyes:

Thirdly (and finally so I can go to bed and get ready for Southport), I don't think that whether or not you can already dance the move being taught is the whole deal. There is always something you can do to it to challenge yourself, or improve a certain aspect of your own style and technique, spinning, turning or walking. :waycool:

I teach the moves week in and week out, but if I am not teaching that week, I still join the classes and take part with everyone else. A rarity around my way, but I do it, for all the above reasons.

[Lou]

If a woman has paid the entrance fee, she has as much right to learn the lead role as any of the guys who have paid the entrance fee.

Yesbutnobutyesbutnobut...

It's trickier to teach a class where you have more leaders. Teaching the leaders is, IMO, more important, as they have to remember the steps involved, and learn how to... well.. lead their partners through. To do this you have to increase the teaching time, in order that all leaders have sufficient walkthroughs & practice to grasp each moves.

Also, men are notoriously worse at rotating and can't count for toffee.
(OK - not all of them. But you get the general idea).

So I understand where that teacher was coming from. And, as a consequence, (and as a woman ;) ), I'd only dance leader in a class with a surplus of ladies.

[David Bailey]

As a general observation, whilst I personally don't generally participate that much in classes for obvious reasons :whistle:
Yeah, you're worried you'll get shown up. It's OK, I understand... :hug:


its a great help to those less experienced for the benefit of your comments - ie "please don't yank my arm like that, a gentle pull would suffice and I'd follow you much more readily" or "could you please pin your elbow to your waist for me so that I have a something other than a limp arm to dance with" .
Good point - and that "helping each other up" ethos is integral to MJ, so we should always keep that in mind. I'm very reluctant to give advice, unless asked, perhaps I should be a little more forward...


. personally I can remember lots of pointers made when I was learning .....(especially the "you're rubbish" and "you'll never be any good")
I'm resisting with all my might the obvious comeback.... Must resist... must resist... :grin:


It's trickier to teach a class where you have more leaders.
Another way of looking at it, is that it helps you develop your teaching skills...


Also, men are notoriously worse at rotating and can't count for toffee.
Well, you'd know :whistle:


I teach the moves week in and week out, but if I am not teaching that week, I still join the classes and take part with everyone else. A rarity around my way, but I do it, for all the above reasons.
:worthy: and good for you.

[Donna]

:yeah:

Don't like doing the intermediate classes as I find the leads 'yank' you about too much. The only classes I do these days (try to learn that is) are Lindy/Salsa/WCS dances - need lots of help there :tears:

I fancy the belly dancing class at Southport tho :whistle:

I have done the mans part in the beginners session, but the whole reason i quit doing it is because the class was full of ARM YANKERS!!! :angry: it doesn't matter how many times you tell them to loosen off, they still hang on for their lives!!! One woman made my right shoulder click whilst doing a catapult....it's still not right either....any masseurs out there going to stockport?? :whistle:

[Donna]

Generally no. Personally I'm more interested in how they teach rather than what they teach, and I find that easier by watching rather than doing the class.

I'll only do the lesson if there is a shortage of men, and I've got there early enough. But I don't do lessons that involve my arms going behind my back, or drops.

Another reason is because most venues charge less if you just go for the freestyle. (I might not go at all if they charged the same.)


Hey you don't need to join the classes anyway!!! You most probably wouldn't learn anything different. Why don't you like your arms going behind your back??? :what:

[DavidB]

Why don't you like your arms going behind your back???Very inflexible shoulders, and a tendency to get tendonitis. I have particular unpleasant memories of a lady in a class helpfully backleading a pretzel.

However the worst thing isn't dancing - it is getting sunburn. I have been known to pour aftersun lotion in the bottom of the bath, and lie down on top of it.

[Donna]

Very inflexible shoulders, and a tendency to get tendonitis. I have particular unpleasant memories of a lady in a class helpfully backleading a pretzel.

However the worst thing isn't dancing - it is getting sunburn. I have been known to pour aftersun lotion in the bottom of the bath, and lie down on top of it.

HEY, so that's why lily manages to slide down so easily whilst doing the doughnut......A CREAM DOUGHNUT!! :rofl:

[Gadget]

Just thinking what a glorious endorsment this thread is to beginners :(

I would like to say that in every venue I've been to* and in every beginner's class I've participated in over the years, I have not experianced any "Yanking".

I know of only one lady that excerpts 'exceptional' force, but this is more a "bounce" than a "yank" and there are certain techniques that can be used to tame her.

(*I've never ventured out of Scotland :tears:... yet)

[Donna]

[QUOTE=Gadget]

I know of only one lady that excerpts 'exceptional' force, but this is more a "bounce" than a "yank" and there are certain techniques that can be used to tame her.

QUOTE]

Hmmm...sleeping tablets maybe??? :rofl:

[bigdjiver]

I still go to the beginners classes when I can get there on time.

I returned to an old haunt to try and find old friends, and because I heard it was "buzzing", with attendances around 150. I got there two moves into the beginners class, and found that there were 120 in it, including so many faces that I recognised. The class danced through the moves like a well practised formation team, not an obvious failure in it. I did a contrast and compare with my normal venue, and it was the same. I am usually too busy with partner to notice such things.

When I was learning Ballroom and Salsa I was isolated in classes with my peer group. I think the "all dance together" ethos is one of Ceroc's major strengths.

I can understand the health and safety issue too. I am currently trying to persuade a beginner not to yank, with a subordinate agendas to get her to take up weight lifting or shot putting, and "You're doing Salsa too? That's a really good dance ..."