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Thread: Practice or dance?

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    Registered User Ghost's Avatar
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    Practice or dance?

    When is an appropriate time to try and practice leading new moves you haven't got the hang of yet and how much should you do it?

    Obvious examples
    The freestyle part of the evening between the classes
    The freestyle part of the evening after the classes
    Actual freestyles
    In private

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    Formerly known as DavidJames David Bailey's Avatar
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    Re: Practice or dance?

    Quote Originally Posted by Ghost View Post
    When is an appropriate time to try and practice leading new moves you haven't got the hang of yet and how much should you do it?

    Obvious examples
    The freestyle part of the evening between the classes
    The freestyle part of the evening after the classes
    Actual freestyles
    In private
    In private, definitely, assuming you can find a decent room to practice in. Ideally, one with a good floor, a decent music system, some space and mirrors. Failing that, one with space.

    You want to be able to stop, start again, discuss things, review things, and generally not worry if you make mistakes. And that's not easy when there are lots of people around you.

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    Registered User Ghost's Avatar
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    Re: Practice or dance?

    Quote Originally Posted by DavidJames View Post
    In private, definitely,
    While I agree that's the best solution, if it's the only appropriate solution this is problematic for anyone who doesn't have a dance partner. It also means beginners shouldn't be doing any moves they haven't mastered in the taxi class and people shouldn't being "trying out" moves from the intermediate class unless they're certain they can lead them properly.

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    Re: Practice or dance?

    Rules of thumb as an intermediate:

    For moves that I can consistently lead in freestyle, but which need work to become smoother, clearer, etc, pretty much whenever I want. Provisos:
    * It's safe for me, my partner, and other dancers.
    * Such moves don't make up more than about 20-40% of a dance.
    * Neither of us leaves the floor feeling like they've "lost the plot"

    For moves that I lead ok in class, but I've not managed to lead consistently in freestyle yet, no more than once per person per week, and never on beginners.

    For moves that I can't lead in class yet, I wait for them to come up in class again. There's always other moves to practice.

    Rule of thumb for beginners: it's always appropriate, all the time.

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    Re: Practice or dance?

    This one's easy:
    - Go to a venue with a less than average standard. Mine is the O2 centre. Partners won't notice. The other one was Harrow.
    - When you practice, put never more than 3 moves in a "practice" dance. You can try each move twice in a dance
    - Practice these moves during each dance of the evening. Repeatition is mother of skills.

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    Registered User Jhutch's Avatar
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    Re: Practice or dance?

    Quote Originally Posted by DavidJames View Post
    In private, definitely, assuming you can find a decent room to practice in. Ideally, one with a good floor, a decent music system, some space and mirrors. Failing that, one with space.

    You want to be able to stop, start again, discuss things, review things, and generally not worry if you make mistakes. And that's not easy when there are lots of people around you.
    In an ideal world

    When i first started, one of my housemates did ceroc as well. The most rewarding session that i have had was one afternoon with her where we went through the various beginner moves we had been taught and i tried to lead them. We were there for a couple of hours The advantage was that if it did go wrong then we could stop and think about why it had gone wrong, whose fault etc This was far better when there was two of us than in a freestyle where the music makes it difficult to hear what people are saying, you feel a bit stupid and you also feel like you are wasting the other person's time if you stop and ask what went wrong (i know most people wont mind but it can't stop me feeling like they will!) I think that this was responsible for me going from feeling like i was messing up every freestyle to the point where i felt like i could at least lead the beginners' moves ok and think up different combinations without stopping, etc (IMO anyway ). Having said that we didn't have the mirrors mentioned by DJ - i think they would have been more of a put-off than a help though Unfortunately she hasn't been able to go in the last few months due to a long-term injury recurring (not as a result of my dancing )

    I don't really have any firm rules as such. I find that it depends on the woman to some extent. If a woman seems to be struggling to follow my lead (for whatever reason) then i tend to go back to what i know i can lead relatively well. If, however, she seems to be coping with me fairly well then i might be tempted to try and lead some other things that maybe i cant lead quite as well. Hopefully, i can identify the point where she momentarily loses the lead and try and work out how i could have led it 'better.' Although this can be difficult when i am trying to continue with that move, think about the next one and what the music is doing, keep time to the music, avoid other people while keeping a fairly strong lead (have been trying to strengthen it a bit recently). And that's before i even think about trying to smile

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    Registered User Alice's Avatar
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    Re: Practice or dance?

    I agree with most of the stuff that's already been said- the rules of thumb for an intermediate in particular

    I'd just add that it also depends on your partner- for example there are a few guys who know me fairly well and know that it's ok for them to *try out* a new move on me- I won't mind interrupting the dance to work out what went wrong (unless the move is unsafe on a freestyle floor, in which case I'll suggest we move to the side or do it another time ). I also don't (always) mind practicing something over and over again if necessary. If you're just needing to go over something for a good long while, it might be a good idea to warn your friendly partner and ask her if it would be ok to do nothing but ochos for the whole track ... but having a few people you can do that sort of practice with is always good.


    Oh, and if you do decide to indulge in a full track of "practicing", it's good manners to follow it with a "normal" dance either straight away or later in the night

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    Registered User Lynn's Avatar
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    Re: Practice or dance?

    Quote Originally Posted by DavidJames View Post
    In private, definitely, assuming you can find a decent room to practice in. Ideally, one with a good floor, a decent music system, some space and mirrors. Failing that, one with space.

    You want to be able to stop, start again, discuss things, review things, and generally not worry if you make mistakes. And that's not easy when there are lots of people around you.
    My living room actually works for this and has the added advantage of a TV and DVD player, comfy sofas to sit on when having a break, kitchen nearby for snacks... I don't have the mirrors though.

    But I think its perfectly acceptable to use some of the time in the freestyle after the class and indeed spent about 3 songs with someone on Thurs night while he went over the moves from the intermediate routine. He did ask me if that was OK and I think that's important. Find someone you know won't mind helping you to practice.

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    Re: Practice or dance?

    I think that it depends on the moves.

    Any moves that I would want to practice would be arials or big show-off moves where it would require a fixed/dedicated partner. In this case I would be looking for a space and some time away from the social dance floor.

    Any other "intermediate" moves, I don't think need any room outside of the standard night; normally it's one 'bit' of the move that's different from what you would normally do - so I would insert this bit into every dance I had. Tuning it to see what worked and what didn't. eg elbow rolls, duck unders, traveling catches, pass behinds, ...

    Standard moves I use the beginner's classes to practice. If the beginner moves are good, then it's a lot easier to identify where any other moves (that use bits of the beginner moves) can go wrong and how to fix them.

    Over all, it's normally the lead that needs to be practiced/improved rather than the move you are leading: it dosn't really matter where point A and B are within a move, it's how you lead the follower from A to B.

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    Registered User Beowulf's Avatar
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    Re: Practice or dance?

    I live alone (well apart from my hamster.. but she's a lousy follower.. she always hijacks my moves) and as such practicing at home is not an option.

    I tend to run over some of the moves after the intermediate class ... if I like them! but oportunities for me to practice this weeks moves before nexts weeks class are few and far between (Nigh on non-existant)

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    Re: Practice or dance?

    Quote Originally Posted by Beowulf1970 View Post
    I live alone (well apart from my hamster.. but she's a lousy follower.. she always hijacks my moves) and as such practicing at home is not an option.

    I tend to run over some of the moves after the intermediate class ... if I like them! but oportunities for me to practice this weeks moves before nexts weeks class are few and far between (Nigh on non-existant)
    You know, you only had to ask


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    Registered User Genie's Avatar
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    Re: Practice or dance?

    I don't know that I practice outside of class. I think it might be slightly different for follows as they don't need to remember long lists of moves. We have to remember how to follow certain signals, but not to the same extent. I dance around the flat with loud music on, but that's different

    I often get grabbed by certain regulars at the Wed/Thur classes to try out a new move, but not on the dance floor, and they are usually dips, drops, or aerials.

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