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Thread: Taxi! Pro's and Con's

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    Commercial Operator StokeBloke's Avatar
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    Taxi! Pro's and Con's

    I know you lot are a well clued up bunch. So I thought you may be able to give me a balanced view on becoming a taxi dancer.

    What are the main pro's, con's and pitfalls of becoming a taxi (getting trodden on aside that is)?

    What are you thoughts and experiences?

    Are you a taxi, would you become a taxi?

    Did you give up being a taxi (why)?

    Are there any other pointers or info you think is worth knowing....?

    Cheers

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    Formerly known as DavidJames David Bailey's Avatar
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    Re: Taxi! Pro's and Con's

    Quote Originally Posted by StokeBloke View Post
    I know you lot are a well clued up bunch.


    Quote Originally Posted by StokeBloke View Post
    What are the main pro's, con's and pitfalls of becoming a taxi (getting trodden on aside that is)?
    Pros: occasional training, free dancing (or money, soon), the "glamour"
    Cons: hard work, doesn't help advance your dancing, mixing-business-and-pleasure

    Quote Originally Posted by StokeBloke View Post
    Are you a taxi, would you become a taxi?
    No, no.

    Quote Originally Posted by StokeBloke View Post
    Did you give up being a taxi (why)?
    Yes, because I got bored with it. And they started asking me to teach.

    Quote Originally Posted by StokeBloke View Post
    Are there any other pointers or info you think is worth knowing....?
    I'd recommend doing it for any early-intermediate dancer, but most people only stick it out for a year or two. There are some honourable exceptions, of course (Rafael, Clive, etc.).

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    Re: Taxi! Pro's and Con's

    Quote Originally Posted by StokeBloke View Post
    I know you lot are a well clued up bunch. So I thought you may be able to give me a balanced view on becoming a taxi dancer.

    What are the main pro's, con's and pitfalls of becoming a taxi (getting trodden on aside that is)?

    What are you thoughts and experiences?

    Are you a taxi, would you become a taxi?

    Did you give up being a taxi (why)?

    Are there any other pointers or info you think is worth knowing....?

    Cheers
    I was going to do it because I was stuck in a class where I ended up coaching beginners most of the time anyway. I found I had an extra night free, so I thought I might as well get the benefit of being a Taxi dancer seeing as I'm doing their job for them already .
    I volunteered, however, it took them so long to organise a Taxi workshop, that by the time they did, I no longer have that extra night free and I'm going to a different class!
    Not sure if you can tell, but I'm not especially gutted I'm missing out.

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    Registered User Lynn's Avatar
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    Re: Taxi! Pro's and Con's

    I've been a taxi for about 13 months, and feel personally its time for a break, but I have really enjoyed it.

    Become a taxi because -
    - you love dancing and want to share that
    - you want to help beginners

    Skills required
    - know the basic moves well and be able to explain them to others (both lead and follow ideally)
    - patience!
    - friendly and approachable
    - being able to see where someone is going wrong and knowing what to suggest
    And of course calling the moves of a routine, sometimes for one part while dancing the other part, shouting over the top of the intermediate class, and looking left and right as you do seeing how everyone is managing and not neglecting the person you are dancing with as well. But this is a skill you develop, not an essential requirement from the very first week!
    - did I mention patience?

    Positives
    - you get to see the big smile on a beginners face when they get it, or when their very first freestyle dance has worked, or when they realise they are actually having fun!

    Negatives
    - your own dancing can get a bit worse - probably more a problem for followers
    - you can only dance with beginners for most of the evening when you are on duty - if you dance more than one evening a week this isn't so much of a problem.

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    Registered User SeriouslyAddicted's Avatar
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    Re: Taxi! Pro's and Con's

    I am afraid I am a bit too selfish to even think about becoming a taxi (not that I have enough experience anyway). Thing is I would hate to sacrifice a whole evening of dancing and socialising with my friends. I will help newies same as every one else but would want to help them because I want to not because I feel I have to. Also in my head I think I would feel more under pressure to be a great dancer if I had a taxi t-shirt on.

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    Cheeky by nature Little Monkey's Avatar
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    Re: Taxi! Pro's and Con's

    There's been quite a few threads about this in the past, for instance 'Taxi dancers', and 'Would you be a taxi dancer'.

    I was a taxi dancer for about 2 years, then got really fed up with both taxiing and dancing, and stopped completely for about 9 months. I later taxid again for a while, but stopped because a) It wasn't doing my back any good, and b) I felt my own dancing was getting worse the longer I was a taxi.

    I did enjoy taxi dancing for a long time, though. But I wouldn't do it again.

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    Not a spoon! Lou's Avatar
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    Re: Taxi! Pro's and Con's

    Quote Originally Posted by DavidJames View Post
    I'd recommend doing it for any early-intermediate dancer,
    I'm not sure that these are the best people to Taxi. For many, it's normally the time when dancers think that they know everything - and have yet to know that they don't.

    We entrust our precious beginners to these Taxis. A Taxi has a huge amount of responsibility in encouraging newcomers, and not giving them poor habits.

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    Formerly known as DavidJames David Bailey's Avatar
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    Re: Taxi! Pro's and Con's

    Quote Originally Posted by Lou View Post
    I'm not sure that these are the best people to Taxi. For many, it's normally the time when dancers think that they know everything - and have yet to know that they don't.
    But they're also the ones who most remember what it was like to be a beginner, and so can sympathise with beginner-problems and give quick answers. Highly-experienced dancers will have less clear memories.

    Quote Originally Posted by Lou View Post
    We entrust our precious beginners to these Taxis. A Taxi has a huge amount of responsibility in encouraging newcomers, and not giving them poor habits.
    Indeed - encouraging, not "technique teaching".

    In pure ruthless business terms, Taxi dancers are there to keep the retention rate as high as possible. So an enthusiastic attitude is probably more important than ability for this purpose.

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    Registered User LMC's Avatar
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    Re: Taxi! Pro's and Con's

    All the sensible things have been said.

    But I want to contribute anyway. I think the worst thing was the Official T-shirt. Very high quality T-shirt cotton - which meant it was thick and bloody hot. And I hate T-shirt sleeves. And the women's ones were too small and too short (and I'm only a size 14!).

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    Commercial Operator StokeBloke's Avatar
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    Re: Taxi! Pro's and Con's

    Oh yeah! I always dance in a proper long sleeved shirt. That point didn't even cross my mind! Thanks LMC. Ceroc should do an armband (like the captain of a football team wears). Then you could wear pretty much anything. Probably cheaper than T shirts too.......

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    Registered User Lynn's Avatar
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    Re: Taxi! Pro's and Con's

    Quote Originally Posted by LMC View Post
    I think the worst thing was the Official T-shirt. Very high quality T-shirt cotton - which meant it was thick and bloody hot.
    Very hot. Another reason I was always glad to change out of it for the last 30 mins of the evening.
    Quote Originally Posted by LMC View Post
    And the women's ones were too small and too short (and I'm only a size 14!).
    I'm teeny, everything is always too long on me. Except for my taxi t-shirt - I was always tugging it down trying to stretch it to be a bit longer!

    But its only a few hours every fortnight.

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    Re: Taxi! Pro's and Con's

    I started as a taxi-dancer about 4 months after I started dancing, and did it for about 2.5 years. And really enjoyed it.

    Only gave it up when I started teaching

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    Re: Taxi! Pro's and Con's

    I declined an offer to do it - as I could not make a strong enough commitment.

    Plus............a couple of ladies I know who started around the same time as me tried it for one night and did not like it all because of the fact that they couldn't dance when/with whom they wanted.

    In fact, on that very night, I remember one of the ladies having a mini-bust-up with the 'leader' taxi, because it was 10:00 and the recap course was still going on (and she had agreed she would finish at 10:00).

    Maybe worth trying - by all accounts I think you would do a great job Stokie!

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    Formerly known as DavidJames David Bailey's Avatar
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    Re: Taxi! Pro's and Con's

    Quote Originally Posted by TheTramp View Post
    Only gave it up when I started teaching
    You're a teacher? Wow...

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    Re: Taxi! Pro's and Con's

    Quote Originally Posted by DavidJames View Post

    You're a teacher? Wow...
    And (don't forget) a perpetual beginner too ;-)


    How does he do that !!

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    Ceroc N.I. Franchise Owner drathzel's Avatar
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    Re: Taxi! Pro's and Con's

    Quote Originally Posted by TheTramp View Post
    I started as a taxi-dancer about 4 months after I started dancing, and did it for about 2.5 years. And really enjoyed it.

    Only gave it up when I started teaching
    i absolutely loved taxi-ing and i started about 6 months after my first ever ceroc class.

    Like tramp the only reason i gave it up was to teach/run the franchise however if i was still in scotland still going to jj's on a tues night i would still be taxi-ing!

    I love helping people find a new hobby/skill through dancing. I love watching people grow as dancers through my help. I love being asked to dance by any of my beginners and am always happy to give feedback/just shut up and follow!

    Dancing is my passion and i soooooo want to share it with everyone and encourage them to love it as much as i do.

    This is why i taxi-ed, not the freebies, the status or the snazzy t-shirt and anyone who is considering being a taxi should be doing it for the right reasons. A beginner will pick up your enthusiasm for the dance, if you arent that happy being there taxi-ing then what impression are you giving out? I know i have been ill or injured and have got up to teach my class and i havent given it the 110% i normally do and i find that is the nights with least atmosphere and less buzz!

    The crew are so important to the venue as they set the precidents for the night, if we are all happy and enjoying ourself the class will, if we are miserable and dont want to be there, the class wont either

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    Re: Taxi! Pro's and Con's

    I've been taxiing for about 10 months now. I do find it hard work, and do miss the intermediate lesson and being able to dance with who I want to, but I still enjoy it nonetheless. The Review Class can be a great laugh (mainly due to the bonkers sense of humour of my taxi partner ) and I get a real sense of achievement when someone who's been struggling with something finally gets it, or just seeing the difference in someone's dancing as the weeks progress and you can think 'I helped with that'.

    I started taxiing because I love to dance and wanted to help others share the joy that dancing brings. I always enjoyed encouraging the beginners and seemed to spend quite a lot of time dancing with them anyway, so thought I may as well do it 'officially'.

    I do agree that the T shirts are cr@p though! Too hot/thick and too short. I'd also prefer a colour other than black ... but that's just me being fussy!

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