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Thread: Are these the BEST DANCE LESSONS in the WORLD ? ? ?

  1. #41
    Registered User NZ Monkey's Avatar
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    Re: Are these the BEST DANCE LESSONS in the WORLD ? ? ?

    Quote Originally Posted by Gus
    Absolutely. Have to agree. To be honest, its a personal things. I've seen too many cases of 'style over substance', and maybe I'm letting taht prejudice my views.
    Actually, I think this is really the source of many critics discontent with Simon. I don’t think it’s just the “style” over the “substance” though as there are plenty of cases of this happening that never get mentioned.

    I think the real reason he get’s so many peoples back up is that he’s unashamedly Not British and doing his own thing in a distinctly Not British kind of a way. To top it all off he seems to be doing it quite successfully as well (in Britain no less!). “Self promotion” might almost be considered dirty words to the British psyche. He may be loud and in-your-face in many ways, but I have a strong suspicion that much of the criticism he takes for these traits would be softened considerably if he were English rather than Australian.

    To be fair he plays up to this as well because it’s in his best interest to do so – on stage he’s virtually an Aussie stereotype in the same vein as Steve Irwin, and that isn’t something you see every day.

  2. #42
    Registered User David Franklin's Avatar
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    Re: Are these the BEST DANCE LESSONS in the WORLD ? ? ?

    Quote Originally Posted by NZ Monkey View Post
    Actually, I think this is really the source of many critics discontent with Simon. I don’t think it’s just the “style” over the “substance” though as there are plenty of cases of this happening that never get mentioned.
    Actually, I think Simon himself is OK. He seems to have a good sense of humour, doesn't take himself too seriously, and works bloody hard. (I don't actually like his dancing terribly much, but as you say, there are plenty worse examples).

    But I find the youtube hype all rather tedious; in particular the unrelenting ALL-CAPS shouting, so that in the end you just end up deciding it's just virtual noise to be ignored. I'm guessing it's not actually Simon doing it - I think Simon would do a better job.

    To top it all off he seems to be doing it quite successfully as well (in Britain no less!).
    I have to say, I've been underwhelmed by the success of the venues I've been to. I guess it shows the promotion does "work", because I was expecting a lot more (in terms of venue size and numbers) than I actually got.

    One plus that I don't feel JiveNation particularly plug: I felt the music was much better than at Ceroc, even if a bit reliant on old classics (Ecuador etc.)

  3. #43
    Registered User NZ Monkey's Avatar
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    Re: Are these the BEST DANCE LESSONS in the WORLD ? ? ?

    Quote Originally Posted by David Franklin View Post
    But I find the youtube hype all rather tedious; in particular the unrelenting ALL-CAPS shouting, so that in the end you just end up deciding it's just virtual noise to be ignored. I'm guessing it's not actually Simon doing it - I think Simon would do a better job.
    Well, some of the offending clips posted in this thread are from the Jive Nation youtube account so perhaps not, although others are from students.

    Quote Originally Posted by DavidFranklin
    I have to say, I've been underwhelmed by the success of the venues I've been to. I guess it shows the promotion does "work", because I was expecting a lot more (in terms of venue size and numbers) than I actually got.
    On the other hand though - he does have several venues, operating in competition to Ceroc (TM), on their "home turf", and still running a little over 18 months after opening. That's getting close to passing the time it usually takes small business to fold if they're going to.

    You've admitted yourself that Ceroc have a habit of trying to muscle out the small player, and Simon has pretty much thumbed his nose at them. A lot of people didn't give him a chance at all....

    To be honest, I live on the other side of the planet. It's actually hard to get physically *further* away from the happenings in London than I am right now, so I'm largley relying on memory and a little deductive reasoning here. He might be up to his eyeballs in debt and have empty venues for all I know, but I doubt he'd keep pushing a doomed enterprise. I can't trump first-hand experience with the scene at the moment though.

  4. #44
    Registered User David Franklin's Avatar
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    Re: Are these the BEST DANCE LESSONS in the WORLD ? ? ?

    Quote Originally Posted by NZ Monkey View Post
    Well, some of the offending clips posted in this thread are from the Jive Nation youtube account
    Most of them I've seen are from "gerryn"; even with the other ones, I assumed it was someone else doing the actual posting (and therefore labelling/tagging).

    To be honest, I live on the other side of the planet. It's actually hard to get physically *further* away from the happenings in London than I am right now, so I'm largley relying on memory and a little deductive reasoning here. He might be up to his eyeballs in debt and have empty venues for all I know, but I doubt he'd keep pushing a doomed enterprise. I can't trump first-hand experience with the scene at the moment though.
    To be honest, I've only been to two venues. One (Ealing) is very near me and I might go again. The other was an hour's travel (Fulham) and I wouldn't. It would surprise me to find that the 2nd one was financially viable, but what do I know? From what I hear about what Ealing costs to hire, I'm not sure how viable Ealing will be either, but it's a once-a-month thing so it's probably easier to get the numbers.

    Kind of repeating the theme, but "still in business after 18 months", while an achievement, is somewhat less successful than I'd expected from all the hype.

  5. #45
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    Re: Are these the BEST DANCE LESSONS in the WORLD ? ? ?

    I took a look at their website. I read this;

    Quote Originally Posted by Jive Nation Website
    This is going to be a fun and very challenging step up, unlike ANYTHING else you can get in London. LEARN - the sharpest moves. PERFECT - the smoothest techniques. REMOVE - the bounce and over-rotations forever
    Then I watched the videos, then I agreed with this;

    Quote Originally Posted by NZ Monkey View Post
    “style” over the “substance”
    IMHO the dancing is good. But not "perfect". Not "smoothest". And I saw over-rotations too. But no more than I'd see at an average Ceroc night in London

  6. #46
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    Re: Are these the BEST DANCE LESSONS in the WORLD ? ? ?

    Quote Originally Posted by David Franklin View Post
    Kind of repeating the theme, but "still in business after 18 months"
    Like saying your driving is fantastic by suggesting that even after 18 months on the road every day you're "still not dead".

    Quote Originally Posted by Andy McGregor View Post
    But not "perfect". Not "smoothest". And I saw over-rotations too. But no more than I'd see at an average Ceroc night in London
    I think thats why BIG BOLD tags about HOW GREAT jivenation is, are annoying and arrogant - they have yet to prove they are any more special than any other MJ night . Certainly out of all the ones I've been to in the London area, they are ALL good.

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