Maths help !

[Lory]

Funnily enough though, I can't think of anyone from the forum where I've formed an expectation of their dancing from their posts,

I have...


... you!

No really, I was seriously looking forward to dancing with you at SP but you hid from me!

then been disappointed.

I was disappointed at the fact we didn't get to dance!

[Cruella]

I have...


... you!

No really, I was seriously looking forward to dancing with you at SP but you hid from me!

I was disappointed at the fact we didn't get to dance!

But who knows if you might have been even more disappointed if you had.






(Love you really Andy)

[straycat]

No really, I was seriously looking forward to dancing with you at SP but you hid from me!

I looked!!! And looked!!! And asked people where you were!!! And they all denied knowledge of your whereabouts

Next time.

But who knows if you might have been even more disappointed if you had.

Although I'm beginning to get that ganged-up-on feeling here

(Love you really Andy)

Mind you - we haven't danced since that wonderful 30th birthday party of yours a couple of years back. Need to get a dance in soon...

[Agente Secreto]

A universal formula would be nice.

I have seen so many posts on here with people describing what they do and how musical they are, reams and reams on how they lead, and how it's such a wonderful experience for their partner, did I mention how musical they are, etc, etc - but I've seen some of them and they're nowhere near as good as they think they are - tick or delete as appropriate, people dread dancing with them and avoid them at all costs, they smell, they jank, they bounce, they perve, they back lead, they wrestle, they hold on for dear life, they wouldn't know a beat if it hit them in the face, same handful of moves janked out of time except for that really flash ducking thing with a tunnel they love to show their prowess off with, etc, etc.

It's meant to be a social activity with all able to participate and get pleasure from the experience, I can live with all the dance disaster things listed above, it's the self-delusion and giving it the big'un I have more trouble with !

I have to say that I've seen many of the regular posters on here in the flesh (men) and danced with them (women except for once with DTS) and I'm not sure I recognise the description above at all.

I know the description above can't be me because I can never remember how to do flash tunnels - maybe time for a visit to the Jiveoholic website or dig out one of those Aussie DVDs - must be a tunnel there somewhere that I can learn!

Nothing wrong with a bit of delusion - in my heart I'm really Agent 007 rather than Agent 000. Maybe that means my moves and equipment are not really as good as the other agent but as long as I'm happy with them.

Agent 007 for the night
Licensed to Dance, make love to beautiful women (definitely only mentally - the wife would kill me otherwise), and drink beer from martini glasses!!!

[Magic Hans]

... I take personal offence to this post ...

Good!!!!

- I don't smell (although can get soggy),
- I don't jank, yank or crank - I may have been guilty in the past, but i have specifically worked on my dancing to avoid this.
- I only bounce on bouncy tracks,
- I have been known to perv, and perhaps lear... but I'm only human and some dresses are designed to be drooled over!
- I don't follow very well, so can't really deny that I back-lead.
- I sometimes use force over technique, but only when technique escapes me and I don't want the follower to come to harm.
- I don't "hold on for dear life" - quite the reverse. Although I can be 'in your face' through out a lot of the dance.
- I think a beat hitting me in the face would be noticable, but I prefer to stay within the music's framework.
- I do have a handful of moves that I repeat all the time - who doesn't? But I doubt that anyone would recognise any of them... except perhaps that really flash ducking thing with a tunnel - but that's the only
cool move I know

Oh yes you do!!

:

...I take time to write stuff down and try and make it as comprehensible as I can.

No you don't!

...I am not the best dancer,

Yes you are

I am not the worst...

... and that too!! #more stirring#

I aim to have fun on the dance floor and give my partner the same enjoyment as I get while dancing.

No you don't! # yet more stirring#

... What? Who's being contrary? Not me, surely!!

[Gadget]

I am not the best dancer, I am not the worst. I aim to have fun on the dance floor and give my partner the same enjoyment as I get while dancing.

Which excludes you from the category I was talking about

How do you know that from posts about technical stuff? Or about musicality? Attitude makes no difference to technique. And no difference to the timing you use in musicality.

If someone posts "use a full hand hold" and someone else posts "use fingertip connection" - which is 'correct'? If your teacher says "use the pint-glass hold" and you read here to "use the pistol hold" - which is correct? How can you judge people about the quality of the advice?
Competition results? Competition dancing is different from social dancing - at least at the level you are talking about. Personally I would rather be rated as a social dancer than enter any competitions. Can you say the advice I give is any better or worse than anyone else's? When Franck or Amir {two of the most respected teachers} post advice; is it any more relevant than someone who has been dancing a month? Relevant to who?

If anyone has taken time to study and write down their findings, then they are worth listening to. If people spend pages and pages arguing about the correct angle the back foot should be placed when stepping back, then I applaud them It shows a passion and involvement and willingness to learn/improve that few are interested in. Does it matter to the dance? Not really. Any improvement would be infinitesimal, but it would echo in every other aspect of their dancing. Lots of little changes like this make a big over all improvement. The people likely to make this improvement are those that post questions and those that examine their own dancing to answer questions. No matter who or how good/bad their dancing is (or they perceive it to be).
How about encouraging people to ask and answer dance related questions rather than snubbing and being rude & snooty towards them. After all, this is a dance forum.

[marcusj]

How do you know that from posts about technical stuff? Or about musicality? Attitude makes no difference to technique. And no difference to the timing you use in musicality.

First of all this thread was meant to be a bit of fun so apologies to any I have offended/upset etc.

However Mr Gadget, let's get our honesty heads on for a moment, don't tell me you haven't noticed people writing stuff on here talking like they're the best thing since sliced bread but you've seen them dance and know what they're really like or know that people avoid them for various reasons, I was merely drawing attention to the disparity and the delusion factor.

Like you I know I'm not the best and I know I'm not the worst, I have never refused a dance and never will, and treat dancing as the bit of fun it's meant to be.

[robd]

First of all this thread was meant to be a bit of fun so apologies to any I have offended/upset etc.

However Mr Gadget, let's get our honesty heads on for a moment

With my honesty head on I can say that one of the times I actually have encountered the kind of sentiments Marcus mentions was in relation to Gadget. This person (no, of course I am not going to name them) said that they had certain expectation of Gadget's dance ability based on what he had written on the forum and that the reality didn't live up to the expectation. On the flipside I heard from another person that Gadget was her favourite dance partner at a particular weekender and that their dances way exceeded her expectation. Assessing dance ability is all subjective and what works for someone will not work for somebody else. I don't find my thinking in line with Gadget on much of what he writes about dancing and I find his posts admirably strong in self-belief/irritatingly bloody-minded at times but there's no doubt the forum is richer for his contributions.

[David Bailey]

However Mr Gadget, let's get our honesty heads on for a moment, don't tell me you haven't noticed people writing stuff on here talking like they're the best thing since sliced bread

If you're referring to "technical" posts, then if someone says something obviously wrong or controversial, they usually get pulled up on it - or at least, a debate ensues. For example, Lee said some fairly ...ummm... controversial... things about both aerials and spinning a while back, and some healthy debate ensued from that. Which is good, surely? As I said a while back, it's a discussion forum, not a hippy commune.

However, there's been so little discussion of dance technique recently, it's difficult to point to any recent examples of this.

If you're referring to "oooh, I'm a Dance God" posts, then I'm also not sure what you're on about - there's a lot of mutual back-slapping, sure, but then there always is.

Like you I know I'm not the best and I know I'm not the worst,

Well, if we're going into personal self-assessment mode, I used to be pretty good at MJ few years back, but I reckon I've gone downhill a bit - or at least plateau-ed - since then.

I have never refused a dance and never will,

I have, loads of times. Probably at least once every 3-4 dance sessions, so maybe up to 1% of the time - that probably adds up to hundreds of refusals over the years.

and treat dancing as the bit of fun it's meant to be.

Fun? What is this "fun" of which you speak?

[Gadget]

However Mr Gadget, let's get our honesty heads on for a moment, don't tell me you haven't noticed people writing stuff on here talking like they're the best thing since sliced bread but you've seen them dance and know what they're really like or know that people avoid them for various reasons, I was merely drawing attention to the disparity and the delusion factor.

:shrug: I only tend to read stuff in the dance/technical discussion area - it's what I'm interested in. I can't say that I've noticed anyone dispersing advice that I would argue against. If I had, I would have argued against it.
I think that the semi-circle in a class is a good thing and that it only matters which foot you step back on if you want to be pedantic. Me and Andy have sparred about this many times.
Honestly, delusional folk who think that they know it all and post advice tend to be very thin on the ground - there are not many who would put their own dancing/style up for the scrutany with so many really good dancers and teachers ready to point out where you are going wrong: It takes a lot of self belief and confidence. As well as a passion for the dance.

Like you I know I'm not the best and I know I'm not the worst, I have never refused a dance and never will, and treat dancing as the bit of fun it's meant to be.

I don't treat dancing as a bit of fun - I have fun and I get enjoyment from dancing. I get satisfaction and warm fuzzies from dancing well. But I treat dancing with respect and humility. I am grateful to every partner for dancing with me, I am humbled by every request for a dance - I find nothing frivolous about asking or accepting a dance.
If it were just a bit of fun I could be flippant about refusing.
I would shrug off any criticism or advice for self-improvement with "who cares? it's just a bit of fun."
I wouldn't get involved in the precise angle and force needed to be applied to the follower to execute a step back; after all - it's only a bit of fun.
If it was just a bit of fun, I wouldn't take it personally when someone implies that the advice I give is a pile of poo.
{apology accepted }

With my honesty head on I can say that one of the times I actually have encountered the kind of sentiments Marcus mentions was in relation to Gadget.

Who else is a vocal?

This person (no, of course I am not going to name them) said that they had certain expectation of Gadget's dance ability based on what he had written on the forum and that the reality didn't live up to the expectation. On the flipside I heard from another person that Gadget was her favourite dance partner at a particular weekender and that their dances way exceeded her expectation.

Some dances I have are OK, some are good, some are exceptional. Sometimes you connect with a partner, sometimes you don't. Most of the time I will only introduce myself (if I remember ) after a dance - much easier to live up to any reputation when there are no expectations or preconceptions
{The ego within prefers to hear "who was that I danced with?" rather than "who is that dancing?"}
I am constantly trying to improve - To the person with whom I didn't live up to expectations, I ask a second chance...

[Beowulf]

oops.. dupe posted !!

[Beowulf]

he had written on the forum and that the reality didn't live up to the expectation.

I get that all the time

I find his posts admirably strong in self-belief/irritatingly bloody-minded at times but there's no doubt the forum is richer for his contributions.

As for the Original Posters request.. I do have a mathematical theory in formulation.. I just don't know if The Hotshot Quotient should be Logarithmic or not , or if the Number of posts in the Geeks Corner should count as negative scores

As Gadget and I (although cloned from the same wart biopsy ) are at opposite ends of the spectrum.. in most things .. I'm thinking of having a sliding scale from Gadgetastic to Be'orrific

[marcusj]

As for the Original Posters request.. I do have a mathematical theory in formulation.. I just don't know if The Hotshot Quotient should be Logarithmic or not , or if the Number of posts in the Geeks Corner should count as negative scores

.. I'm thinking of having a sliding scale from Gadgetastic to Be'orrific

This is more like it !