Page 8 of 10 FirstFirst ... 45678910 LastLast
Results 141 to 160 of 182

Thread: Bridging the gap from Beginner to Intermediate.

  1. #141
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Stevenage
    Posts
    540
    Rep Power
    8

    Re: Bridging the gap from Beginner to Intermediate.

    Quote Originally Posted by Steven666 View Post
    Would it not be more pleasing if they blended them in seperately into freestyle?
    I definitely prefer doing that! I find just doing all three moves (at beginner or advanced) feels a bit robotic and often the women will anticipate it because they've just learned the same thing! I try and use the moves separately and at least throw a bit of musicality in there. It represents more of a challenge to me!

  2. #142
    Registered User SteveW's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    31
    Rep Power
    8

    Re: Bridging the gap from Beginner to Intermediate.

    Two experiences of intermediate classes so far:


    Week 1 -
    • Reluctantly onto the floor, after being cajoled on by a lovely lady at our table, ended up near the back on the right (so had my back to the teacher most of the time).
    • Spent the first 15 - 20 seconds on every rotation along the lines of "Hi I'm Steve blah blah first week here blah blah really nervous blah blah rather be next door blah blah ... oh what did she do there?". Followed by interjections of "sorry", "help ma boab" and "och, I hate this."
    • Was the most indecisive lead (and I use the term loosely) possible and became intimidated by ladies whom I know to be of the 'good dancer' variety.
    • Finished the event thoroughly depressed and on the verge of packing it in.
    Week 2 - after reading the forum posts again and some words of encouragement for 'the present Mrs W'*.
    • Onto the floor with with confidence although some other folks got the front and centre spots, ended up on the centre aisle about 3 back.
    • Polite smiles, "how do you do" to introduce and (wait for it) laughs during the walk throughs.
    • A bit better lead this time, not quite as pathetic although still got lost a couple of times. On one occasion even 'argued' with a lead that I was right and she was wrong (and I was too ).
    • Finished knowing two of the three moves reasonably well, and decided one was a 'keeper'. Still ended up in birl & yo-yo hell during the freestyle but at least I had one new one to throw in occasionally.
    Looking forward to next week, and will be ready to fight for front and centre.

    *a term of endearment best used during formal introductions - it keeps her on her toes.

  3. #143
    Registered User Phil_dB's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Posts
    535
    Rep Power
    8

    Re: Bridging the gap from Beginner to Intermediate.

    Hi Steve, - good to hear you're sticking at .

    I've thought of packing it in once or twice, - but maybe like me you knew in your heart you wouldn't!

    Perhaps you just like to think you can give up when you want to, but secretly you're as obbsessed & addicted as the rest of us

    As you've already discovered, the intermediate classes do get easier. As the lessons clock up, you'll start to recognise more and more of the moveMENTS taught as just stolen components from moves that you already know, - jumbled up, combined with a new variation - etc.
    You'll find yourself able to pick up new routines much easier, as the core of the routine will already be familiar to you in some type of shape or form already

  4. #144
    Registered User SteveW's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    31
    Rep Power
    8

    Re: Bridging the gap from Beginner to Intermediate.

    Dash - rumbled.

    Couldn't give up - too many sparkly shirts.

  5. #145
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Stevenage
    Posts
    540
    Rep Power
    8

    Re: Bridging the gap from Beginner to Intermediate.

    Quote Originally Posted by SteveW View Post
    Dash - rumbled.

    Couldn't give up - too many sparkly shirts.
    Spare me one then, I have a habit of rolling up in shorts and t-shirts...

  6. #146
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Nottingham
    Posts
    346
    Rep Power
    8

    Re: Bridging the gap from Beginner to Intermediate.

    I should have read this thread before tonight

    9th dance night, so tried the intermediate class.

    I could just about do two of the four moves they taught, my partners assured me I was doing a third right (even though it felt terrible - the teapot) and I couldn't do the fourth at all (static manspin - I can spin, and I can switch hands, but I can't do both at once while leading my partner forward then stopping her before she goes past me).

    It just wasn't fun. Taught too fast, rarely finished the sequence before my partners had to move on, too many errors and felt a horrible burden on my partners.

    So didn't even dance in the freestyle afterwards - nobody asked me to dance either, but to be fair that's probably because I wasn't looking very welcoming or catching anybody's eye.

    I'm sure the answer is to just keep trying the intermediate class, and the beginners classes are pretty mundane now, but I need to start enjoying it rather more It's taken all the joy out of the first freestyle session (between the beginners and intermediate classes), and I still have to learn an awful lot in those (how to find the beat, how to start the actual dance, how to dance to slow music, how to deal with changes in tempo, how to lead clearly, how to cope with a partner that's doing her own thing in amongst the moves I lead, how to cope with a partner that can't follow...) But I don't learn any of that in the beginners classes...

    So feeling frustrated, and a little depressed, and completely unsure whether to go back to the beginners refresh classes or try another intermediate..

  7. #147
    Commercial Operator
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Northeastern Parts
    Posts
    5,221
    Rep Power
    14

    Re: Bridging the gap from Beginner to Intermediate.

    Quote Originally Posted by cederic View Post
    assured me I was doing a third right (even though it felt terrible - the teapot) and I couldn't do the fourth at all (static manspin - I can spin, and I can switch hands, but I can't do both at once while leading my partner forward then stopping her before she goes past me).
    Leading is hard when you're trying to focus on those two things at once (moving yourself, and leading your partner)
    Often, the two activities can be combined though - with the man-spin, you could try changing the way you think about it. Instead of thinking about leading her forward and moving yourself into the turn at the same time, you could think of your partner as an anchor, and use her to pull yourself into the turn. The effect will be that you'll be leading her without having to think about leading.

    Quote Originally Posted by cederic View Post
    So feeling frustrated, and a little depressed, and completely unsure whether to go back to the beginners refresh classes or try another intermediate..
    Well - well done on not just giving up - some people would. I'd say stick with it - I think we've all had incidents like this, but it does get easier, and in a few weeks I'd be willing to bet you'll be wondering why on earth you found it so difficult...

  8. #148
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Bristol
    Posts
    3,166
    Rep Power
    11

    Re: Bridging the gap from Beginner to Intermediate.

    Quote Originally Posted by cederic View Post
    and I still have to learn ...... (how how to start the actual dance, ...........)
    It took me ages to learn to do this smoothly

    Tip -- watch how experience dances start , my own favorite, is to find the beat as walk your partner on to the floor, then lead a return followed by a few beginner moves. Only when you are comfortable dancing the moves you know, try and practice the moves you have just learnt

    If you can do all the intermediate move easily, there would be no point in doing the lesson

  9. #149
    Registered User Lynn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Belfast
    Posts
    8,925
    Rep Power
    15

    Re: Bridging the gap from Beginner to Intermediate.

    Quote Originally Posted by cederic View Post
    So feeling frustrated, and a little depressed, and completely unsure whether to go back to the beginners refresh classes or try another intermediate..
    Don't be too hard on yourself - it can be a big jump from beginner to intermediate and everyone struggles the first few weeks. And theres nothing wrong with going back to the beginners revision class for a few weeks if feel you want a bit more time.

    It might be worth asking a taxi to take some time going the things you want to work on to help you prepare to move up to intermediate? (I was working with two of our beginners last night who plan to move up to intermediate soon - they've both been dancing 9 weeks.)

  10. #150
    Forum Bombshell - Our Queen! Lory's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    North London
    Posts
    9,918
    Blog Entries
    2
    Rep Power
    17

    Re: Bridging the gap from Beginner to Intermediate.

    Quote Originally Posted by cederic View Post
    how to start the actual dance,
    That's an interesting question .. I think i'll start a thread on it!
    MODERATOR AT YOUR SERVICE
    "If you're going to do something tonight, that you know you'll be sorry for in the morning, plan a lie in." Lorraine

  11. #151
    Registered User ant's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Borehamwood, Herts
    Posts
    632
    Rep Power
    9

    Re: Bridging the gap from Beginner to Intermediate.

    Quote Originally Posted by cederic View Post
    and I still have to learn an awful lot in those (how to find the beat, how to start the actual dance, how to dance to slow music, how to deal with changes in tempo, how to lead clearly, how to cope with a partner that's doing her own thing in amongst the moves I lead, how to cope with a partner that can't follow...) But I don't learn any of that in the beginners classes...
    IMO the things you have listed are in the main self taught by dancing rather than in a lesson. The lessons will help but there is no substitute for practising what you learnt afterwards in the freestyle session and overcoming these problems with experience.

    I found that as I got more experience I found teachers and workshops that helped me with some of the areas that you have listed.

    But it seems to at me at the moment you are going through the learning curve I suffered when I first started and especially at the initial stages of moving into the interemediate class I found that a very tough time.

    Stick with it you will be fine. IMO you are are asking the right questions and it won't be long before you master the problems you are facing.

    Good luck.
    Last edited by Lory; 25th-March-2010 at 12:52 PM. Reason: fixing stuff

  12. #152
    Commercial Operator
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Sussex by the Sea
    Posts
    9,276
    Rep Power
    15

    Re: Bridging the gap from Beginner to Intermediate.

    Quote Originally Posted by cederic View Post
    I should have read this thread before tonight

    9th dance night, so tried the intermediate class.

    - snip -

    So feeling frustrated, and a little depressed, and completely unsure whether to go back to the beginners refresh classes or try another intermediate..
    Some intermediate lessons are harder than others. You can always pick and choose which intermediate lesson you join and which ones you don't. My advice is to hold back from joining the lines and watch the demonstration of the routine and see if it's one you think you could do. If it looks really difficult you could go back to your comfort zone and join the refresher class.

    There is no need to learn intermediate moves to have a great dance. The beginners moves done well are much nicer than intermediate moves done awkwardly. Just stick to your beginners moves and add one intermediate moves to your repertoire. Once you've got that move, add another move, etc.

    Also, you'd get a great deal out of a workshop. This stage in your dancing is where you lay down the foundations for your dancing and you need a good grounding - your dance prowess is a bit like tomato plants, you need to nurture and feed and care much more in the early stages.

    The other advice is to try a different teacher. There are many poor Modern Jive teachers and some of us lovely teachers have off nights too Part of it is what suits you (sir). A teacher who is very quick will suit some people and a teacher who spends ages on the lessons will suit others. Speaking personally, I tend towards the latter and get complaints that my lessons last too long - those complaints are from people I didn't teach who are used to quick lessons: when I watch them dance I'm glad they don't do my lessons, their dance technique is so poor and bad habits so ingrained they'd make my lessons last even longer!

  13. #153
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Bristol
    Posts
    3,166
    Rep Power
    11

    Re: Bridging the gap from Beginner to Intermediate.

    Quote Originally Posted by Andy McGregor View Post
    . You can always pick and choose which intermediate lesson you join and which ones you don't. My advice is to hold back from joining the lines and watch the demonstration of the routine and see if it's one you think you could do.
    Sorry Andy, I have to disagree


    I have watched a routine that looked easy, but tuned out to be quite challenging

    and found difficult looking routines, far easier than I thought

    Big advantage of doing the intermediate class, you get to dance with more experience dancers

    A beginner class is often the blind leading the blind

  14. #154
    Forum Bombshell - Our Queen! Lory's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    North London
    Posts
    9,918
    Blog Entries
    2
    Rep Power
    17

    Re: Bridging the gap from Beginner to Intermediate.

    Quote Originally Posted by cederic View Post
    9th dance night, so tried the intermediate class.

    I could just about do two of the four moves they taught,
    That's GREAT!

    Don't be despondent about it

    Someone once said to me, think of 1 intermediate move being equal to 2 beginners moves and I think that's about right.

    So, in a way, you managed to keep up and did almost 6 beginner moves, in half the time it'd usually take you! That's progress!

    Don't worry if you have to drop out, no ones going think anything of it and its better to learn one thing well, that several things badly!

    So, why not sit out and just watch the end, sometimes things start to click when you give yourself a bit of breathing space!
    MODERATOR AT YOUR SERVICE
    "If you're going to do something tonight, that you know you'll be sorry for in the morning, plan a lie in." Lorraine

  15. #155
    Registered User Phil_dB's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Posts
    535
    Rep Power
    8

    Re: Bridging the gap from Beginner to Intermediate.

    I know just how you felt last night Cederic. As you've probably read in this thread, most of us have felt the same at some point. Some dance nights just end up that way for some reason.

    Reading your post though, it does sounds like you're being REALLY hard on yourself....
    Remind yourself that you've only had NINE measley lessons.. - it's really not many!

    Chancers are you're probably doing much better than you're giving yourself credit for.


    Quote Originally Posted by cederic View Post
    But I don't learn any of that in the beginners classes...

    So feeling frustrated, and a little depressed, and completely unsure whether to go back to the beginners refresh classes or try another intermediate..
    From what you've said I reckon you should stay in the intermediate class, - try and barge your way to the front for a better view of what you're supposed to be doing

  16. #156
    Registered User Phil_dB's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Posts
    535
    Rep Power
    8

    Re: Bridging the gap from Beginner to Intermediate.

    Quote Originally Posted by philsmove View Post
    Sorry Andy, I have to disagree


    I have watched a routine that looked easy, but tuned out to be quite challenging

    and found difficult looking routines, far easier than I thought

    Big advantage of doing the intermediate class, you get to dance with more experience dancers

    A beginner class is often the blind leading the blind
    I'd also add that even if you don't completely 'get' the routine, it's all good exposure to commonly led patterns/movements.... - so next time you're faced with the same or similar, - you're more likely to 'get' it.

    There's only so many ways to give your partner momentum/direction/twist-her-up-in-a-knot... - the more classes you do you'll find yourself knowing more and more of the nuts & bolts, and you'll find that 'new' moves are just different parts of individual movements you've seen before put together in a different way.

  17. #157
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Bristol
    Posts
    3,166
    Rep Power
    11

    Re: Bridging the gap from Beginner to Intermediate.

    Quote Originally Posted by cederic View Post
    I could just about do two of the four moves they taught,
    .
    Bear in mind, in Ceroc there are only two classes, beginners and intermediates ( no improver's and no advance class)

    Often the first move, in intermediates is aimed at beginners who have just moved up, the last move is for more experienced dancers, so don't worry if you cant do the last two moves

  18. #158
    Registered User daveb9000's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Edinburgh
    Posts
    160
    Rep Power
    8

    Re: Bridging the gap from Beginner to Intermediate.

    To begin with try to concentrate more on just one of the moves in the intermediate routine. Pick your favourite and try to remember that one. You'll still build up a bank of new moves to draw from but it's less stressful than trying to remember all the new moves. As you get more experienced, the other moves will start to come easier to you.

  19. #159
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Norwich, Norfolk
    Posts
    15
    Rep Power
    8

    Re: Bridging the gap from Beginner to Intermediate.

    I'd like to thank Cederic for saying most of what I've felt from almost day one, and also to thank everyone else for their encouraging replies, which I have clung onto in an effort to remind myself why I want to succeed in this new venture.

    I don't consider myself stupid or unusually slow to learn (mostly), but I am suffering the MOST dreadful confidence crisis - last class I finished up with a truly delightful partner who had had my hand for the last teach, but entering the freestyle I simply froze in headlights (my profound apologies, dear lady)....then was asked to dance by a newly-met experienced lady who encouraged me through the night's lesson, but I really struggled to remember anything at all

    I am determined to fight through this, but reading how many others have suffered the same is encouraging but nonetheless of no help whatever in getting my aging brain to function.

    I so wish I'd been brave/lucky enough to have discovered Ceroc 25 years ago, and I am optimistic that if I can get over this invisible but crippling hump it will be great, but right now I'm feeling slightly sick with worry about making such a pratt of myself again at the next class.

    Looking at some of the great movers enjoying the dance and so obviously enjoying it is simply the best, but it's nerve-wracking in case some soul comes to ask me to lead something I just can't remember, so if anyone spots a slightly shifty-looking bloke trying not to catch your eye, please be kind and ignore me!

    (and this is the same lad who won medals in Highland dancing competitions as a teenager in the 60's and has been having a ball with line dancing for the last couple of years!!!!! )

    Mods: if this is all too dribbly, please just delete it - but it's helped a bit, just getting it off my chest

  20. #160
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Nottingham
    Posts
    346
    Rep Power
    8

    Re: Bridging the gap from Beginner to Intermediate.

    Thanks all, I appreciate the responses. Happier bunny than I was last night, sorry for the depressing grumpiness.

    Still unsure whether to try the next intermediate class, but have a few days to ponder. Certainly I have no issues with the teacher, he's taught me many of the beginner moves that I can do. I think it's whether I'm good enough at the 'non-move' aspects of dancing to cope with the pace and difficulty of hte intermediate classes.

    In the meantime, more freestyle!

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. WCS in Surrey - can you recommend a good beginner class?
    By Phil_dB in forum The Land of a 1000 dances
    Replies: 22
    Last Post: 19th-November-2008, 02:11 PM
  2. Beginner class or intermediate class?
    By LuLu Baby in forum Beginners corner
    Replies: 28
    Last Post: 13th-July-2007, 11:33 AM
  3. When is a beginner not a beginner?
    By StokeBloke in forum Beginners corner
    Replies: 33
    Last Post: 12th-May-2007, 11:54 AM
  4. Crossing the Beginner to Intermediate divide
    By TurboTomato in forum Beginners corner
    Replies: 125
    Last Post: 21st-December-2006, 02:48 AM
  5. Forum Frequently Asked Questions
    By Gadget in forum Forum technical problems / Questions / Suggestions..
    Replies: 54
    Last Post: 28th-November-2006, 10:56 AM

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •