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Thread: Rock Bottoms 20-22 March 2009, the aftermath.

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    Dickie Davies' love-child Cruella's Avatar
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    Rock Bottoms 20-22 March 2009, the aftermath.

    I'm not sure if there are many forumites that went to the recent Rockbottoms, but thought I'd give the opportunity to those that were there, to give their feedback.
    It was a WCS/Jive weekender with most of the focus being on WCS. Every day there were at least 10 WCS workshops and 3 Smooth Jive workshops to choose from. Simon and Nicole taught the Jive ones and the WCS was taught by Lee and Sydney, Henriette and Olivier (a couple from Belgium) and of course Jordan and Tatiana.
    Jordan and Tatiana are still my favourite teachers of all, and so friendly, I really wish I knew their secret to still having so much energy with little or no sleep!!
    Tat in particular is as nutty as a fruitcake and extremely entertaining at the after parties! I think Rythmn King can testify as to her quick wit and shock value!
    It was great to attend an event where the people that wanted to Jive and the people that wanted to West Coast could mix without any name calling! Shows that it is possible for the two dances to 'cohabit' after all!
    The cabarets on Saturday were fabulous, loved J&T's new routine.
    The 2 on sunday were hilarious, I think Jordan will be mentally scarred for life! and has probably now got a tongue phobia.
    The fact that it was all held in a hotel was fabulous, a couple of swimming pools for those that wanted to use them, a nice terrace to sit out in the sunshine whilst socialising. The meal times were a big social time rather than just a way to go get sustenance. The food was pretty nice too. We had fun firing the balloons, that were supplied on Sunday evening, at each other. The midnight cakes supplied each night were to die for, There must have been 200 cakes put out each night! Not tiddly little fairy cakes, but the biggest muffins and eclairs you've ever seen! During the day on Sunday trays of fruit were placed on the tables in the workshops. Lot's of really nice touches like that made it an intimate and friendly weekend. Will definately be back next year!
    Last edited by DavidY; 24th-March-2009 at 02:00 PM. Reason: Put dates in the title as requested by robd

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    Registered User jive-vee's Avatar
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    Re: Rock Bottoms, the aftermath.

    I loved it. It was a very different to other weekenders I've attended and it was a nice change. I loved the fact it was in a hotel, everyone seemed to settle in really quickly and all the hotel staff and RB team were really friendly.

    The workshops were fab - I only did WCS workshops. Jordan and Tatiana are the best teachers I have ever seen. So professional, so clear and detailed, so entertaining and, as Cruella has already said absolutely bonkers haha I was very impressed with the way they controlled the classes immediately - getting rows and rotation and spare leaders/followers sorted immediately. Encouraging (and being friendly and responsive to) questions, splitting off into leaders and followers where necessary. I loved the classes I did of theirs (both beginners and one intermediate in rotation and then I was asked to fix for the American Boy (loved it) int/adv class) and watching the other classes they taught - absolutely love both of them. I have to say it was very nice to sit in a nice venue, on comfy chairs, watching and chatting about classes.

    I have to say I also love, love, loved Olivier and Henriette and can't wait to attend any future events they teach at. They are both absolutely gorgeous, again bonkers and so much fun. The classes were incredibly professional, yet hilarious - they had a great sense of humour and were fab at making you feel they were laughing with you or at themselves and not at you. Oli is the friendliest WCS pro I have ever come across as well, I had three dances with him () over the course of Sunday evening and loved every one of them. I have never seem a smilier, friendlier WCS dancer ever. I'm only a beginner, and had a severe crisis of confidence which meant I barely danced and mainly watched on the Friday and Saturday evening. However Oli was incredibly approachable and made me feel not only that I was dancing well (even gave me a few compliments whilst dancing), but that he was enjoying it too. Thanks also to those others that helped get me dancing again, two of them are forumites but not sure if the other two are on here

    I thought the food was great and it was nice that the music stopped and everyone was eating and socialising. I loved the little touches like the huge eclairs late at night and the melon slices (again huge trays) brought out during the last few workshops. All of the teacher cabarets were amazing. I loved the punters cabaret (did the class in the morning - great fun but felt too poorly to knacker myself out performing it in the evening) and Jordan's special dance. It was sooooooo wrong but sooooooooo funny and he took it in the right way.

    It was fab to see the teachers dancing socially with each other and the punters - I watched so many amazing dances. I thought Jordan and Tatiana's impromtu performance in the Secret Disco was breath-taking - especially Tat's recovery - even though it cleared the floor for a couple of tracks as no one wanted to follow that haha.

    Jordan's impromptu Jack n Jill on the Sunday was fab to watch and it was great to see everyone getting into the party spirit. As Cruella said I didn't feel any Jive/WCS divide, everyone seemed to happily get along.

    Oh and whilst I enjoyed dressing up and getting into the spirit of the fancy dress theme I didn't imagine I'd then be prancing around to one potato, two potato in front of everyone. I think if that's on the dvd you might see me mouthing "kill me now"

    I love the weekenders where I can dance almost 24hrs non-stop but the RB weekender made a very nice change for me. I am definitely booking up for the next WCS RB weekender and really hope that Olivier and Henriette will be back. I assume it's too much to hope for that Jordan and Tatiana will be back too??
    Last edited by jive-vee; 23rd-March-2009 at 10:05 PM.

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    Re: Rock Bottoms, the aftermath.

    Quote Originally Posted by Cruella View Post
    I'm not sure if there are many forumites that went to the recent Rockbottoms, but thought I'd give the opportunity to those that were there, to give their feedback.
    It was a WCS/Jive weekender with most of the focus being on WCS. Every day there were at least 10 WCS workshops and 3 Smooth Jive workshops to choose from. Simon and Nicole taught the Jive ones and the WCS was taught by Lee and Sydney, Henriette and Olivier (a couple from Belgium) and of course Jordan and Tatiana.
    Jordan and Tatiana are still my favourite teachers of all, and so friendly, I really wish I knew their secret to still having so much energy with little or no sleep!!
    Tat in particular is as nutty as a fruitcake and extremely entertaining at the after parties! I think Rythmn King can testify as to her quick wit and shock value!
    It was great to attend an event where the people that wanted to Jive and the people that wanted to West Coast could mix without any name calling! Shows that it is possible for the two dances to 'cohabit' after all!
    The cabarets on Saturday were fabulous, loved J&T's new routine.
    The 2 on sunday were hilarious, I think Jordan will be mentally scarred for life! and has probably now got a tongue phobia.
    The fact that it was all held in a hotel was fabulous, a couple of swimming pools for those that wanted to use them, a nice terrace to sit out in the sunshine whilst socialising. The meal times were a big social time rather than just a way to go get sustenance. The food was pretty nice too. We had fun firing the balloons, that were supplied on Sunday evening, at each other. The midnight cakes supplied each night were to die for, There must have been 200 cakes put out each night! Not tiddly little fairy cakes, but the biggest muffins and eclairs you've ever seen! During the day on Sunday trays of fruit were placed on the tables in the workshops. Lot's of really nice touches like that made it an intimate and friendly weekend. Will definately be back next year!
    Another AMAZING event organised by the Masters....ROCKBOTTOMS

    Well Done Tor. Hev. Andy & John you guys are stars...see you later in the year..

    There is not a lot I can add to what Cruella has already except she forgot to mention her dance with Jordan...pictures displayed on the OHP screens.... Which will now doubt on the DVD... and now doubt in her photo album..

    For me the Jordan and Tatiana Classes were true "Master Classes" in WCS.

    The Saturday caberet was Spellbinding it just got better & better ending with Jordan and Tatiana .....

    Jordan's Sunday Night lap dance had Titiana Covering her eyes then rolling on the floor as Jordan was subjected to a Lap dance from Hell... I had tears rolling down my face....while cringing.... John Brett in a Red dress is enough to give anyone a nightmare... But he made up for it with the Music and selection of DJs... GREAT CHOICE!


    A fantastic weekend even the weather was brilliant, and we had the chance to see our latest Grandson Again...

    What a GREAT weekend..

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    Re: Rock Bottoms, the aftermath.

    I had a great time at RB. J&T as fantastic as usual, great atmosphere, great to have also Lee & Syd and Oliver & Henriette, and even Paul & Cat on saturday and sunday night !
    The hotel was fab as Cru described...

    It was good to see as well that the RB crew made every effort to accommodate the westies and giving us the main room for most of the time was great... while allowing the after parties downstairs... awesome !

    Only very minor down point, I wish we had heard more of DJs Francois Gastine, Steve Hunt and of course DJ Frisbee !!

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    Dickie Davies' love-child Cruella's Avatar
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    Re: Rock Bottoms, the aftermath.

    Quote Originally Posted by SPROGGS View Post
    There is not a lot I can add to what Cruella has already except she forgot to mention her dance with Jordan...pictures displayed on the OHP screens.
    I was trying to forget the humiliation! I asked him if we could dance away from his 'audience' as I hate being watched, which he kindly did. Then I realised that there was only one other couple on the dancefloor!! So those pics were of me looking like a rabbit caught in the headlights!!

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    Re: Rock Bottoms, the aftermath.

    Quote Originally Posted by Cruella View Post
    I was trying to forget the humiliation! I asked him if we could dance away from his 'audience' as I hate being watched, which he kindly did. Then I realised that there was only one other couple on the dancefloor!! So those pics were of me looking like a rabbit caught in the headlights!!
    You had nothing to be humilated about....Enjoy the day

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    Ceroc Teacher Dan Hudson's Avatar
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    Re: Rock Bottoms, the aftermath.

    It truly was an amazing weekend

    I am now officially hooked on WCS... felt like such a beginner and enjoyed every second of that feeling!
    Everyone was really friendly, I hardly social danced at all, I wanted to stay in the WCS zone and not slip back to my bad MJ habits until I could at least dance basic WCS

    J+T were beyond awesome! And wonderful teachers, J's instruction was so clear and precise during his intermediate routine I tried with kel at the back and got the move!

    We had a private lesson with Olivier- the man is awesome, friendly, funny and clear with his teaching- it finally started to sink in..

    lovely to meet Caro, see Rob D smile and obviously seeing Cruella! :

    with regards to the music, I thought Francoise was fabulous.

    Man - that was quite gushy - sorry, but am truly inspired by what I have seen and done this weekend

    The RB team are truly superb and I am booking for next year.

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    Basically lazy robd's Avatar
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    Re: Rock Bottoms, the aftermath.

    EDIT: Could a mod change the thread title to include the dates of the event please?

    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Hudson View Post
    see Rob D smile
    Back at you DJ Miseryguts

    I had a really good time at RB. Letting the train take the strain was a good move as the trains ran to time and were clean and spacious meaning I arrived there and home much more relaxed than such a long drive would have permitted (though spare a thought for the couple who drove there all the way from their home in Sweden!)

    I did some of J&T's classes and would echo everyone's comments on the quality of their teaching. It is first rate - entertaining and informative. I didn't make any of the other classes but this was not because I didn't feel there would be a benefit, I just know that if I am on my feet all day in dance shoes my legs will be gone by midnight and I wanted to keep dancing right through. I also did the Fri afternoon workshop with J&T and as soon as my train arrived back at Cambridge I drove to meet friends and we travelled down to Trent Park for yet more of their tuition. Hey, I don't care how tired you are - if the best in the world in your preferred dance style are over then you make the most of it. My dancing was a bit up and down over the weekend but I feel as though I have come off the back of it with some improvement in control and that lovely stretchy feeling that lies at the heart of good WCS. Additionally the smaller overall numbers compared to the larger weekenders make the classes that much more effective IMO

    Music was a mixed bag but I have thought the same at every weekender I have been to.

    Fancy dress was fun though a generic Irish them didn't really give people a huge amount of room to manouevre and I think the communal meals worked well - the food was good on the whole though I chose to forgo Sunday's pyjama breakfast in order to get a little sleep.

    All the cabarets were entertaining and well received though I didn't envy any of the first 3 couples having to perform knowing that J&T's new routine would be following them. Jordan's lapdance was hysterical - the sight of Mick Wenger (for those who don't know, he looks like an extra from the shooting of Ross Kemp on Gangs) in a mini-dress was simultaneously disturbing and amusing

    Congrats to Gerry (and Naomi) for winning the (impromptu) inaugral Rockbottoms Jack and Jill

    The swimming pool received a couple of visits from me - yes, I know, when I got in, the water got out, etc, etc - but really it was lovely to just sit back in there for an hour and unwind. Having never been to a hotel based weekender before I can see the attraction of having all facilities on a single site (even down to not needing to change dance shoes when heading back to your room to change a t shirt)

    Hev and team clearly work really hard on the event and it shows in the overall running as well as the little touches that people have already commented on.

    As a mixed WCS/MJ weekender it seemed to work well, I don't recall too many floorcraft issues. Perhaps the people who didn't dance WCS were too busy having a good time rather than worrying about what other people were doing?

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    Commercial Operator Sugarfoot's Avatar
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    Re: Rock Bottoms, the aftermath.

    I new the Rockbottoms team would succeed at making WCS user friendly. They are all nutty and great fun, but behind this they are professional and great organisers. This was a brave new direction for RB that has won them fresh new blood for future events. Many that I spoke had not been to a RB event before, but said they would defiantly be coming back.

    Jordan & Tatiana
    Despite being at several events where Jordan & Tatiana have been teaching, I have always been teaching/DJing myself and never made one of their classes. They are very good. I think Tatiana was especially good at giving the followers a toolkit of possibilities to make their dance individual.

    I helped Mandy with her private with Tatiana and found myself as Tatiana’s partner. All I can say is WOW! For me…dancing is all about feel…and I could certainly feel Tatiana!!! Thank you Tatiana, for giving me a confidence boost that removed some of my self imposed barriers


    To be fair J&T reputation proceeds them, so expectations are always going to be high and they certainly don’t disappoint.

    Olivier and Henriette
    I had never heard of Olivier and Henriette. For me they were the surprise packet that exceeded all expectations. They were masters at relaxing their class with humour and warmth. Apparently they are great Swing dancers that the RB team have used before, but were unaware that WCS is their first love. Their teaching was so clear that I picked up their advanced class whilst standing on the side watching (too mentally tired to do any more, or so I thought). I heard so much good feedback on their classes, especially from those new to WCS who where immediately put at ease by their warmth.

    Lee & Sidney
    I had never done any of Lee’s classes before so I wanted to try those too. I really like Lee, he is very creative and one of the great ambassadors for WCS in the UK. Sidney is an amazing dancer and another pleasant surprise for me. Sadly, Lee classes lacked enough physical repetition for me and music only played at the very end. I think that it is sometimes forgotten that dancing is a physical kinaesthetic activity. I know that Lee was given some feedback on this, even during the classes. I hope he takes this on board to balance out his teaching style, because he does have a lot to offer.

    Cabarets
    I loved them all. It would bee east to say that J&T stole the show, but I really enjoyed the contrast of each couple as their personalities shone through into their dancing.

    Sunday extra Cabarets
    Hilarious as always… The RB crew would go down a storm as a TV comedy act. I walked in to the rehearsal on Sun morning whilst waiting for Mandy. My stomach was killing me for laughing at Andy’s tuition


    Sunshine
    Wow…the weather…
    I went for a walk on the beach each morning and got a fab tan. Everyone thinks I have been abroad.

    Jack & Jill Completion
    Although anti competition, I did take part in this one as there was now warning for time to think about it and was dragged onto the floor. I must admit that I did enjoy it as a bit of fun. I am still not sure this is a good idea in case it grows into something more serious and puts people off.

    Other points
    I don’t know why, but there has been a bit of a tradition on Swing vs. WCS and never the twain shall meet in the UK. It was great to see so many Swing dancers giving WCS a go and actually enjoying it.

    This was the friendliest WCS event I have been to so far. Organisers, dancers, teachers take note. This is the way to grow WCS to a much wider audience.

    All in all a fantastic event.

    Well done Andy, Tor, Hev & Jon



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    Re: Rock Bottoms 20-22 March 2009, the aftermath.

    WCS Torquay 2009 - Sorry - It's a long one.

    I had a great time last weekend at The Rockbottoms WCS weekend in Torquay. I would be hard pushed to think of a better weekender when I look back on all the ones that I have been on since 1999. I had already formed the view that I wanted to get to grips with WCS and that nibbling at it on general MJ weekenders no longer satisfied me. Well this last weekend was almost a total wcs immersion experience and I loved it.

    OK. Time for less gushing and a more structured review.

    Getting there. We went by train. Total of 5 hours journey time. Cost was £132 return for the pair of us and the chance for a couple of hours sleep on the train. The hotel was a 10 minute walk from the station. On our way home we found that for a fee (I don’t know how much) you could negotiate with the hotel for a late check out so you could party on, wake up at 11, be out of the hotel by 1pm and on your train at 13:18hrs, at home and relaxing by 18:30hrs. We will do this next time.

    The hotel. We have been there before and the rooms are a good size and very clean with a good en-suite bathroom. The breakfasts and evening meals (3 course) are really nice and the waiter service is very good. The dance floors are a good size and there is no overcrowding. The lunchtime bistro is reasonably priced good food, the waiter service is good and it is nice to be able to eat on the patio in the sunshine.

    Another advantage of the hotel is that you never have to change out of your dance shoes to go anywhere.

    Lessons. I found these to be really top notch. There were three levels for beginner, intermediate and intermediate/advanced. Each of the levels hit their target perfectly and I absolutely loved all of the ones that I went to (12 hours in total). Jordan and Tatiana are not only great dancers and performers they are very clear and precise teachers. (being great dancers and being great teachers doesn’t always go together). Olivier and Henriette (www.swingerz.be) were the unknowns of the weekend and a real revelation for me. Very clear, very well paced, and very entertaining. I will be looking out for these two and have already noticed that they will be teaching during a wcs week in august in Cherbourg. I am really tempted to push the boat out in both time and money to get to that purely on the strength of them being teachers there. I only got to one of Lee Easton and Sydneys lessons and though I often find his lessons technique rich but painfully inactive it was clear and informative but had people getting itchy to actually put into practice his instruction and get things put into muscle memory. Comments from beginners were very positive though – they said the depth of his technique teaching proved most useful to them.

    I didn’t get to any of Simon and Nicoles lessons. If you were a beginner wcs dancer but an experienced MJ dancer you were well catered for with the WCS beginners program and Simon and Nicoles Advanced MJ (With a heavy WCS influence) lessons.

    A better balanced, timetabled and delivered teaching program I could not imagine.

    Freestyles.

    There were two rooms available for freestyle. The main room always seemed to have a generous amount of space for the dancers on the floor while the very much smaller basement dance floor never seemed to get overcrowded. There were different DJ slots playing different styles in each of the rooms and these were all available on posters near the dance floors. It was a predominantly wcs weekend but if you wanted your Mj fix then your didn’t have a problem. The music for wcs seems to be near 90% contempary and that did feel quite samey for me. I like dancing wcs to blues and country music as well as r&b and contempary styles. I would like the contempary/blues balanced shifted a bit more to the blues/country music. There are some great r&b and contempary songs to dance to but it is like eating fillet steak with pepper sauce, onion rings and chips – great, but I wouldn’t want it for every meal.

    It was hard to realise that this was all for the same price as our recent self catering Skegness trip. If this event happened once a month I would find the money to be able to go.

    THE BAD.

    I nearly started the weekend badly when I realised after a 2 hour sleep that I had left my rucksack on the train at Torquay. The hotel staff were very helpful and phoned everywhere they could get in contact with. I ran to Torquay station to find the staff had left. Back in the hotel with things looking grim a very kind westie offered to drive me to the end of the line (3 miles away) which has a lost property office and was staffed until 7pm. Once there the station mistress phoned everywhere along the line with a lost property office without luck and then said that the train I had arrived on had done a couple of round trips but would be arriving back in 25 minutes. She would help us search it if we could wait. The kind westie with the car agreed to wait. When the train arrived my rucksack was still in the luggage rack complete with , both sets of car keys, mobile phone, wallet with £100 cash, digital camera, and camcorder. My rucksack had spent 4 hours on a train and no one had even touched it. I told this to Nelson Rose and he said "welcome to the west country". So BAD turned to phew!

    A lady that I had talked to over dinner on Friday was telling us how much she was looking forward to the beginners’ course. She had already done 5 hours of beginners lessons but was looking forward to getting more. We saw her again at 1am on the Saturday evening and asked how she was enjoying it. She said she wasn’t enjoying it very much as she had only had 2 dances that evening. It turned out that she had asked a couple of men for dances on the Friday evening telling them that she was a beginner and the men had made absolutely no allowances for that. They had yanked and whirled her through all sorts of complicated moves. As a result she gave up at 11am on Friday and cried herself to sleep in her room. I told her I would dance with her as much as she liked, would stick to plain vanilla basic moves and would stop and keep rhythm if she got into a bit of a muddle. After only three tracks she was smiling again and after 5 she was enthusiastic about wcs again. Dawn then spent some time pointing out capable dancers with a good attitude to beginners.

    To leaders and followers. We just can’t go around scaring newbies like this if we want the scene to grow. If you significantly over dance the abilities of your newbie partner you will scare the living fire out of them and make yourself look a complete hotshot numb nuts in the process. West coast doesn’t have taxi dancers (yet). We all hear on this forum how important the role of taxi dancers to the early progression of MJ dancers. We all have to be taxi dancers for the sake of our chosen dance until there are official wcs taxi dancers. Play nice with newbies please.

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    Re: Rock Bottoms 20-22 March 2009, the aftermath.

    Quote Originally Posted by Chef View Post
    It turned out that she had asked a couple of men for dances on the Friday evening telling them that she was a beginner and the men had made absolutely no allowances for that. They had yanked and whirled her through all sorts of complicated moves.
    Just out of curiosity - were those men experienced / advanced westies or more like improvers / intermediate ?
    Sounds to me like they were suffering from the 'intermediate' syndrome which is well known in MJ too. I am sorry she got such bad luck... to me it's not people trying to scare the newbies / show off, just dancers very inconsiderate to their partner

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    Re: Rock Bottoms 20-22 March 2009, the aftermath.

    Quote Originally Posted by Chef View Post
    A lady that I had talked to over dinner on Friday was telling us how much she was looking forward to the beginners’ course. She had already done 5 hours of beginners lessons but was looking forward to getting more. We saw her again at 1am on the Saturday evening and asked how she was enjoying it. She said she wasn’t enjoying it very much as she had only had 2 dances that evening. It turned out that she had asked a couple of men for dances on the Friday evening telling them that she was a beginner and the men had made absolutely no allowances for that. They had yanked and whirled her through all sorts of complicated moves. As a result she gave up at 11am on Friday and cried herself to sleep in her room. I told her I would dance with her as much as she liked, would stick to plain vanilla basic moves and would stop and keep rhythm if she got into a bit of a muddle. After only three tracks she was smiling again and after 5 she was enthusiastic about wcs again. Dawn then spent some time pointing out capable dancers with a good attitude to beginners.

    Play nice with newbies please.
    Commendable attitude Chef


    I found myself doing the same thing on the Saturday night. Not that they had such bad experiences, but several ladies that I know are good Jivers were nervous about asking men the WCS. After 3 or 4 dances I pointed them to those I knew would dance to their level and make them feel comfortable…and yes you were one of them Chef.

    I was gratified to see them on the floor for most of the time after that. I followed up by speaking to most of them on Sunday to find that they had had a great time and now hooked on WCS.

    To be honest this helps me too. It is all relative really. I get a buzz out of helping others and it helps build my confidence to stretch my own ability when the opportunity arises.

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    B.O.G.O.F. fletch's Avatar
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    Re: Rock Bottoms 20-22 March 2009, the aftermath.

    Quote Originally Posted by Chef View Post

    She said she wasn’t enjoying it very much as she had only had 2 dances that evening. It turned out that she had asked a couple of men for dances on the Friday evening telling them that she was a beginner and the men had made absolutely no allowances for that. They had yanked and whirled her through all sorts of complicated moves. As a result she gave up at 11am on Friday and cried herself to sleep in her room. I told her I would dance with her as much as she liked, would stick to plain vanilla basic moves and would stop and keep rhythm if she got into a bit of a muddle. After only three tracks she was smiling again and after 5 she was enthusiastic about wcs again. Dawn then spent some time pointing out capable dancers with a good attitude to beginners.
    This is what I have allways done when people want to come out of the main room into the blues room, I was lucky a wonderfull man took me from the main room into the 'blues room' many moons ago at southport, and both him and his good lady spent time talking to me and helping me, just like a gardian angle he had black and white checked trousers on the rest is history.

    Quote Originally Posted by Sugarfoot View Post
    Commendable attitude Chef


    I found myself doing the same thing on the Saturday night. Not that they had such bad experiences, but several ladies that I know are good Jivers were nervous about asking men the WCS. After 3 or 4 dances I pointed them to those I knew would dance to their level and make them feel comfortable…and yes you were one of them Chef.


    .
    You have work to do to relive there nervous, bad news travels fast and there have been some 'not so good' inserdnets to flame there nervous.

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    Basically lazy robd's Avatar
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    Re: Rock Bottoms 20-22 March 2009, the aftermath.

    Quote Originally Posted by Chef View Post
    To leaders and followers. We just can’t go around scaring newbies like this if we want the scene to grow. If you significantly over dance the abilities of your newbie partner you will scare the living fire out of them and make yourself look a complete hotshot numb nuts in the process. West coast doesn’t have taxi dancers (yet). We all hear on this forum how important the role of taxi dancers to the early progression of MJ dancers. We all have to be taxi dancers for the sake of our chosen dance until there are official wcs taxi dancers. Play nice with newbies please.
    I know Cat used to ask some of her more experienced people to be taxi dancers at the Fundamentals workshops that she used to run but you are right, it doesn't seem to be as visible a part of the scene as it is in MJ.

    I will hold my hand up and acknowledge that at times I push my follower beyond their comfort level. Sometimes it's simply muscle memory and a certain position leads automatically to another pattern. I hope I don't do this very often but I am not going to deny it ever happens.

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    Re: Rock Bottoms 20-22 March 2009, the aftermath.

    Quote Originally Posted by Caro View Post
    Just out of curiosity - were those men experienced / advanced westies or more like improvers / intermediate ?
    Sounds to me like they were suffering from the 'intermediate' syndrome which is well known in MJ too.
    I honestly don't know who they were and I didn't ask her to point them out. I would not have been able to use the information anyway - the damage had been done by then. I suspect you are right though. Sometimes improvers/intermediates do fall into the belief that that lots of complicated and clever moves executed quickly is impressive but fail to understand that if you do so at the expense of your partner then you are really impressing no one. It is that understanding and a willingness to tone things down for your partner that is, for me at least, a mark of an advanced dancer, and a gentleman.

    Quote Originally Posted by Sugarfoot View Post
    I was gratified to see them on the floor for most of the time after that. I followed up by speaking to most of them on Sunday to find that they had had a great time and now hooked on WCS.

    To be honest this helps me too. It is all relative really. I get a buzz out of helping others and it helps build my confidence to stretch my own ability when the opportunity arises.
    Yes I found that too. Once their confidence was restored (this happened to three people, only one of whom had cried herself to sleep) they were back on the dance floor, dancing their best and their best was getting better. It was a buzz to see them out on the floor for the rest of the weekend.

    Quote Originally Posted by fletch View Post
    This is what I have allways done when people want to come out of the main room into the blues room, I was lucky a wonderfull man took me from the main room into the 'blues room' many moons ago at southport, and both him and his good lady spent time talking to me and helping me, just like a gardian angle he had black and white checked trousers on the rest is history. :
    You have given back to other dancers a hundrefold what I ever gave to you. I was more than happy to give encouragement just as you are.

    Quote Originally Posted by fletch View Post
    You have work to do to relive there nervous, bad news travels fast and there have been some 'not so good' inserdnets to flame there nervous.
    You only really need one really bad dance in an evening of good dances to really colour a persons view of things. It is like trust and respect. They take a long time to build but a short time to lose. You can be a loving father and husband and provider for many years but you only have to sleep with your wifes sister once for all that trust and respect to be gone. (You can get used to my sense of humour - honest - given time)

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    Re: Rock Bottoms 20-22 March 2009, the aftermath.

    Quote Originally Posted by Chef View Post
    You can be a loving father and husband and provider for many years but you only have to sleep with your wifes sister once for all that trust and respect to be gone.

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    Re: Rock Bottoms 20-22 March 2009, the aftermath.

    Quote Originally Posted by robd View Post
    I will hold my hand up and acknowledge that at times I push my follower beyond their comfort level. Sometimes it's simply muscle memory and a certain position leads automatically to another pattern. I hope I don't do this very often but I am not going to deny it ever happens.
    I can understand that this will happen but you recognise it straight away and back off. I was talking about significantly overdancing your partner. Imagine a newbie being lead through Jordan and Tats "American boy" class and you will get an idea.

    These poor women were having dances like they had been flung around in a tumble dryer for the whole three minutes. It happens in the MJ and WCS world (and I suspect in other dances) and it is just as damaging to newbies everywhere.

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    Re: Rock Bottoms 20-22 March 2009, the aftermath.

    Quote Originally Posted by robd View Post
    I will hold my hand up and acknowledge that at times I push my follower beyond their comfort level. Sometimes it's simply muscle memory and a certain position leads automatically to another pattern. I hope I don't do this very often but I am not going to deny it ever happens.
    You are one of the few leaders that I will always try to seek out for a dance as you have always been very kind in helping me with the dance (plus I enjoy jiving with you). I also think (well hope at least) that I've danced with you enough now that even if I was shockingly bad it would never be so bad that you would never dance with me again. That is one thing that does put me off asking some leaders - I know that in theory I need to ask better leaders if I hope to improve but I don't want to ask them and then dance really badly and have them add me to their list of people to refuse in future haha. I accept that this is probably my issue though and am trying to get over it.

    I also like the fact that you don't seem to mind when I ask if we could dance away from the audience of the good westies - again this is my issue that I am trying to get over but for now I feel more comfortable trying and having a laugh when it goes wrong when I am out of sight of the fab westies.


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    Re: Rock Bottoms 20-22 March 2009, the aftermath.

    Quote Originally Posted by jive-vee View Post
    (plus I enjoy jiving with you)
    My cover blown! *Eek* - excommunion from the Church of WCS is heading for me

    I also like the fact that you don't seem to mind when I ask if we could dance away from the audience of the good westies
    Thanks for the backhanded compliment

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    Re: Rock Bottoms 20-22 March 2009, the aftermath.

    Quote Originally Posted by robd View Post
    Thanks for the backhanded compliment
    now you know I didn't mean it like that!

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