Interesting - I found it less intimidating than a regular milonga - but maybe I've just been to scary milongas!
I was there with a dance partner which helped as I wasn't sitting on my own most of the time, but a friend who came to see what it was like was left sitting on her own when we got up to dance and was asked to dance several times (she had to decline and explain she was just there to watch).
I wouldn't want it as busy as a regular milonga though - that would put the beginners off - they usually need a bit more space anyway.*
*Though the worst floorcraft I observed last time was not from beginners... more like slightly experienced dancers who wanted to show off their 'flash' moves and spending all their time looking at what their partner was doing and not bothering to look where they were going.
Camber is lacking in the class department as it is.
This time around the classes were less attractive than for a while, but that doesn't make a general case for replacing classes with freestyle.
Next time around there could be a less attractive DJ set.
There aren't many people around when you start a freestyle period. The freestyle period before can depress the number of people starting the next class.
People who don't do significant classes are heavily over-represented here.
54 classes is "lacking"? Or is that a cunning play on words?
The case is two-fold:
1. If you have a roomful of people dancing, and you replace it with a half-full class, you're not pleasing the most people.
2. If you develop an "atmosphere" for daytime dancing, it helps add to reputation, in the same way that the pub area does for Southport.
I did 4 classes. I don't think of myself as a newbie.
Glad to hear it - wasn't so good at SP but it was only a few couples that were really bad - and it was more a case of lack of experience IMO than bad ettiquette. It wasn't that they weren't following the line of dance - but you know the sort that don't look to see if any couples are trying to walk past them before they send their partner into a sweeping move. And yes I've probably seen worse at milongas too.
Though worst I saw was a couple doing slotted MJ in the line of dance at one side - people were trying to tango around them but the lead kept sending his partner directly into the path of oncoming pairs - not funny to watch as there were nearly some nasty collisions - eventually there was one.
Surprisingly, over 3+ years of running our little Berko milongas, I've never seen anyone do MJ in the Tango sets. If I did, I'd have a quiet word with them.
Apparently at the recent Tango Feast weekender, there was an actual, honest-to-God, you-want-to-step-outside fight after one collision.
Of course, it'd only be really authentic if it were a knife-fight.
Did they know about "the line of dance"? I didn't before I started, and I remember at Camber in November, a chap who had just done his first tango class came to the milonga and asked me to dance. He didn't know about it, and enthusiastically headed off in the wrong direction till I explained, then, once we were in the line of dance, kept checking behind him (bless him ) until I pointed out that the advantage of the line of dance is that you don't have to keep checking behind you when you're all walking in the same direction. (10/10 for MJ floorcraft though )
Bearing in mind that the Ceroc milonga's are going to attract complete beginners, maybe a little more needs to be done to encourage good floorcraft that is appropriate to the dance. Even if it's mentioned in classes, people are inclined to forget, so maybe some sort of "Welcome" notice on the door or the wall or leaflets with information about the way things are done at a milonga might be helpful? Not too intrusive, and if someone is causing problems, then the notice can just be pointed out to them. And if you've got leaflets, the teachers could advertise on the reverse.
OK, I've finally managed to write up my class notes - enjoy...
The good, um the Milongas, no surprise there,
The bad, the heat upstairs, but dont worry in June it will be 10 x worse
The ugly, I just cant do funky, 1970's disco playing and I want to die, I felt at times the stairs PA system was playing far more stuff i'd like to dance to than any of the DJ's.
Well, with 1,500 people there that w/e it's important that the schedule creates a balance - there are a very vocal bunch on this forum who like to freestyle during the day but that is dwarfed by the other attendees who appear not to (and I'm actually one of those...)
It doesn't matter what the attendance was in the class, the schedule is designed to give variety and choice to everyone.
As regards SF's set - yes, it was great but he would be the first to tell you that around an hour to an hour and a half is an optimum time for that sort of set. You can play all the great tracks you want in that timescale without diluting it one bit and leave with people wanting more... which is exactly what happened and also explains why there is only one S'Funk set over the w/e.
Last edited by Rocky; 16th-March-2011 at 02:00 PM.
Well umm... if there were 300 people dancing and there are 1,500 on the weekend, that means that 1,200 people for whatever reason didn't find it of interest enough to put on their dancing shoes..
Now, you could dig down into the reasons why and it maybe that a large number of those actually couldn't give a monkey's one way or another.
But the point is that the 150 or so people who actually did do the class appreciated the choice - and with more hours of freestyle on the weekend than classes one could argue that the last thing the weekend needs is more afternoon freestyle..
It's all about balance and about trying to offer something for everyone.
True, but how many actually do classes at any one point? Not all of them, or you'd never fit everyone in. There will generally be more people not doing classes at any one point I'd have thought.
I don't think that anyone is suggesting that much in the way of classes be sacrificed for daytime dancing, but the demand has been increasing over the last 2-3 years as the afternoon sessions get busier. Particularly on Sunday when, as someone pointed out above, many people who can't stay in the evening get their last bit of dancing in. And of course if people are leaving, there will be less demand for classes at that point anyway. So maybe a slight rejig of the schedule as I suggested above to allow a little extra dance time might be a good idea.
It depends what you mean by 'decent' room..? It needs to be of certain size and have some atmosphere, and outside of the main rooms used there simply isn't an alternative without comprimising the class schedule.
The other factor to bear in mind is that the class structure is there not only to give choice to the customer but also to showcase and to bring on new dance teachers - so there is much more underlying the effect of cutting classes than is immediately obvious.
Don't worry Mike, I don't think anyone can tell the difference and it is very easy to get bored of your own dancing especially when all you do is WCS.. in fact there's an interesting thread on that here...
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Bookmarks