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Thread: Is the MJ scene struggling?

  1. #61
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    Re: Is the MJ scene struggling?

    Quote Originally Posted by FirstMove View Post
    Me? I go where there is cake.
    You know where you are with cake.

    We think cake is very important and have a Sunday freestyle where we give free entry to anyone who brings a home-made cake. This saves £5, but it must be home-made. Over the years we've had a few people buy a cake at a corner shop on the way to the night - these cakes cost about £1. We let them do it once but always repeat that a cake MUST be home-made as the personal touch contains at least £4 worth of love

    Last night we had 2 cakes and one lady made a bowl of cream meringues. Sometimes we can have as many as 8 cakes and assorted other baking. All varying in quality from fantastic to slightly burnt around the edges - you don't get those crispy, caramelised edges in the shops. One guy has taken up baking just for us and spends Sunday afternoons "experimenting" - sometimes he tastes his cake after he arrives and then pays his £5 because he doesn't think his cake is worth it!

    To get back on-topic, we're still not seeing many new dancers compared to 6 months ago. Existing dancers seem to be keen and keeping the nights lively. However, some nights it's difficult to justify running a beginners lesson as everyone has been dancing more than 6 weeks!
    Last edited by Andy McGregor; 20th-June-2011 at 09:32 AM.

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    Re: Is the MJ scene struggling?

    some nights it's difficult to justify running a beginners lesson as everyone has been dancing more than 6 weeks!
    Just because they have been dancing for over 6 weeks doesn't mean they can't benefit from doing a beginners' class.

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    Formerly known as DavidJames David Bailey's Avatar
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    Re: Is the MJ scene struggling?

    Quote Originally Posted by daveb9000 View Post
    Just because they have been dancing for over 6 weeks doesn't mean they can't benefit from doing a beginners' class.
    I assume Andy was talking from a business perspective rather than anything else.

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    Re: Is the MJ scene struggling?

    Quote Originally Posted by David Bailey View Post
    I assume Andy was talking from a business perspective rather than anything else.
    Absolutely right. From an educational and social point of view it's still worth doing the beginners lesson. However, I can see this changing if the trend continues.

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    Re: Is the MJ scene struggling?

    Quote Originally Posted by FirstMove View Post
    I live in the same area, but see it a bit differently. Within an hour's drive of my house there are 3 Ceroc franchises. Between them, there's at least one freestyle every Friday and Saturday each week. There are also 2 large independents that manage to have a couple of freestyles each weekend too. Then there are about 5 small companies with one or two freestyles a month. (Observation: often these companies only run freestyles). Just for good measure, there are also a fair few charity events too.

    Overall, I think the number of migrant dancers is fairly fixed, so we're getting rather thinly spread over all of the freestyles. Interestingly, the local market is breaking-up into separate niches. One of the large independents seems to be pitched at the 50+ group with little music played dated after 1980. One of the smaller ones is trying to specialise in Blues, even though I don't think it has enough competent Blues dancers yet.

    Me? I go where there is cake.
    Your absolutely right, but the good freestyles that were busy five years ago, are still busy today. New ones that have come in and reached the standard of those top freestyles have also sold out. Interestingly, the always sold out freestyles include Blusey type freestyles, Utopia twisted style freestyles, standard freestyles and the older/more R&Roll type freestyles you mention. There are enough dancers with different tastes to support all those different types of freestyles. Truthfully, there has been enough dancers for probably over a decade, but until Ceroc entered the marketplace, it was a virtual monopoly with no pressure to change. Now there is large amount of competition, standards have risen all over, and choice has widened. (None of those 8-12pm rip-off £10 freestyles down here yet either ).

    I can't speak for lesson nights, and there might have been a marginal drop off at the crappier freestyles, but the top freestyles are all as sold out as they have always been. Demand still outstrips supply for the good freestyles, that why there are so many new organisations looking to get a slice of the pie down here.

    A lot of it is due to Ceroc entering the marketplace, but MJ/Blues-wise things have improved a lot recently here (and they have always been pretty good ). This weekend, eight freestyles within 45 minutes of me, at least 3 will be sold out at 200+ dancers. 1 Blues freestyle, 2 Twisted style freestyles, 2 older style MJ music, 1 themed, 2 bog-standard Ceroc/MJ. Can't complain to much .
    Last edited by TA Guy; 20th-June-2011 at 12:59 PM.

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    Re: Is the MJ scene struggling?

    Quote Originally Posted by Andy McGregor View Post
    However, some nights it's difficult to justify running a beginners lesson as everyone has been dancing more than 6 weeks!
    In this situation I've known the beginners class to be modified to be slightly more complex (e.g. variations) or to teach beginner moves but focus on other aspects of dancing. That's not with Ceroc, though, and the rules may be different there.

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    Re: Is the MJ scene struggling?

    One of these days I'll have to see what a review class (or "practice session") is like...

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    Re: Is the MJ scene struggling?

    Quote Originally Posted by David Bailey View Post
    One of these days I'll have to see what a review class (or "practice session") is like...
    I sometimes join in the review class if there is a large excess of beginner ladies, and sometimes if an intermediate class seems unsafe to me.

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    Re: Is the MJ scene struggling?

    Quote Originally Posted by bigdjiver View Post
    and sometimes if an intermediate class seems unsafe to me.
    Oh my goodness, why did this never occur to me before??

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    Re: Is the MJ scene struggling?

    We always get kicked out of Berko tango by the review class. I may sit it out and watch for a while next time...

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    Re: Is the MJ scene struggling?

    Quote Originally Posted by David Bailey View Post
    We always get kicked out of Berko tango by the review class. I may sit it out and watch for a while next time...
    You get kicked out? What do you do to deserve that?

  12. #72
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    Re: Is the MJ scene struggling?

    Play tango music

    No, it's simply that they need the hall, so the AT session at Berko has to finish for that practice class.

    Admittedly, it can be occasionally irritating - when there are 2 dozen AT dancers and half-a-dozen beginners for example - but that's the way it goes. It's like the complaint about large-attendance Camber freestyles finishing early to make way for small-attendance classes.

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