Teachers Reputations

[Gus]

Just a thought, but how do you decide whether or not to do a workshop? Logicaly a fair amount of the decision rests with whether the courses content is what you want but there must also be a fair consideration as to whether you feel the instructor is good enough.

There are many independant instructors on the circuit, some good, some not so good ...so how to you make a call, especially as its likely that you've never seen 90% of them.

I originaly thought that claims to having won a major dance tournament may be a key thing but following the conversations on thjs forum, I'm not so sure. Ironically, the major champions over the last 2 years, Clayon and Janine don't actualy teach workshops in the UK.

The true A list instructors, with established reputations, is remarkebly small and has seen few additons over the last few years. Outside Viktor & Lydia, Jump'n'Jive, Roger C and Jive Bug there are few instructors who's expertise is beyond question.

I remeber when I first broughty V&L up to the North West in 1999, few people in the area had heard of them and I had a hell of a job getting the workshop off the ground. These days of course, its alwys oversubscribed. I'm now facing the same situation with Paul Tanuvasa. He's NZ's version of Viktor, awesome dancer and has been extremely succesfull on the Australasian dance circuit. I'm a big fan of his but if I brought hin to the UK would anyone do his workshops?

So ... back to the original questions ... does an Intructor's reputation, or lack of it, matter? And how does he/she get a reputation?

[Will]

I can only speak for myself Gus....

But only way that I'd go on someone's workshop is if I'd seen them dance myself. Reputations are important, but they only go so far.

The only workshop that I can ever remember attending as a paying customer was that of James & Hayley. And that was specifically because I'd seen them dance in the Advanced section of the UK Ceroc Champs in May. I thought they were awesome!

[Gus]

Originally posted by Will

The only workshop that I can ever remember attending as a paying customer was that of James & Hayley. And that was specifically because I'd seen them dance in the Advanced section of the UK Ceroc Champs in May. I thought they were awesome!

Didn't realise they were teaching. Having met Paul T, Hayley's mentor/partner, have got a deeper appreciation of her dance style. what do they teach ... and when?

[under par]

Okay so I may have found the shortest thread Gus ever started but the Slurp Spiders have provided us with another gem.

Gus's question remains mainly unanswered since 2002 "except for the invaluable contribution of Will ", so come on Forumites of Class 2006 lets have some answers?

PS who is Paul Tanuvasa and where is he now?

[Yliander]

PS who is Paul Tanuvasa and where is he now?

Paul is a Kiwi and a lovely dancer & teacher - I done workshops taught by him twice in Sydney - both were DWAS type workshops - he partnered up wit Caterina Panay of Ceroc Melbourne and they taught a mixture of moves - with a large percentage of the class rotating - very nice freestylable moves taught.

[LMC]

Good resurrection UP!

Course content is the thing of most interest for me. Sometimes I feel that that workshop descriptions are a bit vague and that has put me off booking a few.

I don't care how famous the instructor is or how many competitions they have won - as long as they are a good teacher.

[CeeCee]

Well done UP for resurrecting this thread

Often a teacher's reputation will preceed them as we hear about them before we have a chance to see them in action.

It takes time, effort and money to advance our dancing so we'll naturally stick to teachers who inspire us. If their style suits us we'll happily follow them, attending their classes and workshops.

I'm a big fan of Val and Dave. I had the pleasure of being part of their Smooth Style workshop yesterday. It was awesome, they are fantastic teachers with admirable qualities, their teaching style, sense of humour, dancing and timing. There was so much inspiration to be gained from the day and the atmosphere was great.

Thanks guys, looking forward to the next one.

[Minnie M]

I don't care how famous the instructor is or how many competitions they have won - as long as they are a good teacher.

How do you know how good they are who decides 'how good' a teacher is

Winning competitions doesn't make you a good teacher - the standard of dancers in their own classes IMO does gives a good idea that means you need to research beforehand - how many honestly do that so how do you determine when good is really good

[Baruch]

Winning competitions doesn't make you a good teacher - the standard of dancers in their own classes IMO does gives a good idea

Even this isn't necessarily helpful. Given the oft-discussed point that the majority of MJ dancers are happy at their level and don't want to improve, the standard of dancers in a given class may have no relevance to the ability of the teacher. Maybe the standard of the best dancers in their class might be an indicator, but that's still a bit hit-and-miss. Personally, I'd be more likely to go by reputation or recommendation.

[Shaz]

........Personally, I'd be more likely to go by reputation or recommendation.

how do they get the reputation A teacher who has a class who are not interested in learning isn't likey to gain a 'good teachers' reputation

[robd]

I think you need to attend a class by someone before you can assess how good a teacher they are (and this evaluation of their ability will differ according to how receptive an individual is to that teacher's teaching).

I attended 5 workshops last year, 3 of which were by the same person Jive P (Paul) and the latter two I went to not just because I was interested in the material but also because I really enjoy his style of teaching. I know a few other people who will be as likely to attend a workshop because he is teaching it as for the content. I can't actually remember too many of the moves taught on these workshops but I do remember a lot of the style & technique pointers.

Robert

[Cruella]

I think you need to attend a class by someone before you can assess how good a teacher they are (and this evaluation of their ability will differ according to how receptive an individual is to that teacher's teaching).

I attended 5 workshops last year, 3 of which were by the same person Jive P (Paul) and the latter two I went to not just because I was interested in the material but also because I really enjoy his style of teaching. I know a few other people who will be as likely to attend a workshop because he is teaching it as for the content. I can't actually remember too many of the moves taught on these workshops but I do remember a lot of the style & technique pointers.

Robert

I hear his demo's not bad either.

[robd]

I hear his demo's not bad either.

That's why I don't remember the moves...too distracted by the demo

[Andybroom]

So ... back to the original questions ... does an Intructor's reputation, or lack of it, matter? And how does he/she get a reputation?

For me the decision to attend one-off workshops and the like will be almost wholly based on the teachers reputation (assuming I don't know him/her/them already). Obviously the course content does effect it slightly, but only on the basis of it's relevance to me - ie it's unlikely I'd goto a beginners workshop.

Fair point - how do they get a reputation?

It's not going to be just as a result of winning competitions. A good dancer does not always make a good teacher.

I honestly think the only way is to publicise the persons achievements to date widely and set up lessons for them to teach. You could (perhaps) get them to guest at your normal classes so that some dancers at least get to experience them without having to attend a special workshop to find out. Either way attendance at their first workshops is probably going to be on the low side.

Your question seemed more to be "how can I bring a person I think is a good teacher to the UK and guarantee I can promote lessons by them at a profit or, at least, without a loss" and, if this is the case, I doubt you can. You'd have to be prepared to invest in developing this person's reputation here.



Andy