One year on...............

[robd]

The thread title is actually a bit misleading as it's one year and one week since my first Ceroc class but have been too busy at work to get enough time to put this together (I know, putting work before the forum - I really need to get my priorities right ).

I wanted to jot down some observations and recommendations I have in relation to dancing over the past year that may or may not strike a chord with people who have just started, are 3, 6, 9 months in or even have been dancing much longer. Hopefully others at a similar stage will do the same (and perhaps we could have a series of threads for what we have to look forward to at 2, 5, 10 years on.....)

A lot of this concurs with observations and comment you'll find elsewhere on the forum. It doesn't mean it's right or wrong, just that it's my view and is based on my dancing which, for context, has been pretty much exclusively at Cambridge and Peterborough as well as some Ceroc Central freestyles, a handful of Ceroc Central workshops and one weekender. It is also pretty much aimed at leaders as that's what I do. It's vaguely chronological in terms of when these observations have been made.

* You'll want to go home about 20 minutes into your first lesson. Don't. It gets easier and you'll never know what you missed if you do (you're also unlikely to be reading this)
* Everyone in freestyle looks so good, so accomplished, you'll never be able to do those 2 handed moves. Yes, you will. You'll also realise that dancing which impresses the uninitiated can look pretty dreadful to the experienced eye.
* Having a partner outside of class to practice with is a great help even if it can bring a different set of issues further down the line
* Don't get hung up that every LH move you do is a 1st move and every RH move a yo-yo. Just try and do them well and you'll learn variations in time. Swapping hands at will is one of the things I find easiest of all now but as a beginner it was a constant worry.
* Remember those people who helped you as a beginner and put them on your 'always ask' list if and when your popularity as a partner exceeds theirs
* Don't be in a hurry to join Intermediate - I think it was between 10 and 12 classes after my first night that I did my first intermediate class and all the feelings of inpetitude I had in my first beginner's lesson returned. But again, it gets easier.
* You'll have bad nights. Everyone does. Forget it and move on. One thing I love about dancing is that even if things haven't gone well, on the drive home I will be thinking about what I will do better next time.
* You will want to build up a library of moves. Everybody does.You'll take being able to remember how to do a continuous pretzel as a sign of your improvement but if you're leading it poorly and failing to lead it on half of the women you dance with then it's not really much improvement is it?
* Moves that are complex to lead/follow are often (usually) not comfortable or pleasant to lead/follow
* The ability to dance in time with the music is a bit like oxygen - you take it for granted until it's not there. And when it's not there, boy, is it unpleasant.
* Go to workshops. Even if the content isn't great you'll meet other keen dancers from your area
* Go to freestyles and dance with a wider range of people than you'll meet at your local night
* The best advice I had this year came from responses to this post. Adhering to the KISS principle (which advice actually came via a PM from that post) is the single thing that has done the most to improve my leading
* You'll keep a notebook of all the moves taught in intermediate class which will in turn become a notebook of the moves you like from the intermediate class and in turn will become redundant as you realise how hard it is to annotate a move in a way that make sense 3 months later
* Realise you don't have to dance every single song of the night. Sometimes watching from the sidelines can be as valuable for learning (even if it is what you shouldn't be doing) as actually dancing
* Some partners you just will not 'click' with. Doesn't make either of you a bad dancer, it's just the way it is.
* You'll wish you had taken up dancing years before you actually did.
* Some followers who look very stylish from the sidelines can be very difficult to lead
* Don't assume that followers who you think are beyond your current level ability wise will be short-changed if you ask them to dance. You may not be Amir (or even have that heroin chic thing going on ) but that doesn't mean there will not be elements of your leading that they will appreciate (double negative! )
* The general standard of leaders (and followers probably) at most provincial Ceroc nights is so low that you can become an in-demand dancer almost by default if you can manage the basics of dancing in time without excessive force and remembering to apply your deoderant beforehand
* Go on a weekender, meet lots more dancers and learn from the very best teachers and MJ dancers in the country
* The outcome to look for in every dance you lead is that {quoted from Amir who was talking (in a cod-Argentine accent) about some advice from an Argentine Tango teacher about the most important thing to learn for tango or somesuch} "the woman enjoy" - if you can enjoy it too and do so without prejudicing the enjoyment of others (floorcraft!) then that's a result.
* The move with the highest ease of leading/satisfaction for the follower ratio is the smile. Use it.

That'll do for now - I've spent enough of my birthday on the forum!

Robert

[Cruella]

* Don't assume that followers who you think are beyond your current level ability wise will be short-changed if you ask them to dance. You may not be Amir (or even have that heroin chic thing going on ) but that doesn't mean there will not be elements of your leading that they will appreciate (double negative! )

So how long ago did you learn this Rob?

The move with the highest ease of leading/satisfaction for the follower ratio is the smile. Use it.

[Jazz_Shoes (Ash)]

Hey rob, a big happy birthday to you! How's it feel to have been dancing for a year, must be cool, only three months left for me! Now some comments on some things you said.

* Don't get hung up that every LH move you do is a 1st move and every RH move a yo-yo. Just try and do them well and you'll learn variations in time. Swapping hands at will is one of the things I find easiest of all now but as a beginner it was a constant worry.

Been having this problem with the left handed moves recently, it's always a yo-yo and a shoulder drop, any advice?

* You'll have bad nights. Everyone does. Forget it and move on. One thing I love about dancing is that even if things haven't gone well, on the drive home I will be thinking about what I will do better next time.

Great advice for beginners.

* Realise you don't have to dance every single song of the night. Sometimes watching from the sidelines can be as valuable for learning (even if it is what you shouldn't be doing) as actually dancing

I love watching other people dance, some of them are really amazing and have such style, wow

* The general standard of leaders (and followers probably) at most provincial Ceroc nights is so low that you can become an in-demand dancer almost by default if you can manage the basics of dancing in time without excessive force and remembering to apply your deoderant beforehand

I don' think this is quite true. Do you mean that all male leads only progress so far then stop so it's easy to get to their level faster, do you think you'll improve, or did I misunderstand you?

* The move with the highest ease of leading/satisfaction for the follower ratio is the smile. Use it.

I hate it when people don't smile, but I was wondering, is it just because they are trying to concentrate?

Ash x

[robd]

Been having this problem with the left handed moves recently, it's always a yo-yo and a shoulder drop, any advice?

R'H moves surely? No advice as such other than to realise it will change in time. I still do a yo-yo when I am R-R more than any other move.

* The general standard of leaders (and followers probably) at most provincial Ceroc nights is so low that you can become an in-demand dancer almost by default if you can manage the basics of dancing in time without excessive force and remembering to apply your deoderant beforehand

I don' think this is quite true. Do you mean that all male leads only progress so far then stop so it's easy to get to their level faster, do you think you'll improve, or did I misunderstand you?

I was thinking I shouldn't have used the word provincial, maybe standard would be better but my main point was that the standard is so low (which is not necessarily a bad thing as it helps make MJ so accessible) because so many leaders do not seem capable of those three basic qualities that I list. It amazes me that followers still praise my dancing for being in time with the music. Surely that's the starting point?

I hate it when people don't smile, but I was wondering, is it just because they are trying to concentrate?

I expect so (or they have their tango face on!) - I know that I used to look quite serious without realising so and it was because I was concentrating hard. I probably still do at times but I try and remember to smile.

Robert

[tsh]

All very true, and useful. I'm just starting to think about bringing my notebook back into use for about the third phase in 18 months!

I used to think that changing hands without using a R -> L or L -> R move was cheating, and tried to avoid it - but now I change hands on a return several times in most dances, it seems to add a bit of variety and reduces the predictability.

Almost all LH moves ARE first move starts, and almost all RH moves are yo-yo starts. The only time I feel I need to avoid over-using these is with a beginner who is struggling with one of the two - and then I usually revert to step-across, man-spin and back-pass.

I think I agree with what Rob says about most people reaching a plateau, seperately in terms of ability and comfort to dance with. Many stop because they are not encouraged/allowed to improve, and some diverge onto a different path which could loosely be described as dancing to be watched rather than dancing to entertain one's partner - e.g. over-use of awkward showy moves. There are two consequences of this for newcommers. One is that the 'good' people are at a level you can soon reach. The other is that depending on where you dance, the 'very good' people might be people that a lot of people might prefer to watch, rather than dance with.

Sean