Amateur cabarets?

[bigdjiver]

I did not go to Southport, and do not know how the contentious cabaret was advertised. The prblem seems to me to be that of disappointment based on false expectations.

If I had just seen "Cabaret" advertised as an event like Southport I would be hoping for something like the standard of David and Lily or Emma Pettit. If I had seen it advertised a class cabaret my expectations would be zero - I might just attend to see how it turned out, but with a little hope for something special. Under very few circumstances would I think that any criticism of the participants was justified.

Was the nature of the cabaret properly advertised?

[Petal]

The cabaret at Southport a couple of weeks ago really consisted of two cabarets, an amateur and a professional. The amateur cabaret necessarily suffered (not just by being part of the same billing) by comparison with the exceptionally high standard of the professional one, though to me - sitting in the middle near the front - it looked pretty good.

I have taken part in three or four of Nigel and Nina's cabarets. In none of these did my partner and I dance a faultless routine. It would have been surprising if we had. But for us ordinary mortals it offers the rare opportunity to be in the spotlight and get the hint of the buzz of competitive dance and choregraphed sequences. In each case it was one of the highights of the weekend. If those taking part get more out of it than the spectators, well, they are entitled to get a kick out of taking part. Just don't expect them to dance like Robert Cordoba or Erin Boag.......

(although i'll probably get another negative rep for using this smilie and not giving an individual opinion) ........like myself an ordinary mortal who did it for fun.

[David Franklin]

If I had just seen "Cabaret" advertised as an event like Southport I would be hoping for something like the standard of David and Lily or Emma Pettit. If I had seen it advertised a class cabaret my expectations would be zero - I might just attend to see how it turned out, but with a little hope for something special. Under very few circumstances would I think that any criticism of the participants was justified.

Although I did not go to Southport, at every other weekender I've been to, the "Cabaret" has been composed of several performances. If there are "A-list" cabaret performers they will usually be advertised (e.g. David/Lily, Robert/Deborah, Anton/Erin), but there will usually be a few strong performances (usually by teachers), and more commonly than not a group cabaret by "normal punters" which will be a bit rough around the edges.

On that basis I don't see any need to advertise that one cabaret would be "non-professional". But in fact when a group routine is taught and performed during a weekender, that is usually made clear in the descriptions of the classes, so it should hardly have come as a surprise to anyone to see them perform in the cabaret.

I did not go to Southport, and do not know how the contentious cabaret was advertised. The prblem seems to me to be that of disappointment based on false expectations.

[rant]

There seem to be a group of people who feel that if any part of a cabaret is not gobsmackingly awesome, then it's a waste of their precious freestyle time. I know dance is an obsession for some of us, but it seems a bit ridiculous if you can't handle missing an hour of freestyle over the course of a weekend. Given the cabarets are normally in the main room and finish by 11pm or so, I find it particularly hypocritical when so many of the people who complain are the people who also say "oh, I couldn't possibly start dancing at 9pm; the good dancing doesn't start until midnight" and "You'd never see me dancing in the main room with all the pleb music - I don't set foot outside the blues room".

If the entire cabaret was a disappointment I could understand, but people are complaining about one routine. I've never seen a professional stage show where I didn't think some bits dragged, but that doesn't ruin my evening.

[/rant]

[LMC]

- sense of proportion

Professional cabarets can be awesome - but I know that I will *never* reach that standard. Seeing a group cabaret where the dancers are better than me, but obviously not professional actually gives me more to aspire to - because I can 'see' myself doing those moves/that routine rather than just sitting there with a dropped jaw wishing I'd started dancing 25 years ago.

[DavidB]

Everyone here has done a MJ class. I'm guessing virtually everyone here has had problems at some time during a class - either doing a move, or remembering what comes next. That is with 3 moves in 45 minutes.

To learn a routine from scratch in 2-3 hours, and then perform it in front of over 1000 dancers would tax most of the 'professional' cabaret performers. It takes me about a month to remember a 3 minute routine (and about 2.5 minutes to forget it...)

Personally I think these routines are the cabaret equivalent of DWAS competitions. You turn up, take part, have fun doing it, and entertain a lot of people along the way. There is one MC in the US who always says "Show your appreciation. Remember - they are out there, and you are not."

On a slightly different tack - do weekenders now have freestyle in the other rooms while the cabaret is on?

[Graham]

On a slightly different tack - do weekenders now have freestyle in the other rooms while the cabaret is on?

Yes, or at least Southport does.

[Wendy]

Everyone here has done a MJ class. I'm guessing virtually everyone here has had problems at some time during a class - either doing a move, or remembering what comes next. That is with 3 moves in 45 minutes.

To learn a routine from scratch in 2-3 hours, and then perform it in front of over 1000 dancers would tax most of the 'professional' cabaret performers. It takes me about a month to remember a 3 minute routine (and about 2.5 minutes to forget it...)

Personally I think these routines are the cabaret equivalent of DWAS competitions. You turn up, take part, have fun doing it, and entertain a lot of people along the way. There is one MC in the US who always says "Show your appreciation. Remember - they are out there, and you are not."

Hero.... sigh....

Wx