Log In

Username:

Password:

   Stay logged in?

Forgot Password?

User Status

 

Attention

 

Recover Password

Username or Email:

Loading...
Change Image
Enter the code in the photo at left:

Before We Continue...

Are you absolutely sure you want
to delete this message?

Premium Membership

Upgrade to
Premium Membership!

Renew Your
Premium Membership

$99
PER YEAR
$79
PER YEAR
$79
PER YEAR

Premium Membership includes the following benefits:

Don't let your Premium Membership expire, or you'll miss out on:

  • Exclusive access to over 1,620 video demonstrations of patterns in the full bronze, silver and gold levels.
  • Access to all previous variations of the week, including full video instruction of man's and lady's parts.
  • Over twice as many videos as basic membership.
  • A completely ad-free experience!

 

Sponsored Ad
Beginners
Posted by Don
7/5/2005  11:04:00 PM
Beginners, There is a tendancy to give a beginners class to the least experienced teachers. This class should be taken by, or under the watchfull eye of possibly the most experienced. Whatever is learnt in that very beginning should be absolutely spot on. I am thinking more towards Latin and the Rumba in particular. Teach the correct turn out of the feet. No gap between the thighs on a forward or backward basic. High instep. Correct use of beat four and then the hip. Don't anybody say that can't be done with a beginner, because it can. But only in the hands of somebody who has a thorough understanding of their craft and can instantly see a fault if it occurs.
Re: Beginners
Posted by Anonymous
7/5/2005  11:14:00 PM
Seen it done for both latin and standard, and the fraction of the beginner class making real progress is drastically higher than usual.

But there's a big problem. The teachers willing to spend time teaching the real deal to a substantial number of beginners soon get a reputation as teachers of beginners, and soon after that as teachers of only beginners. The fickle majority of their students move on to those teachers who set themselves up as being too good to train mere beginners. The more advanced students are tempted away, the more it is only the other teachers who have advanced students to give the impression of a highly competitive studio.
Re: Beginners
Posted by phil.samways
7/6/2005  5:40:00 AM
I agree absolutely with Don's comments, and anon has made a very good point.
It's not only in dancing that this form of 'elitism' prevails. When it comes to university students, first and second year classes have none of the glamour of graduate classes and research groups. Fortunately, the more enlightened universities (which i hasten to add, this one is) recognise that the fundamentals are so important that they should be taught by an experienced person. Not only to teach the material well, but to point out which topics or approaches are really important, and to emphasise those.
Dancing is no different. Advanced topics build on basic topics and there's nothing worse or more frustrating than having to un-learn some things in order to progress

+ View More Messages

Copyright  ©  1997-2026 BallroomDancers.com