The following comments are not intended to offend anyone, it is just a discussion point. Feel free to voice your opinion.

Guys, how often do you try to lead the "move of the week/group class move" in your weekly dance social ? I have attended group classes at more than 1 studio, where the move taught in class, never makes it out onto the dance floor. I am not even talking about a leader trying the move out, they never even attempt it. Isn't group class a waste of time then ? Why do we attend group class then ?
Followers, in general, do you see guys attempting to lead the new moves from group class ? I realize that we will not like all the moves taught in group class, but you have to like some of them. I am even tempted to say that this is the starting point of why so many students choose to compete with their instructor ( pro / am ). This might be a sensitive point, but at the end of the day, the only person you feel comfortable dancing with is your instructor. What will you do once you quit your private lessons ? Will you be able to continue dancing with other people at the same dance level as with your instructor ? I understand that your instructor becomes your "partner" as such, but you will never learn to adjust your leading/following skills if you dance with only 1 person on a consistent basis. I am not against pro/am, don't get me wrong, i am just wondering why the ratio of competitors in am/am vs pro/am is so different. And yes, i understand that "finding a partner" is not something that happens over night, but that can not be the only reason. And not everybody wants to compete.....

Any thoughts on this ?

I attend socials attended by a mixed group of studios. Often, I can pick out the gentlemen from the same studio, because I'll be lead thru the same combination in a particular dance. I'll even get a "I just learned so and so, can I try it out?" This can be further complicated by the international/american issue. For example, "Do you know a New Yorker? No, but I'm perfectly adept at crossovers!"

Alright already...I have to step in to defend pro/am dancing! I certainly agree that there are studios out there (I'm not naming names of course) that charge reprehensible amounts for attending competitions. They hide the actual event costs, quadruple the airfare, overcharge for the instructor and anything else that they can think of.

However, there are also plenty of reputable studios, largely independent, who are straight up honest with students! Our studio prepares a complete invoice for any comp. showing where every single dime is going. Anything you pay for you deserve to understand! This is still rather unpopular with some teachers, since they don't like their students (having talked to our students) to know how much they are really being charged. It is the way of the future though, and I personally know of many studios that are changing their ways.

Ballroom dancing is becoming Dancesport, and it will probably save the entire American dance system.

The move of the week...yes, I see lots of men leading the "move of the week". Honestly sometimes we instructors do get together and just "make-up" the move of the week. That is why you pay to come to group classes...so that you can expand your repertoire of patterns and improve your lead without struggling overmuch. It may take pros an hour to put together an amalgamation or pattern that an amateur probably couldn't have put together at all. If your instructors are not encouraging you to use these patterns and get comfortable with them, then maybe they aren't very good instructors. No offense meant of course.

I am simply a bit chagrined. Consider the metaphor...Obviously I would feel the most comfortable if I took my taxes to a professional CPA. I would never expect to match his expertise no matter how familiar I became with tax law. If I had to be audited I would want him standing right there beside me. Now, maybe over time I would get real comfortable with tax law and be able to discuss it intelligibly with others. Still, any point of contention and I would be right back at the doorstep of the CPA. So it is with dancing...yes you will always be more comfortable with your instructor. He/she is a PROFESSIONAL! If you do not force yourself to become comfortable with other partners than your instructor then that is YOUR OWN FAULT!!!

Finally, Tom Phan...you are way off base. I have seen Pro/Am competitors suffer, sacrifice, and just generally work their asses off. Also, not every pro/am student is out there trying to be the next national champion. It takes guts to be a struggling student who simply loves dance (but may not be so good at it) and to go out there in front of judges and an audience...often including your friends and family! Our "older adults" love to dance too...and some of them could probably dance you under the floor!

Champion Dancesport KC

I attend several group classes a week in addition to a private lesson each week.

In general, if I like a step that was taught in class, I start using it immediately. If all elements of the steps are leadable, I'll lead it with followers who weren't at the class; otherwise I'll save it for followers who were at the class.

As to whether I'm really leading the step or not, the best way I've found to check that is to
modify it slightly: change the entrance, change the exit, or change some of the details in the middle of the step.

Even if I don't like an entire amalgamation, smaller pieces of it may be useful. There are any number of "steps of the week" where I didn't like the entire pattern, but some portion of it was nice, and I use that part in combination with some other grouping.

Finally, seeing all of these steps from week to week, I've been learning which components/steps go well together, and which don't. I learn more about proper leading when I know 3 ways to progress from one step into the next, because I have to make the difference between the 3 progressions clear to my follower.

There are a lot of reasons to attend group classes regularly, these are the most obvious ones that occur to me.

Regards,
John

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I am not against pro/am, don't get me wrong, i am just wondering why the ratio of competitors in am/am vs pro/am is so different.
_________

I opine that its because anyone with some free time and money to spend (which on occasion means the older adults) can perform in Pro-Am. It takes little time or effort. Often, per my observation only, all they have to do is show up in an elegant, colorful ballgown or a staid but elegant tux. Pro-am events are just a means for professionals to make money (feel free to jump in Johnathan), seldom is their prestige involved, and there is rarely any parity between male and female amateurs competing with corresponding professionals in the same event.

But that is another topic entirely. Allow me to incite some more. We men never lead anyone in the 'move of the week/group class move' because it'd be so predictable. If the lady knows what is coming and does it without our lead, she may as well just do it in front of her bathroom mirror. I'd rather stick to the old tried and tested move of last week/month/century.

Phan, Tom.