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Re: Am Rhythm Syllabi definitions needed
Posted by Waltz123
1/24/2007  11:54:00 AM
Not sure I understand the question. Are you looking for videos with the exact same step names as the syllabus you're studying? If so, what syllabus are you studying?

American style is tricky because every syllabus is unique. Unlike international style, where the syllabus is the same all over the world, American style has dozens of variations depending on the school. The most popular syllabi are NDCA, ISTD, DVIDA, Arthur Murray and Fred Astaire, but there are others. And each one is slightly different.

They all have patterns and terminology in common. There is greater variety of terminology than patterns, as many of the patterns are the same but go under different aliases. The higher you go in levels, the less they have in common. Beginning bronze, therefore, has the greatest amount of similarity, but by the time you get to gold level, nothing is the same. Every syllabus has their own version of gold, and it's almost entirely someone's choreography.

If you're studying with Arthur Murray or Fred Astaire, you're not going to find anything for sale with the exact same terminology, because they do not sell their syllabus. It is only available to teachers, and only in-studio. I've even heard that some of their terms were copyrighted (eg "Magic Step"), but I don't know if this is still the case today. At any rate, if you're studying with a chain school, you're not going to find an identical syllabus outside, and you probably won't want to, anyway. Their syllabi are proprietary, and only useful within that school. Once you set foot outside, the dancers will be speaking a different "dialect". So it would behoove you to pick up a non-proprietary syllabus, anyway.

Between NDCA, ISTD and DVIDA, the latter is the most popular with independent schools today. Personally I don't care for any of them, which is why we have our own syllabus. But if I had to choose between the three, I'd go with DVIDA. By the time you get to silver and gold, it's fairly choreographed, but the terminology and basic components are up to par with what's being taught today.

Regards,
Jonathan
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