I think we are at the stage where a Technique book should be available on the internet for anybody to access free of charge instead of having to pay through the nose. It could only help to popularise Modern Ballroom Dancing especially in some of those far off places. Isn't that what we want. Shouldn't that be one of the the main objective of those who have been elected by us to look after Ballroom Dancing.

And to what post in the B/room world did you elect someone ??..

techn. books are a guide and a manual for Exams.. learning HOW to apply those techniques, should be in the hands of a competant Prof.

Technique books are reasonably priced, considering the size of the market for them, and they are readily available almost everywhere.

I'm sure that you do want something for nothing - who doesn't? Perhaps you should write one, and then you can share it with us - free, of course.

As I said, I'm sure you do. I hadn't noticed, as a generality of life, that things that have a value come free.

I use the technique books of the IDTA, rather than ISTD, but I paid for them, just like you'll have to, if you want them. They cost me about the same, each, as my very first professional lessons on the road to qualification as a teacher.

Write you own, and give them away, if you are so sold on the principle of something for nothing.

I agree with Telemark: Next to replacement shoelaces, my book purchases have been the least expensive items I've encountered in the ballroom arena. As for free technique help, Telemark and others have helped me quite a bit, and I use my precious books to verify and compliment their information. I should know by now to give up on the verifying part of my activities. :)

Anonymous, I was merely agreeing with Telemark's comments on the reasonable prices of ballroom technique books when compared to other books used for educational purposes. My college textbooks from 20 years ago cost more than my ballroom books! My shoelaces, to satisfy your curiosity, cost me approximately $3.00 a pair from the cobbler who occasionally fixes my shoes. I'm spending less on shoes repairs after changing my user name and taking Telemark's advice on heel pulls. :) I forget what I spent on Alex Moore's book, but I believe it was less than $30.00 and my USISTD smooth syllabus book was approximately the same price. Both new, by the way, and what I learn / gleem from each book assists overall. When social dancing with advanced dancers, I sometimes use figures from both International and American Smooth for floorcraft. I have great instructional DVDs which are a bit expensive: They cost approximately $50.00 each. My private instructor is my biggest expense. And, yes, I have received some excellent and free technique advice from Telemark, Belle, Terrence, and others on this site, and their advice has improved my technique to the delight of my instructor. We all often need information from different sources in order to learn. I am grateful for the free advice I get here, and I don't mind paying for the work of others in my pursuit to improve. And, not being a man of great means, I regularly have to plan and save for my ballroom purchases. When I was younger, and not yet a dancer, a friend once told me that we all find time and money for the things that matter to us. And yes, I do realize how lucky I am to be able to have the time and some means to do any of this.

Nice post....

Sixty years ago, when Fred Astaire and Arther Murrey were battleing out who would have the most influence in the Ballroom Dance World, both of them decided to make it very difficult to learn what they do.

They pretty much forced people to pay for large groups of expensive lessons.

Alex Moore's book changed all that. He gave us an affordable way to learn.

Today, you can find International deffinitions on net for free. However, you still can't find Fred Astare's deffinitons.

While I wish all of it were free, I am grateful that Alex gave us an affordable way to learn.

I have to agree that books are reasonable in price. If you ever tried to publish a technical journal, you would understand how hard it is to do so cheaply. (Go out and price any Technical Journal.)

You TOTALLY missed the point of the " " chain " school phenomenon.. its purpose was to provide a SOCIAL activity, built around dance,, a different concept to the English traditional system ( I learned in that and have taught in both for multi yrs ).

And, as to both making it difficult, on the contrary, they simplified a basic social structure, that the English have since adopted, in some of the dances ( there is even a Syl.in the Silver level being taught here ) .

In return, "they " took on board the Medal system back in the late 40s early 50s..

In addition to all of this.. you dont even understand the significance and impact that the A/M studio had on the world of dance.. with their weekly TV show in the states,that ran for several yrs ( lawrence Welk also contributed to this dance scene )that the english copied at a later date .

Also to realise, ALL the dance we teach and dance are imports.. " we " the english, took other peoples ideas in dance, and structured them to suit our purposes, and, along the way, as many would say, changed them beyond recognition of their original intent.. and with the advent of Comps, frightened many people away !

Lastly ,"They" were the ones who popularised Mambo and Cha Cha , to name but 2... and they were also largely responsible, for getting people back onto the dance floor and in nite clubs, after the war .

Yours is a typical dillettante statement.. research your subject matter before commenting..

You know it is perhaps best to interject here that not everyone has the same learning style. Many of the best athletes and dancers are kinesthetic learners. If you tried to teach them from Alex Moore's book most of them would be scratching their heads and never be the dancers that they are today.

Some people are verbal learners, some people are visual, some are logical, others are linear, kinesthetic, global, etc.

Pivotingfool, you should be keenly aware as you have often discussed the influence of friends and family on teaching dance, rather than standardized structured methodology.

I bought Alex Moore's book, many others, tons of DVD's and dance music when I began. None of it can touch what a human being can do for me by illustrating physically what it looks like and then problem solving the points where my brain and body disconnect. I am a visual learner, with a secondary logical component in my knowledge acquisition. For the first two years I could dance choreography I had seen, I could follow, but if you said something as simple as do a natural turn, my eyebrow would raise and I was lost. I won't even begin to pretend that the Alex Moore book did anything but make me doubt the universe. Today, four hard long years later I can open the book and I understand. What it doesn't do for me is build the artistic integrity of dance. What is dance without that???

How many people can really learn at a basic level with those charts and abbreviations and technical discussions? It's like reading stereo instructions. Yes you should have them but it helps to understand what a stereo actually is and what you are looking for before you try and read the book.

A tertiary point, as I was practicing about a week ago another couple was dancing, the man had his manual in his hand and he was trying to read off a step in tango, and he did it about twelve times and it wasn't right any of the times and he was stumbling and his partner was frustrated. All he had to do was tell us the name, we illustrated, showed him three alternate sequences leading into other steps and magically he could understand the step.

Books are good, information is great but people should not underestimate the impact of human interaction in terms of teaching a specialized skill.