My previous partner and I
did lots of our patterns
off of tapes and got a pro
to help clean it up after we
practiced them. Used some of
David and Olga's patterns in
comps. Most of the tapes are
from D.Vision. We saved lots
of lesson time and $ by using tapes.
However, it is not that easy
to master using tapes or dvds. It
took me few years to get the
hang of it. Having standardized
patterns help, plus having a
manual to supplement the tapes.
Reading, understanding, and
implementing the manual takes
time too. It helps if your
parner can understand and learn
from tapes or manuals too.

You will notice that any good
teacher can read the manual or
look at a tape and show you
how do the dance pattern or technique very quickly. It is mainly lots
of practice and training to get
used to this type of learning.
It helps if patterns are standardized
like in Int. Latin and Std.

My teacher and I just worked
through all the syllabus patterns
in Int. Latin (except Paso)--it took about 6 mo.--once a week. I will
probably go now to a higher
level pro to fine tune my technique.

It would help if you could get
small clips of each syllabus on
dvd with bookmarks. It would
save lots of time and money.
There is nothing worse than
fooling around winding and
rewinding tapes during lesson
time.