[michael]

Hi there Beowulf Dont know how long you have been dancing for but you seem to be in a similiar position as myself. I am approaching the 3 months landmark so to speak and i am just beginning to look now at some moves other than the usual beginner ones.

David B is spot on on his first reply and i have taken a mental note so hopefully the comments will stay there. Since we are starting off it is massively important for experts like David B to make careful comments that help enormously for us to see where we are going and how.

I suppose we all have different ways of learning and picking up moves etc. i know one chap who just seems to pick up the theory instantly while others like myself need time to go over it sufficiently to have it burnt into our routine.

I bet there must be a small number of joining moves that once learnt along with the beginner moves will help with many of the other moves that we all want to learn.

A workshop on foundation joining moves if such a thing existed would be great.

It must be hard for teachers to keep everyone happy as we are all in different stages of learning. If i were a teacher i would go through three different set routines and ask the class which one they wanted to learn that week, that way we might avoid the wasted weeks when we hate the moves just shown. I would repeat the moves a couple of weeks later and maybe just add one wee extra one to spice it up for those with good memories?
if that happened i would have an extra couple of moves to add to my own limited routine.

As things stand for now i reckon the best way to add moves is probably just to keep going dancing as often as possible and eventually we will learn enough moves to keep us happy....until we get bored with them and off we go again........

This past week or so i have started to enjoy my wee simple moves that i do and i just try to do them a little bit better and in tune with the music. Adding a few extra over this next few weeks will greatly enhance my enjoyment and probably others (Jesus here we go again) but since the Big Perth Weekend i am startiing to realise how difficult it is to THINK ABOUT hitting a break never mind doing it. Perhaps those wee beginner moves will quickly become second nature to us and we do them without even thinking about it. Then and probably only then can we start to think about listening to the music instead of the next damn move. Hopefully the next stage will be to recognise where and when the breaks occur and a stage further again preparing something to do in the break??? Me's quite happy now with a few wee easy sways and seducers to practice for the breaks and the above tasks to look forward to.

Worry not fellow dancer (it never solved anything anyway did it) just enjoy yourself and do go to David and Lily's workshop if they have another on musical interpretation. Although it is hugely advanced it also (has for me) shows you the paths ahead.

I remember been given a sheet of paper with printed moves and what appeared to be extremely difficult things to co-ordinate between hand foot and eyes. I was asked if i thought i could do such things and was quick to reply "you must be joking" who the hell does all that? YOU DO all the time you are driving!!!