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Originally Posted by DavidB In all of these classes, the majority of the people in the class had real problems learning any of the dance moves. Many had done less than 5 beginners classes - indeed for one lady I spoke to, it was her first night!
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Beginners often move on far too early for all sorts of challenging moves as well as drops. I've read on the forum that in New Zealand/Aussie cerocers have to receive a seal of approval from their instructor as to when they are ready to move up to harder levels ( I hope I've got this right). I know the system is not likely to be popular here but might help to avoid some of the problems mentioned on this thread.
I have also seen extremely complicated drops being taught to classes where the majority of people were having significant difficulty coping with the mechanics of basic moves. In fact, that's totally commonplace. But it's rare to find a teacher suggesting that people should sit out until they're ready for it, or entry to a class being restricted to a certain level and above (although I've noticed more recently). Again, such measures are likely to cause an outcry and are completely unworkable once people have parted with good money to attend a workshop.
The general rule at Ceroc classes is that people shouldn't try the intermediate class until they have been attending at least 6 weeks though that would still be too early for some people. I don't think it would cause too many problems for this to be more strictly enforced - people usually respect a system which they can perceive to have clear benefits and which is supported by more experienced dancers. Especially when the beginners are given something purposeful to do during the intermediate classes like a top-up class in a nearby room.
With regard to the lady adopting the correct body position to protect herself, and the man, and in order for the move to look good I think it requires a reasonable level of fitness. The advice I've heard is to keep the stomach muscles taut, which helps to avoid that "sack of potatoes" look and, I think, prevents the lady from being a dead weight on the man. Please correct me if I'm wrong here. My feeling is that I'd rather stick to moves that I can do well & with some elegance, within the limits of my fitness and physical ability- but this is not encouraged by Ceroc classes in general. But then Ceroc's profits might take a dip if three-quarters of the class were told to come back after they'd spent 3 months down the gym! There is a reason, after all, why professional dancers have bodies like hungry whippets.
Whenever I've been put into dodgy drop by someone I often say that they're not supposed to do them without permission - and they're amazed and clearly this has never occurred to them. So they're learning drops from somewhere without being given basic safety rules.