Moving on....

[Yogi_Bear]

Originally Posted by El Salsero Gringo

OK, yes, but you don't rotate 10 round if there are 65 people waiting - you rotate 65 people round. (Although one hopes it never gets quite that bad.) What's the point of rotating fewer people than are waiting out?

If there are 65 waiting, you abandon the class as unworkable..
I would have to admit that in those circumstance the scatter method would't work too well, either..

[El Salsero Gringo]

Originally Posted by Yogi_Bear

If there are 65 waiting, you abandon the class as unworkable..

No, you just employ a second teacher to teach the 65 a line dance while they're waiting. It would look great!

[Yogi_Bear]

Originally Posted by El Salsero Gringo

No, you just employ a second teacher to teach the 65 a line dance while they're waiting. It would look great!

[LMC]

Originally Posted by El Salsero Gringo

No, you just employ a second teacher to teach the 65 a line dance while they're waiting. It would look great!

Or if sufficient men, teach double trouble instead?

[Tessalicious]

Originally Posted by Yogi_Bear

If there are 65 waiting, you abandon the class as unworkable..
I would have to admit that in those circumstance the scatter method would't work too well, either..

If there are 65 extra ladies you teach a double trouble class. That'll keep the ladies amused, and probably make some of the guys rather happy too...

the solution, of course, is to ban women dancing as leads.

Having come back to this thread after a period of absence, I think someone ought to try the approach typically adopted in small classes of Argentine tango - "Find yourself another partner". The ensuing chaos in a large MJ class would be fun to watch

At Squins they tried this method during the ballroom part of the class - the result being that the more, um, self-assertive ladies always ended up with partners and the shy ones always without fail ended up on the side unable to practise it through. This is basically because the majority of the men just stood there waiting to be pounced on and told what to do. There has to be something Freudian behind that, I'm sure.

[Lou]

I saw a rather interesting variation to the rotation method last night.

It was a customary 9 ladies on. So far so good. Then, halfway through the class, the teacher had a brainwave to also rotate the men around 10, in order that the ones at the back of the room moved to a position closer to the stage. Needless to say, one temperamental (& uppity, natch) man then dropped out & went to the bar. Which meant more ladies over! I guess that's one experiment that won't be repeated...

[Yogi_Bear]

Originally Posted by Lou

I saw a rather interesting variation to the rotation method last night.

It was a customary 9 ladies on. So far so good. Then, halfway through the class, the teacher had a brainwave to also rotate the men around 10, in order that the ones at the back of the room moved to a position closer to the stage. Needless to say, one temperamental (& uppity, natch) man then dropped out & went to the bar. Which meant more ladies over! I guess that's one experiment that won't be repeated...

Rotating sections of the class so that everyone has a chance to be at the front and see what's going on is normal in many Lindy classes, especially when taught at the big weekenders. Depending on the logistics, it has to have advantages.

[bigdjiver]

Originally Posted by Lou

I saw a rather interesting variation to the rotation method last night.

It was a customary 9 ladies on. So far so good. Then, halfway through the class, the teacher had a brainwave to also rotate the men around 10, in order that the ones at the back of the room moved to a position closer to the stage. Needless to say, one temperamental (& uppity, natch) man then dropped out & went to the bar. Which meant more ladies over! I guess that's one experiment that won't be repeated...

I was at a class where most of the guys could not see the footwork, and it was a disaster for most. Moving the men around would have solved the problem. Policy should not be decided by a few uppity individuals.

[Yogi_Bear]

Originally Posted by bigdjiver

I was at a class where most of the guys could not see the footwork, and it was a disaster for most. Moving the men around would have solved the problem. Policy should not be decided by a few uppity individuals.

I agree - it's a good idea for both leaders and followers to move round and see what's being taught from different perspectives. Those at the back will otherwise only see anything if the people at the front sit down from time to time. Anything that helps people to see footwork has got to be an advantage. Anyone who objects to moving should be in a fixed couple (not that I would encourage those anyway ) yb

[robd]

Originally Posted by bigdjiver

I was at a class where most of the guys could not see the footwork, and it was a disaster for most. Moving the men around would have solved the problem. Policy should not be decided by a few uppity individuals.

We did a fairly simple 'intermediate' routine last night as the beginners were encouraged to join in since the usual consolidation class room was not available. The last move was a 1st Move triple step and the teacher moved the couples at the back to the front in order that they could see the footwork and then returned couples to their previous positions. Worked very well (moving people around that is, not my triple steps ). People were still dropping out from time to time, causing problems on the count round but not due to the footwork demo.

Robert

[frodo]

Originally Posted by Lou

I saw a rather interesting variation to the rotation method last night.

It was a customary 9 ladies on. So far so good. Then, halfway through the class, the teacher had a brainwave to also rotate the men around 10, in order that the ones at the back of the room moved to a position closer to the stage. Needless to say, one temperamental (& uppity, natch) man then dropped out & went to the bar. Which meant more ladies over! I guess that's one experiment that won't be repeated...

But ( given a good reason to leave the class - maybe the guy was dangerously tired or not feeling well) this seems an advantage - it is a reasonable way to leave the class if in the minority gender ).

Allows someone in the minority gender, if they can do only part of the class to participate so could reduce imbalance.

I think it's an excellent idea for lots of reasons and deserves a longer term trial.

[frodo]

Originally Posted by Tessalicious

t Squins they tried this method during the ballroom part of the class - the result being that the more, um, self-assertive ladies always ended up with partners and the shy ones always without fail ended up on the side unable to practise it through. This is basically because the majority of the men just stood there waiting to be pounced on and told what to do. [/size]

This may improve though as people got used to it. The waiting to be pounced on is not my experience.

How well this works possibly depends critically on the teacher and how much he / she emphasises swapping around so everybody gets a dance.

I can see why a ballroom class might like this method as it allows selecting partners by height.

[El Salsero Gringo]

Originally Posted by frodo

This may improve though as people got used to it. The waiting to be pounced on is not my experience.

How well this works possibly depends critically on the teacher and how much he / she emphasises swapping around so everybody gets a dance.

I can see why a ballroom class might like this method as it allows selecting partners by height.

No one has mentioned the bus stop system yet, which Hannes and Amy (and others no doubt) used in their ballroom classes, for the progressive dances: the ladies queue at one side and as the men dance past the head of the queue they drop off their existing partner and pick up a new one.

[El Salsero Gringo]

I spotted another disadvantage with the slotting-in method of rotation on Monday. It was taking an age for the last lady of the end to make her way round to the first man; it seemed that it never occured to anyone that they might come straight back on again and that the whole class was waiting for them.

[Lou]

Originally Posted by El Salsero Gringo

I spotted another disadvantage with the slotting-in method of rotation on Monday. It was taking an age for the last lady of the end to make her way round to the first man; it seemed that it never occured to anyone that they might come straight back on again and that the whole class was waiting for them.

Ah... but if there was a spare lady in the slot at the top of the first row, it wouldn't be a problem - so it's down to the teachers to organise it, should they choose to rotate by slotting.

[LMC]

Originally Posted by El Salsero Gringo

I spotted another disadvantage with the slotting-in method of rotation on Monday. It was taking an age for the last lady of the end to make her way round to the first man; it seemed that it never occured to anyone that they might come straight back on again and that the whole class was waiting for them.

Easily resolved by making a 'spare' slot just in front of the first leader

EDIT: Lou

[Lou]

Originally Posted by LMC

Easily resolved by making a 'spare' slot just in front of the first leader

snap!

[LMC]

Originally Posted by Lou

snap!

JINX!!!

[bigdjiver]

I had thought it possible, but thought it was too ridiculous ...
I heard a lady complaining yesterday about "all move on". Allegedly she was at a class where the women outnumbered the men by more than two to one, and the teacher moved them all on. So she walked all around the class and found herself sitting out again. The teacher did not realise, nobody complained loudly enough, and the same thing happened again.

[Gill (Norwich)]

Originally Posted by bigdjiver

I had thought it possible, but thought it was too ridiculous ...
I heard a lady complaining yesterday about "all move on". Allegedly she was at a class where the women outnumbered the men by more than two to one, and the teacher moved them all on. So she walked all around the class and found herself sitting out again. The teacher did not realise, nobody complained loudly enough, and the same thing happened again.

Think at that point I would have made for the bar either that or commandered (sp?) a man all for myself