How long have you been dancing MJ?

[Cruella]

Originally Posted by Jivingdan
Do we just expect too much now we have got to a certain level?

Originally Posted by Cruella

I think you've hit the nail on the head. It's been a complaint for a long time, the format for a Ceroc night works well for bringing in new people and teaching them Modern Jive. Once people get to a certain point in their dancing (this will vary from person to person) they get bored and want something more! Unfortunately, alot just give up altogether or go on to a different type of dance. It would be interesting to have some factual evidence as to how many people started Ceroc and how long they stayed with it. The amount of people that have been doing MJ for more than (lets say) 5 years, i imagine, is a very small percentage of the people that are currently doing MJ.

Ideally i need to ask the people that have given up and left MJ, but as that is not possible, i thought i'd ask you lot.

[fletch]

Originally Posted by Cruella

Ideally i need to ask the people that have given up and left MJ, but as that is not possible, i thought i'd ask you lot.

I have put 2/3 years cos thats how long i'v been dancing alltogether from day one with ceroc, have i voted right

[jivecat]

5 years next month, can't remember the actual date! And what a fab 5 years.

[Achaeco]

2-3 years and still cant do it

[Cruella]

It's 9 or 10 years for me, i can't remember exactly. I'm pretty sure that the reason i've stuck to it for so long though, is because i have moved and lived in alot of different parts of the country during that time. Because of this, i have had a fresh venue and new people to dance with and get to know every couple of years.
I've currently been in Rugby for 4 years, which is the longest i've stayed anywhere since i started dancing. I now don't dance locally very often but travel to London most weekends for my fix.



(Unfortunately the poll won't really tell us much, as i suspect that alot of people on the forum will have been dancing longer than the average MJer, i didn't join on here until I was 7/8 years into my dancing.)

[Gojive]

I think I've been dancing 7 years this Nov. Funnily enough, I discovered my old 'Le-Jive bible' just last week (I used to co-run/teach a Le-Jive venue in Gillingham for a short while). This thread has prompted me to find where I put last week....and I've lost it again!

[Daisy Chain]

I must be an oddity. I'm 3 months short of my 10 years and still love Ceroc as much as I did at the beginnning.

I'm no longer interested in lessons and prefer freestyles to class nights (the class is an unwelcome interruption for me). Being a follower, I don't need to learn more moves and am happy copying style points from other women on the dance floor and doing what comes naturally.

Here's to the next 10. I just wanna dance

Daisy

(An Experienced Little Flower)

[Cruella]

Originally Posted by Daisy Chain

I must be an oddity. I'm 3 months short of my 10 years and still love Ceroc as much as I did at the beginnning.

Makes two of us then,

I'm no longer interested in lessons and prefer freestyles to class nights (the class is an unwelcome interruption for me). Being a follower, I don't need to learn more moves and am happy copying style points from other women on the dance floor and doing what comes naturally.

[TheTramp]

About 1.5 hours now. 2nd class is almost over. Another 1.5 hours to go then. Why?

[Warwick]

Not sure I can vote in this one. I've got two answers. Since I started, it has been about 7 years but there have been huge gaps in that time so I'm about as good as someone who has been going 6 months and has a memory problem

[Minnie M]

Interesting I started a similar thread in Jan 2005

[Lynn]

Originally Posted by Warwick

Not sure I can vote in this one. I've got two answers. Since I started, it has been about 7 years but there have been huge gaps in that time so I'm about as good as someone who has been going 6 months and has a memory problem

I'm just coming up to 3 years in about now but I also had gaps - several 3 month gaps with no dancing at all (in between weekenders) and 2 years of that time with no classes (except at weekenders) and dancing only once a month with a group of about 12 people (aside from weekenders).

As you can tell, weekenders have played an important role in my dancing!

[Blueshoes]

Coming up to five years, loving every minute of it! When the kids were away this summer I was out 11 nights out of the 14. Then again I always was obsessive.....

[Dynamo]

This is my 6th year just completed. The bug is as strong as ever. I have been to 6 or 7 nites per week for several years but this year has been typically 4 nites per week , plus a weekender a month!
In the bluesroom i have found a creative partnership in dance that drives you both to find the best in each other and the music . This is now what drives me in all my dance to learn and improve.

[Tessalicious]

Originally Posted by Minnie M

Interesting I started a similar thread in Jan 2005

But that was nearly two years ago, and we have had a lot of newbies join since then, including me. The nature of a poll measuring time since X is that it goes out of date very quickly...

[Frankie_4711]

About 21 months. And I have loved every minute of it.

[tsh]

You should also try asking what proportion of your dancing is 'plain' MJ (so that wouldn't include Jango) so see if you can see people expanding their dancing...

For me, it's probably less than 20% now (or it was in the UK where I had the choice!)

[David Bailey]

Originally Posted by Minnie M

Interesting I started a similar thread in Jan 2005

Minnie always wins these competitions...

(Are you having a special celebration next year, BTW?)

[Trousers]

This poll doesn't really touch the sides as it were.

Is someone who has danced for a year in one venue one night a week the same as an idiot like me who after the first 3 weeks of once a week went dancing nearly 4 times a week wherever i could (and still do given the opportunity)?

The overload factor also brings your dancing on faster as you don't have 6 whole days to forget it all again.

This is important I think.

[Juju]

Originally Posted by Trousers

Is someone who has danced for a year in one venue one night a week the same as an idiot like me who after the first 3 weeks of once a week went dancing nearly 4 times a week wherever i could (and still do given the opportunity)?

Very true. I started dancing just under three years ago, but there have been gaps where I didn't go at all. Even now I rarely do more than one night a week, plus I'm working for a big chunk of that anyway; only recently have I started making a concerted effort to get my arse into gear, because I don't want to be crappy and amateurish anymore!!!