Ceroc Dance tuition

With the visit of 'H' .... I started wondering about what people want to get out of the DANCE side of Ceroc. I know it sounds funny but I think that the majority of people don't actualy come to Ceroc to learn to dance well ... they come to learn to dance adequately and then the social scene becomes more important .... and thats great.

My question is really directed at the minority (?) who want to progress their dancing ... lets call them 'improvers' for want of a better term. What do improvers want to do to improve their dancing, whether it be within the class structure or by workshops? I hope that the results will help both Franck and Scott, as well as independants like myself, to try to offer something to fit.

Hmm, I voted for virtually everything, but then I am ever so slightly obsessed :wink: .

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Originally posted by Emma
Hmm, I voted for virtually everything, but then I am ever so slightly obsessed :wink: .

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Interesting .... is there life outside Ceroc? actualy you've given me an idea for a related thread ... will post later today ... interested to find out what major dance workshop events people have actualy attended.

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Originally posted by Gus


Interesting .... is there life outside Ceroc?

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:grin: Oh, there's definitely life outside of Ceroc - I know because it keeps getting in the way! :wink:

Going back to the original question, I love dancing so much that I want to try everything - I'm not sure if it's about wanting to improve (though I do want to improve..) it's more about increasing my enjoyment by making it possible for me to follow a wider range of styles/music and therefore dance with a wider range of people.

Ticked the blues option - please!!! pretty please !!!

What about (general?) style though ???

Have just done Smooth Grooves (wow !!! a workshop made in Heaven - thanks again H and Kirsty !! and all those lovely friendly folk in Aberdeen !!! I'll be back ....)

New, complicated moves can be great fun to learn but I have to rely on a guy to put them into practice...(remember all that stuff covered in that men vs women thread of yesteryear ?? )

Learning style, however, can help me to change (hopefully improve ??) the WAY I dance if, and when, I choose. (It was fascinating today to see people's ATTITUDE change perhaps forever but I bet that most of the moves will be forgotten!!!)

If I ruled the (CEROC) world I would have 2 intermediate moves taught in each lesson with more style points so that everyone could improve, with EVERY lesson.

Wx

After attending a V+L style workshop and learning a lot - I still felt I was missing so much style (well who wouldn't after watching Lydia dance???? - Of course is does help that she is so gorgeous as well)

I'm taking up other forms of dancing - not partner dancing at all -
Contemporary Dance and Belly dancing (or maybe I should just get FC to teach me to body roll) - I don't know that it's improving my style in Ceroc (well it hasn't left me much time to do Ceroc)- but when I go to clubs (not very often) - I do pretty well now (even if they are all FAAAAAR too young).

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Originally posted by Wendy
New, complicated moves can be great fun to learn but I have to rely on a guy to put them into practice...(remember all that stuff covered in that men vs women thread of yesteryear ?? )

Learning style, however, can help me to change (hopefully improve ??) the WAY I dance if, and when, I choose. (It was fascinating today to see people's ATTITUDE change perhaps forever but I bet that most of the moves will be forgotten!!!)

Wx

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My personal view, based on years of bitter experience, is that though you can learn moves straight from a workshop, learning/developing style(s) comes from practice and review. I've done the V&L style workshop three times (over 3 years), each time covering more or less the same material, and I'm still a fair way from being able to incorporate it all into my own dance style.

Think the point has been made before though, that you don't actualy LEARN style, you MODIFY your own style ..... everybody has their own style ... its just that some are more visualy pleasing than others :what:

What is good to know that somethines just a subtle change in weight distribution or the use of an arm can make a huge diffrence to your 'style' .... so keep the faith. The most important things about developing your style are to be brave enough to keep trying different things and to get feedback from dancers who's views you respect.

Keep The Faith

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Originally posted by Gus
Think the point has been made before though, that you don't actualy LEARN style, you MODIFY your own style ..... everybody has their own style ... its just that some are more visualy pleasing than others :what:

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Well in the 12 years I have been dancing, I can say that I certainly have learnt style (in fact 2 or 3 different styles). It does take time, and a lot of frustrating practise, but in the end, it is possible to learn somebody else's style. Now I am aware that there are limitations, I don't have Viktor's body and flexibility, but it is possible to pick and choose bits of style and add them to become a different dancer!

I agree with you that some style will suit some people better, and in my opinion, it would be a mistake to attempt some of the style that don't feel right to you, though that may change over the years, and you might find that a couple of years you might find that something you hated or felt completely unable to grasp, becomes natural... :nice:

Style is a funny thing, but as demonstrated at the week-end (when H did his Smooth Grooves workshop), all it takes is the right teacher, simple moves and a lot of enthusiasm and attitude! By the end of the workshop, most dancers's style was completely transformed, and they had indeed learnt Style!

Franck.

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Originally posted by Franck

By the end of the workshop, most dancers's style was completely transformed, and they had indeed learnt Style!

Franck.

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Maybe its a question of semantics ... but where do you draw the line between learning new moves / learning a new way of moving and 'learning' a new style?

where I'm coming from is probably a belief that as an individual your have your own 'style' and that you best develop by taking elements of other peoples moves and movements and incorporate that into your own way of moving .....

OK ... on reflection I think maybe I was wrong to say you can't learn style but at the back of my mind I still feel it works best when you modify your inate style rather than simply overwriting it with someone elses way of moving.

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Originally posted by Gus
Maybe its a question of semantics ... but where do you draw the line between learning new moves / learning a new way of moving and 'learning' a new style?

where I'm coming from is probably a belief that as an individual your have your own 'style' and that you best develop by taking elements of other peoples moves and movements and incorporate that into your own way of moving .....

OK ... on reflection I think maybe I was wrong to say you can't learn style but at the back of my mind I still feel it works best when you modify your inate style rather than simply overwriting it with someone elses way of moving.

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Yes, on re-reading what you said, I think I understand what you meant. We all have a natural way of moving (which you call inate style?), and some moves and Style elements will fit in better than others.
But from my own experience and also from seeing people changing their style radically I believe it is possible to learn a completely new way of moving, though obviously, not all styles will be accessible to everyone and usually takes time and a lot of work! :really:

Franck.

Well with 17 votes cast the results to date are interesting. Not sure how statisticaly significant the sample so far is but I'm pretty surprised by the low showing of airsteps and lindy classes (though also quite relieved!).

The strong showing of the desire for a latin/salsa workshop is not surprising ... though there are few instructors I'm aware of that can pull such a class off well .... V&L being among that chaste few.

As for the Club and Up Close and Personal interest .... well, watch this space :wink: :wink: :wink:

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Originally posted by Gus
As for the Club and Up Close and Personal interest .... well, watch this space :wink: :wink: :wink:

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Nice one!! thats the 2 i voted for :D

I still think if you had just put "general style" in the poll it would have been way out front. I think when you start mentioning specific style ie: Latin,Club,Blues, etc, then people automatically assume you do Latin to Latin music, Club to club music, blues to Blues music etc. Although there's probably loads of these moves that are versatile, i can't imagine anything worse than someone getting all funky to "Let there be Love" or throwing in a load of Mambo steps to "Mack the Knife" :sick:

Point is that people are dancing to so many different tracks, not just within their own class, but if they are travelling to different venues. Most of them quite happy sticking at intermediate but looking for moves to add that extra something something :wink:
I'm not really sure they'd be so keen as to go to individual workshops for each track though. A general workshop with a bit of this, an' a bit of that would probably be more appealing.

OK i know there are a few addicts quite prepared to attend each and every workshop going, but thats not always fesible to everyone. Or maybe they would like to learn a little latin, but don't fancy spending all day doing it. And i know there's the people who would rather do all blues workshops and nothing else, but i think for the majority, a good mix of stylish, anyone can do,throw them in any track, dazzle your partner moves would be the most popular.

But thats just my opinion :)

filthycute x x

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Originally posted by filthycute
OK i know there are a few addicts quite prepared to attend each and every workshop going, but thats not always fesible to everyone. Or maybe they would like to learn a little latin, but don't fancy spending all day doing it.

But thats just my opinion :)

filthycute x x

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Well ... and I honestly didn't pay you to say the above ... but the workshops I run do tend to be more 'samplers' i.e. 1 hour on a particular topic. The reason for this is simple ... loads of feedback from dancers telling me that after a couples of hours they start to stop taking stuff in. Hence, back to my old traning skills days ... keep the sesions shorter, sharper and more focused. Seems to work.

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Originally posted by Gus
Well ... and I honestly didn't pay you to say the above ... but the workshops I run do tend to be more 'samplers' i.e. 1 hour on a particular topic. The reason for this is simple ... loads of feedback from dancers telling me that after a couples of hours they start to stop taking stuff in. Hence, back to my old traning skills days ... keep the sesions shorter, sharper and more focused. Seems to work.

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looks like you gotta plan.
Good thinking Batman! :D


filthycute x x

Anyone (Franck) :yum: shed any light on to why is it that it's saying i've posted on here...at various times of the day yesterday.....when i wasn't even online? I use AOL so i've not been voting.

Puzzled filthycute :confused: x x

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Originally posted by filthycute
Anyone (Franck) :yum: shed any light on to why is it that it's saying i've posted on here...at various times of the day yesterday.....when i wasn't even online? I use AOL so i've not been voting.

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Puzzled myself, but it seems that every time someone voted on the poll, the software would bring the thread up in the New posts, adding your name as the last person to post on this thread... :sad:
I am not sure there is a fix, but at least now that I have replied, it will say that I keep posting ! :nice:

Franck.

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Originally posted by Franck
Puzzled myself, but it seems that every time someone voted on the poll, the software would bring the thread up in the New posts, adding your name as the last person to post on this thread... :sad:

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I'd noticed this before, but strangely it doesn't seem to do this on the main summary page: If a poll thread really does contain the latest post in a forum, but is also subsequently updated by voting, the summary page will not flag a new post, and will retain the timestamp of the "real" post, whereas displaying that forum or searching for new posts will contain the timestamp of the latest vote. This suggests to me that the software must at least be retaining the information which would allow a fix for this bug.

I trust this additional insight is completely useless :wink:

Guys,

this poll has not been for nothing.

A workshop covering some of the main requirements; Club jive, Close moves and Drops, is going to take place in Glasgow. Have a look at the Social Forum for further details.

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Originally posted by Wendy

Have just done Smooth Grooves (wow !!! a workshop made in Heaven - thanks again H and Kirsty !! and all those lovely friendly folk in Aberdeen !!! I'll be back ....)

New, complicated moves can be great fun to learn but I have to rely on a guy to put them into practice...(remember all that stuff covered in that men vs women thread of yesteryear ?? )

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Smooth Grooves was heaven indeed. A lot of the arm movements were so simple but so effective. We had a couple of the moves incorporated into the classes at Aberdeen and that was brilliant as it gave us a chance to go over the moves again. It is so easy to forget a move unless you use it pretty soon after learning it. I think it's an excellent idea to drop in one or two moves from a style workshop into a many classes as possible.

I love the bluesey moves too, soooooooo smooth :wink:

Cheers

Sandy