In class when we yell out “change partners” I always get a real kick out of the chatter that goes along with saying goodbye to one partner, and hello to another. I can hardly make out actual words but generally I can see smiling faces and more often than not nervous giggles and raucous laughter! This is why I love teaching!!
What breaks my heart tho, is when I hear introductions like “hi my name is Sarah, this is so hard, I suck so bad..” Its too easy to forget, that dancing is challenging, fun, but also kinda crazy to get used to, and for so many of you, its still very new!!
Ive never yelled at a student for not picking up the foot work fast enough, or for turning the wrong way, I have been pretty stern when someone is doing something dangerous (hard to do in beginners class but still possible), or when someone is just plain not doing what we are trying so hard to teach (perhaps cos they are too busy chatting..) so I hope the fear of “getting it wrong” does not come from me!
The thing I love the most about swing dancing, is the fact that its actually pretty hard to do it wrong! I’m not lying at the end of class when I say that as long as you’re doing your foot work, you’re not making a mistake, you are inventing a variation!! Seriously, there are a hand full of “rules” and plenty of helpful tips to get things looking and feeling good, but after that, necessity is the mother of invention, which brings me to the other phrase that breaks my heart... “You’re doing it wrong”.
At higher class levels we go into quite a lot of detail about how peer to peer feedback should be offered and received, but why wait till then to share some secrets to making you a better dancer.
Personally I think the key is to ask good questions, heck not even good questions, any questions!! I know it can be scary to ask a question in front of a bunch of people you’ve never met before (sometimes worse still, people you have seen before who you think are better dancers than you!!), but a question asked is a problem solved.
A way to make asking questions in class a little less scary could be along these lines:
- Avoiding pointing out you think someone is “doing it wrong”, really, your main point of class is to make sure you’re getting it right eg “Do you mind showing me again, where is MY hand is on count four?” much nicer than “I think Steve’s hand is wrong, I think it should be on my shoulder but he keeps on putting it in the air”.
If your not brave enough to ask questions in class, grab a teacher after class (all FootNotes teachers are very happy to answer any questions you have!!), its our job to help you become a better dancer so don’t hold back!! Plenty of times I have based entire classes on great questions asked of me after class. In 45 minutes its very easy to skip over handy tips that will help progress your learning, so please feel free to talk to your teachers about any concerns you have!
So if your problems aren’t solved by asking questions, then we have a bit of a situation, but if your problems remain unsolved because you DON’T ask questions, its wise to hold back on giving out too much advise.
All of your FootNotes teachers have had years of experience as students and teachers, I’m not going to lie to you, we have all completed our fair share of “variations” on the dance floor, but unlike dancing, mistakes can be made in teaching. I remember after dancing for only a few weeks, I thought I would be helpful and show a guy who was also new to class how to do the foot work “correctly”. My feedback method was to yell at him and repeatedly kick his rock back foot until he learnt to get it out of the way (this guy is now one of the finest dancers I know, but I honestly cant credit any of that to my peer to peer feedback!). I totally get how easy it is to get swept away in the moment, but kicking and yelling might not work on everyone.
When in class, the polite thing to do is ask someone if they want to hear some feedback, and if they say yes, you should be pretty sure you know what you’re talking about when you offer criticism or advice! Again, rather than saying “you’re doing it wrong”, its usually helpful to offer ONE piece of advice, like “hey lady, I think it might work better if you rock back on your right leg, see how you go”, and don’t forget, everyone is new and learning, by the time that person comes back round to you, please don’t offer more advice, often one thing to think about is enough!!
Outside of class, pretty much the same rules apply, not everyone wants to hear what your opinion is on their dancing, most of the time, most people just wanna have fun and enjoy a dance after class, so the flip side of the feedback coin applies here. After a great dance, be sure to thank your partner, if you are really keen to know, you can ask them for feedback “hey any tips you can offer me?” but really, sometimes, its grand just to enjoy the moment!
Till next time, much love – Relle
*PS – the same guidelines apply between teacher and student, I still get carried away sometimes (ive stopped yelling and kicking), but if ever in class, you feel like you just want one thing to concentrate on, ask your teacher, and if you feel like we are giving you too much to think about, remind them not to yell and kick at you!
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