strathspey@strathspey.org:44015

Ian Brockbank

RE: Please consider this

Feb. 1, 2006, 11:27 a.m. (Message 44015, in reply to message 43905)

Hi Margaret,

> They are going because it's a _workshop_ and they need work on their
> _skills_, not a larger repertoire of dances.

There are so many dances out there that the emphasis should be on learning
dancing, not dances.  By which I mean learning the standard figures and
steps and how to fit them together.  If you take that approach, and don't
try to remember individual dances as whole units, it really doesn't matter
whether the skills are taught in the dance from the evening or in a
different dance, since they are transferable.  In fact, the skills may be
_better_ taught in a different dance which allows the figure to be
concentrated on better.

If I went to a workshop and dance, and the workshop was just a teaching
session for the dances from the evening, I would feel cheated.  The reason I
go to workshops is to learn new figures/techniques and get a different
perspective from that given by my usual teacher.  I don't learn dances to
add to my repertoire - I learn figures.  That way what I learn is useful
even if I never do the dance again.

Having said that, in Edinburgh we usually have two dances in the evening
dance following our day school nominated as "Teacher's Choice" - the idea
being that this is a chance to try out one of the dances from each class in
a social setting.

Cheers,

Ian Brockbank
Edinburgh, Scotland
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