Thread

strathspey@strathspey.org:44667

Previous Message Next Message

Andrea Re

Andrea Re

Teaching and guns (was: Where are the RSCDS???)

March 13, 2006, 12:29 p.m. (Message 44667)

Sorry, I would have replied earlier, but I was busy oiling and loading 
my gun:)

In reply to Campbell's e-mail I would say:

1) probably the long established classes don't welcome new members 
because, and rightly so, they can't be bothered with the Cumberland 
reels and the likes of it. If the group can't be bothered organizing 
beginners' classes, the group is to blame, not the teaching of steps.

2) SCD footwork is easy. No, let me say this better, SCD footwork is 
VERY easy, especially compared to other forms of dancing like ballroom, 
highland, salsa, etc. There are only 5 steps to be mastered and the most 
difficult one (PdB in my opinion) doesn't take years of classical 
training to learn. The proof of what I am saying is that /I/ can do it....

3) The class does only what they are requested to do. If one doesn't 
tackle footwork and since they are beginners they won't know any better 
and they'll do as they are instructed, no more and no less.

It is not so much a matter of keeping standards, but a way of getting 
from A to B in a dance without tripping over. Besides, the steps are 
EASY, so I don't see what the problem is in teaching them. I am not 
saying you should spend 20 minutes per class going over the "close 
behind" in skip change, but a few minutes per class (if it is a class we 
are talking about) won't hurt too much. Indeed, the instructions 
shouldn't be delivered with so much gravitas as if we were trying to 
describe a life or death situation, but even if in a lightweight manner 
delivered they must be. After all, if you were attending a pottery class 
wouldn't you want to be told how to handle clay?
This is selling ourselves short!!

Andrea (fae Dundee)

Previous Message Next Message