March 13, 2006, 1:54 p.m. (Message 44673, in reply to message 44668)
Whereas I agree with you idea, I don´t with your example. Cumberland is the last dance I would want to introduce to beginners. To get a good foundation and sense of dancing, phrasing, and music, why would one want to start with a dance with a 6 bar figure splitting a 4 bar phrase? I say this as one who has been teaching SCD since the 60´s, and have noticed that the early focus on the exceptions and fiddly bits, is what not only turns off potential danceers, but infects those who continue, in that they fail to develop and trust an instinct that says there is a pattern here. There was a psych study that proved how any reinforcement positive or negative can work if consistant, but inconsistant reinforcement tended to cause problems. Even child abuse is an effective teaching method of consistant. To carry this allusion farther, the societal problems to day have more to do with inconsistant reinforcement that breeds distrust.