strathspey@strathspey.org:43926

Colleen Putt

Re: Speaking of Spending Time on Dances . . .

Jan. 29, 2006, 12:39 p.m. (Message 43926, in reply to message 43897)

The West End workshop in Toronto (Mississauga), which is expressly for beginner
and intermediate dancers, asks each of its guest teachers to teach the first
three dances on the programme to the beginner classes: first class, the reel,
second class, the strathspey, the third, the jig. (I might have the order
wrong, but you get the idea.) That way, the beginners have that extra
confidence to take the floor at the evening dance.
For myself, when preparing to teach at a workshop, I look at the evening dance
programme to see what interesting or difficult formations there might be and
take my cue from that. I might not use the ball programme dances, but I'll look
for dances with the same formations, perhaps in a different tempo or with a
variation.
Consultation with the teacher liaison as to what's needed by the local dancers
helps greatly, as well. <grin>
Cheers,
Colleen Putt
Bedford, Nova Scotia