Steps Optional ? (Where are the RSCDS???)

redrose_solutions

March 13, 2006, 12:08 p.m. (Message 44666)

Well said!

I think that what we teach and how we teach it should be determined much
more by the particular circumstances in which we find ourselves than a "one
size fits all" approach. If it works for you and your class, do it. If it
doesn't, think of something else.  It's interesting to read that some of
Campbell's dancers are now wanting to do step practice. We see the same process
in Vienna - some people end up clamouring for technique and some will never
be interested - but it doesn't stop us dancing together (most of the time)
and having fun.

Susi

Susi Mayr
Vienna, Austria
xxxx@xxxxxxx.xx.xx

>From: xxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xx.xx
>To: "SCD news and discussion" <xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx>
>Subject: RE: Where are the RSCDS???
>Reply-To: SCD news and discussion <xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx>
>
>At the risk of making myself hugely unpopular, may I venture to suggest
>that the lesson to be learned here is that footwork needs to be downgraded
>to an optional extra in SCD, rather than a qualifying skill.  I shall use
>my own experience to illustrate the point.
>
>I started dancing in the 70s and was taught footwork from the very first
>lesson.  Now some 30 years later I have returned to SCD.  I discovered to
>my dismay that most of the 6 clubs in Cape Town were small and shrinking
>and that new members were unusual.  In my enthusiasm I invited some of my
>friends along but they didnt "stick".  I realised that there was little
to
>hold them as the barrier to proficiency was too high.  Nearly all the
>dancers in the clubs were old and experienced and had little stomach for
>Cumberland Reel and similar easy dances.  There was also the obligatory
20
>minutes of step practice at the beginning of the evening, which seemed to
>serve no purpose as everyone had obviously reached their plateau of
>footwork performance by now and were not particularly interested in
>getting any better.
>
>So I started my own club two years ago, not without opposition, as I am
>not a certificated teacher.  We now have 30 members, which makes us the
>biggest club in Cape Town.  Our footwork is acknowledged by many of the
>other clubs as appalling (the word used), one member of another club
>feeling so strongly about this that she has stopped dancing.  I freely
>admit that it is pretty ropey but Cape Town now has 30 people coming to
>parties and socials that would not otherwise have boosted the SCD numbers.
>The interesting thing is that some of them are beginning to take an
>interest in good footwork and want me to do step practice.  But it has
>come late.  In my beginners classes I always say to the newcomers "Dont
>worry about your feet, walk if necessary, the only thing is to get to the
>right place at the right time".  Heresy I know, but some of the people
>stay and they enjoy themselves hugely.
>
>For those of you happily esconsed in big branches with many around you to
>keep up standards, this might all sound outrageous, but for those of us
on