>Some of us, at the practice tonight, didn't have much to do after Andrew's
>lesson. Very few beginner-level dances were played, and instead, dances
>like the tango, samba, quickstep, and others were played.
Actually, there were as many foxtrot, hustle, swing, and cha-cha, and
salsa (all taught in beginner level courses this semester) as there were
samba/tango/quickstep. In fact, since two of each were played, there were
more beginner dances than non-beginner dances.
>I spoke to another
>beginner, who's taking the Monday class, and none of the dances were taken
>from that class' repertoire, which includes rhumba, waltz and swing (or,
>maybe there was a little swing at the beginning).
I have to say you're just plain wrong on this point. I remember dancing at
least 2 swings, and I didn't come in until half way through the "quickie."
Given the variety of dances that people come to practice, it is not fair to
load up solely on any given dance (this is in spite of the fact that I'm a
big fan of swing, by the way). The beginner classes usually cover swing,
waltz, foxtrot, cha-cha, hustle, and salsa. Of these, only waltz was not
played tonight. I will concede it was odd not to have a waltz, and it would
have been nice to have a rhumba (not usually offered at the beginner level,
by the way) but you can't fit every dance in every time. There were at
least two of each of the others.
>From what I could tell, about a third of the people
>there tonight were beginners. In the future, please play more of the
>dances that beginners are familiar with.
See points above. Part of why some dances get left out is due to the fact
that an attempt *is* made to include dances from all of the begginer
classes, not just any particular class (like monday's rhumba/swing/waltz).
It is extremely rare to have more than 2 of any dance on a given night, and
even so, they can't get to everything.
At the same time, you're right that tonight's practice wasn't for beginners
-- it was for EVERYONE. Its not fair to people who have been dancing a long
time to only be able to practice dances that have been taught at the
beginner level. I personally don't have a clue in quickstep or tango, but I
don't begrudge those who do the chance to practice. I really think that
they do a fair mix -- and this is as someone who really only knows the
"beginner" dances.
>In addition, I'm sure a number of us would also appreciate it if someone
>would announce what dance is currently on.
This actually is something that I agree with. Until beginners get used to
the music, whoever's running the practice tape should be announcing the type
of dance being played. I know that someone had actually written the order
of dances on the backs of the tapes used over the summer. If these are
still around, it would be nice.
Mike