The class was for children age 10-15 who compete every weekend in
Moscow. The class meets 3 nights a week for 2 hours per session. and
it has been meeting for years with the same students and same teacher.
Though this sounds different from what we have, I think part of the format
is still useful.
The class starts with a warmup consisting of aerobic activity, stretching
and basic steps and spins from each of the 10 dances. The warmup
was long, but it 1) motivated the students, 2) prevented injury and 3)
gets you ready to dance so you don't step all over your partner and start
fighting. All athletes so some kind of warmup, and I think dancers should
be no different. A 10 minute warmup might be appropriate for our class.
After warmup, the teacher picked between 2-5 dances to work on (based on
competition performance). He often started with 15-20 minutes or more
of basic technique for one dance. All the students did this as a group
and sometimes in pairs (working on connection). The teacher went around
and corrected.
Then in modern dances, with regular partners, the students worked on
the same syllabus patterns for about 15 minutes. The teacher went around
and corrected each pair. This portion may not be feasible for our class
because it would take a long time for everyone to learn the same syllabus
pattern, and people would forget since we only meet once a month.
The bulk of the class was spent on practicing individual choreography. In
modern, students had their own routines that built on the syllabus warmup
from the previous exercise. In Latin, couples had all different routines.
Couples practiced their routines and the teacher went around and corrected.
It was a very efficient use of time because after the teacher corrects you
you practice that while the teacher is working with someone else.
For DI couples who do not have routines yet, you could either:
1) use a routine that you learned in a DI or Regent class, and maybe
Catherine could spruce up a measure or two of it.
2) take a private lesson. 1 hour will give you a routine to work on. And
it'
s much much easier to learn choreography in a private lesson than in a group!
Plus you will get what you really want!
or
3) perhaps part of the class could be set aside for choreography if that
is what people want. maybe the 1st hour. But, for competition we don't
all want to have the same Latin routines. That would look really weird.
and
4) it would be efficient and team-like if one couple learned a new
step from Catherine or another instructor, and then if other team
members like it, they can ask their fellow team members how to do it.
It wouldn't cost valuable time from a professional teacher. You can
ask a professional to polish it after you have learned where to step.
Back to Moscow, if the teacher saw that several couple made similar errors
, announced it to the class and worked on it as a whole toward the end.
If a partner was absent, the other still danced the routine and received
feedback.
For DI members who want to particpate in the Dancesport class but don't
have partners, you can still participate. You can work on basic technique
alone or maybe Catherine could separate the class into people without
partners who switch around and people with partners who retain their
partners.
Those are my ideas. Any feedback, critique or modifications are welcome
Catherine will be teaching us again on Saturday June 27. To make
the most of this time, we should decide the format and dances of
instruction in advance.
Sheila