Teaching On The Dance Floor
As a dance instructor with well over 25 years of experience I have seen so many people come and go from the dance community that I really thought had the passion to last. One of the main factors I would contribute to their demise or frustration has been the seemingly helpful advise of their peers.
It starts out with an innocent acceptance of a dance. The advanced dancer, with good intentions, wants to help share their knowledge, and starts adjusting the posture, the embrace, dictating the length of steps, the part of the body to engage…. Now the once partner, feels like a charity case and will be afraid to ask anyone again for quite sometime.
Another disturbing factor is the flow of the dance when people are stopping for direction or advice giving. There is constant moving with the line of dance and this is a sure way to block the flow of movement when people stop and adjust their partners.
If asked for help the most gracious way to encourage people is to politely and discretely remove them from the dance floor and take them to a space where they won’t be embarrassed by others and call over the in house instructor or give them one small suggestion. To bombard them with pointers will only confuse them and make them feel overwhelmed.
Everyone wants to see the community grow and become better dancers. Everyone wants to share their knowledge, but there is a time and place for everything.
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