Mainstream Class #3

[bjarvis]

Tonight's MS class went pretty well. Nearly all of our newbie dancers missed last Monday's class for one reason or another so most were two weeks out of practice with very little experience in the first place.

We quickly drilled the material they should know, slowed down a bit for the material they missed last week and then introduced this week's material. Fortunately, tonight's new material was relatively light: star thru, split the outside couple, half-sashay/rollaway with a half-sashay, separate around 1|2 and right & left thru.

I was a little more aggressive in moving some bodies around in squares for what appeared to be a more optimal learning experience. We also dragged in Jay W. for a couple of quick demos to help manage the class time. In all, I think this class was a strong success. "Square thru" will need some work, especially with a couple of people, but some intensive drills during breaks and in blocks of time prior to regular classes will help smooth out the issues.

I'm so grateful my pager didn't go off the entire evening.

Comments

[bearfuz.livejournal.com]

Square Thru: You're helping them with the concept of letting go after the pull-by so as not to short-circuit the turning action, right? It always amuses me how some people can't turn in the correct direction, but often that can be blamed on someone's having held on too long, making it hard for (potentially) two of the four people to turn the right way.

Of course, after they've all gotten their muscle memory used to that, you can royally mess them up by doing a sashayed Square Thru, which is just too much for their poor brains. ;-)

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

On nearly all the calls, we keep emphasizing "...and let go!" The snag with square thru is having them *not* turn after the final hand. Some folks get the call instantly, some need some additional practice.