Medal Test Question

[Peaches]

In looking at usistd.org for info about the student medal tests, I ran across something which has got me pretty confused.

For Adult, International ballroom student medal tests...at the bronze level...you're supposed to pick 2 dances plus "slow or fast rhythm." WTH is "slow of fast rhythm?"

[waltzgirl]

I have no idea if it's the same thing, but I have an old British technique book that describes something called "Rhythm," which can be done either fast or slow. The basic step is just a walk, step-close for slow and step-step for fast. It's described as a social dance useful for dancing in crowded nightclubs and ballrooms.

But I can't imagine that anyone is teaching/testing that dance.

[Chris Stratton]

Yes, it's basically the same dance as bronze american foxtrot, but maybe with some different figures. Think of it as a simple setting in which to demonstrate a perfect hold, posture and walking technique with no distractions... which is what a bronze american foxtrot competition amounts to as well.

[madmaximus]

The provision for a slow or fast rhythm is, primarily, to test for the student's ability to keep time to the music.

Or so it was, when I took my medal exams.


The standard was to choose a Foxtrot with a pronounced beat (slow or fast) and dance some bronze American steps.
Nothing risky or flamboyant, just some basic steps with an underarm turn.

This I had to do through my gold exams.

I was told by my examiners then that the test (slow/fast rhythm) had less to do with posture and poise, but my teacher had me try for a strong silhouette anyway--just in case.




m

[Peaches]

Thank you, everyone, for your answers so far.

But, being me, I'm still confused.

If the slow or fast rhythm portion is to test posture/frame/walking technique, then *** are the other 2 dances for? Shouldn't you have good posture/frame/technique while you're dancing the dances you've chosed to be tested on? If not, what are they looking for--that you can execute the steps of a natural spin turn in waltz, for example? Hell, the steps are the easiest part.

Same for the keeping time aspect of it. Um...if you're being tested on dancing at a bronze level, shouldn't you know how to keep time to the music already?

Am I missing something here? Is this a portion that's danced sans partner? (Oh, dear god, don't let that be the case...)

[mummsie]

I have no idea if it's the same thing, but I have an old British technique book that describes something called "Rhythm," which can be done either fast or slow. The basic step is just a walk, step-close for slow and step-step for fast. It's described as a social dance useful for dancing in crowded nightclubs and ballrooms.

But I can't imagine that anyone is teaching/testing that dance.

True but it does happen. I happen to have done both as medal routines some years back. It was quite common in Australia. :-) My teacher doesn't do either of them any more in medal exams. Most commonly used to examine children. Mummsie

[Joe]

The other 2 dances have other things they can test you on--sway, amount of turn in each figure, footwork, etc. The rhythm dances are very basic, with a handful of figures and thus minimal technique to worry about.

[Peaches]

Again, so do the 2 main dances you're supposed to pick. I'd assume you're supposed to have correct sway, rotation, footwork, etc. when you dance your 2 chosen dances. If they want to test on 4 dances, they aught to just say so.

Meh. I suppose I'll never understand this. Might as well stop beating the dead horse. This is stupid. As is the requirement that I have to wear a skirt or a dress. What century are we living in, agaiN?

[Joe]

You said 2 dances, plus slow OR fast rhythm. That's 3 dances, yes?

[Peaches]

Yes, you're correct, that's three.

I'll rephrase...If they want to test on 3 dances, they aught (ought?) to just say so.

[Chris Stratton]

It's an opportunity to focus attention on a few fundamental elements with less overall distraction.

Sometimes a really simple dance is harder - there is nowhere to hide. Just for laughs, try getting various advanced amateurs or even random professionals to demo bronze american foxtrot... bet they can't do it very cleanly.

[tangotime]

Not all soc. ask for this-- however-- think of it as quarter turns lady in line danced with a more compact hold and the speed could be that of an up tempo foxtrot, kinda swingy ( or slower q/step ). the original idea was to promote good floor manners on a crowded dance floor , and still be able to maintain the flow of traffic, and should be danced very rhythmically

[samina]

Can you just take a medal test on all five standard dances with no additional "rhythm" requirements, I wonder?

And is one only tested on the lead OR follow part, or is there a "full" medal test that tests your knowledge of both?

[tangotime]

Can you just take a medal test on all five standard dances with no additional "rhythm" requirements, I wonder?

Yes

And is one only tested on the lead OR follow part,

Yes


or is there a "full" medal test that tests your knowledge of both?

No




Rhythm is a required part of the Assoc. level exam for Prof.

Medal tests are designed to test the students proficiency as a dancer , in the level being examined .

[Corne]

Wondering if anyone attempted the (bronze) medal test since we started talking about this ? Anyone have any information to add to this thread ?

[Josh]

Well, one of my students took the istd bronze medal test recently. She did all 5 standard dances (plus the slow and quick rhythm as required). She got high honors (85 or higher on all dances), and was glad that she did it. It wasn't a specific goal that we had set, but she decided to do it anyway and she had a good time and did well.

It was set up as such: two dances per "test" (I think it was waltz and quickstep together, and tango and foxtrot together, but I can't remember how it was done for sure), and one single dance (viennese). Plus the slow and quick rhythm. We danced it as just a regular round: slow and fast rhythm, then straight into WTVFQ. So she got three certificates: one for 2 dances, one for the other 2, and then one for viennese.

The examiner for the test has written an article on the istd web site about slow and fast rhythm, and I will link to it here:

Rhythm Dancing (http://www.usistd.org//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=73&Itemid=61)

The essence is that her preference is not simply bronze american foxtrot figures, but rather more quickstep-ish figures, which, granted, are a bit similar to foxtrot. She wants to see quarter turns, heel pivots, chasse reverse turns, and the like. But basically, it's just to test the ability to dance in a relaxed, compact hold and dance on beat, in a small space.

[Josh]

And is one only tested on the lead OR follow part, or is there a "full" medal test that tests your knowledge of both?

The student medal tests only examine dancing; there's no theory portion, so you don't have to demonstrate knowledge of anything, only dancing. The Professional Examination tests theory and practical demonstration for the four dances (no viennese, and dancing only for the slow and fast rhythm), for both roles.

[tangotime]

The Professional Examination tests theory and practical demonstration for the four dances



.

Assoc. level exams for prof. do not include theory.. demo. of the " 4 ", also , technical explanations on mens and ladies figures in Br. syllabus ( ladies are required to dance as man )

[Angel HI]

The student medal tests only examine dancing; there's no theory portion, ....

Bummer, the TC student medal tests do, though. I believe it is good to do this.

[Josh]

Assoc. level exams for prof. do not include theory.. demo. of the " 4 ", also , technical explanations on mens and ladies figures in Br. syllabus ( ladies are required to dance as man )

It does include theory. If you are differentiating between "technical explanations" and "theory" ... on the sheet of paper with my marks, there is a two column table with my scores and rows for each dance, and the headings of the table are labelled "Demonstration" and "Theory" ... It is not merely a parrot-like repetition of information, even for the Associate exam. The examiner has a conversation and examines your working knowledge of the material, not simply to find out if you memorized it or not. It goes far beyond "technical explanations", with many questions to me being about practical teaching methods based on my working experience.

Also, men as well as ladies are required to dance both parts.

[Josh]

Bummer, the TC student medal tests do, though. I believe it is good to do this.

I think it is not a bad idea, particularly if the student would be asked to demonstrate footwork, and alignments, and have a basic understanding of major types of rise and fall. Labels given for foot positions, while important, can sometimes be too much information for students to ever learn (Change of direction in foxtrot being a good example: step 2 - "RF diagonally forward, right side leading, then LF closes to RF slightly forward without weight", or something similar) ... the information is important for the teacher to know so that he/she can impart it to the student, but the verbage is not, for the student to know--ditto that for some verbage on footwork, ala differences in footwork for various kinds of heel pulls in different situations/dances.

I think maybe the reason behind why it's not required is that the student is primarily concerned with dancing, not teaching, and thus while a working knowledge of technique is all but required for the advanced student, being able to verbalize that for a theoretical portion of an exam is not really so important for the student, and the student must always be a good dancer first and foremost.

[Angel HI]

(Change of direction in foxtrot being a good example: step 2 - "RF diagonally forward, right side leading, then LF closes to RF slightly forward without weight", or something similar) ... the verbage is not, for the student to know--ditto that for some verbage on footwork, ala differences in footwork for various kinds of heel pulls in different situations/dances.

I totally agree...unnecessary for a student. Incidentally, the TC exams theory part is usually a "very" general 10 - 15/20 written portion; not verbalized, anyway.