Chris Stratton
02-10-2005, 02:42 PM
Comments on MAC (and dancing in general) from a judge posted on the NYUSABDA forum;
{link removed - url no longer in service}
An interesting quote:
Dancing reasonably well will take a little bit of talent and knowledge, and lots of practice. If you want to move up the ladder, search for true knowledge (i.e., foundation of movement), and increase your practice time. Please don't confuse styling and new fads for knowledge as they will only take you so far.
Newbies: Don't be fooled by a display of splash or fancy-looking steps. Yes, it may look exciting and fun but most of the time that’s all it is: splash. We the judges have the experience and the eye and cannot be fooled. If you want to have fun then you should aim at social dancing and it is wonderful to do so. But if you want to compete and be proficient, you have to be patient and learn your foundation. Building a foundation takes time, and it is not about learning steps. Any teacher or any amateur can teach you steps in a matter of one lesson, but it takes knowledge, patience and work to develop into a great dancer.
Stephen Hillier, my Coach for 20 years and World Champion, told me this story: “Stanley, from the age of 8 to 12, all I was allowed to work on in England, again and again, was to be on my feet.” In other words, he was given a simple routine like the waltz 3/8 turns to the right and 3/8 turns to the left and close changes as a linking figure. He then developed great feet and how to use them properly … and the rest is history.
My personal reaction is that this is pretty much what I believe, but the real world (including some parts of MAC) doesn't always put such a simple cause-> effect relationship on display.
{link removed - url no longer in service}
An interesting quote:
Dancing reasonably well will take a little bit of talent and knowledge, and lots of practice. If you want to move up the ladder, search for true knowledge (i.e., foundation of movement), and increase your practice time. Please don't confuse styling and new fads for knowledge as they will only take you so far.
Newbies: Don't be fooled by a display of splash or fancy-looking steps. Yes, it may look exciting and fun but most of the time that’s all it is: splash. We the judges have the experience and the eye and cannot be fooled. If you want to have fun then you should aim at social dancing and it is wonderful to do so. But if you want to compete and be proficient, you have to be patient and learn your foundation. Building a foundation takes time, and it is not about learning steps. Any teacher or any amateur can teach you steps in a matter of one lesson, but it takes knowledge, patience and work to develop into a great dancer.
Stephen Hillier, my Coach for 20 years and World Champion, told me this story: “Stanley, from the age of 8 to 12, all I was allowed to work on in England, again and again, was to be on my feet.” In other words, he was given a simple routine like the waltz 3/8 turns to the right and 3/8 turns to the left and close changes as a linking figure. He then developed great feet and how to use them properly … and the rest is history.
My personal reaction is that this is pretty much what I believe, but the real world (including some parts of MAC) doesn't always put such a simple cause-> effect relationship on display.