All Corona related issues

[Well Rounded]

Do it. Video it.
Reasons to do it:
The more experience you have in performance/competition-like situations, the better. You not only learn to keep going no matter what, you learn to make it look good while you're doing it. As in, don't make that "teacher, am I doing it right?" face. Or the "darn, I just messed up" face.
The video gives you a chance to see how the non-dance things really show up. Like fidgeting, pulling at your dress, all facial expressions, or lack thereof, and talking with your lips closed (yes, it shows).
Doing all this with other competitive/performance couples on the floor at the same time.
Dancing with full dance, hair and makeup feels different.

If you're comfortable with the level of health risk, it sounds like great experience for the money.

Reasons not to do it:
Health risk.

 

[ProgressNotPerfection]

As in, don't make that "teacher, am I doing it right?" face. Or the "darn, I just messed up" face.
The video gives you a chance to see how the non-dance things really show up. Like ... all facial expressions, or lack thereof, and talking with your lips closed (yes, it shows).

Welllll....hidden by and filtered through a mask. But I still take your point.

 

[Joe]

Of course we can do Solo rounds; and if it’s for the purpose of aerobic conditioning, it’s fine.

That was the context in which rounds were mentioned as a benefit.

 

[fiesta0618]

That was the context in which rounds were mentioned as a benefit.

Not in this thread. Here, the context is whether spending $200 on a fancied-up single round would be a high-value prospect for a Pro-Am dancer.

Partnering and performance are the main ideas, not conditioning. My point was that generic partnering practice is uniquely cheap for an Am-Am dancer, because you don't need to purchase your partner's time and you don't need to adjust to an unfamiliar partner, as at a social event. And that can skew the perception of value.

 

[IndyLady]

Partnering and performance are the main ideas, not conditioning. My point was that generic partnering practice is uniquely cheap for an Am-Am dancer, because you don't need to purchase your partner's time and you don't need to adjust to an unfamiliar partner, as at a social event. And that can skew the perception of value.

I wasn't going to go down this rabbit hole (because I'm sure I will get picked apart), but yeah, this is more accurate. My pro called it "stamina", but in reality, I think it was a connection issue. He was significantly taller than me - I'm short, and I keep ending up with tall, or slightly above-average height pros - so keeping up with him in frame was a challenge, since he pretty much plowed through his part with no give and take or any accommodation. While hissing "chest up!!". (This was largely in Standard, btw). Lo siento, but no amount of solo rounds can significantly mitigate that - that still has to be worked through together.

Should you condition and practice solo? Sure. Is that a solution to not doing rounds with your partner? No.

 

[Joe]

The rounds thing is important. The pro that I competed NDCA with almost *never* did rounds with me - he was one of those types that would stop every 10 seconds (during the lesson) when whatever imperfect thing I did triggered the alarm. I remember telling him during a lesson once, just let us get through this whole routine and DON'T SAY ANYTHING. I think that was the hardest 60 seconds he ever spent with me. Then during/after a comp he would remark that I had no stamina. And I would reply, that's because we never do rounds. Or he would scold me on the comp floor, "what was that?" Well, duh, I screw up all the time in lessons but we always stop when I do. Don't get me wrong, he was a great teacher in a lot of respects, so I "trusted the process", but looking back I should have pushed back harder on this. At my current studio (which he had taught at for a bit, and now disdains), at least we do rounds and lots of run-throughs of Showcase routines, so stamina and recovering from mistakes is not such an issue.

Not in this thread.

Very much so in this thread; in fact on this very page.

 

[fiesta0618]

Very much so in this thread; in fact on this very page.

IndyLady mentioned "stamina" because her coach would blame it for partnering failures, which arose because they so rarely practiced basic partnered rounds. Or so I read it.

As for me, I definitely wasn't taking about stamina, and you responded directly to me.

 

[IndyLady]

I'm going to respectfully request no petty bickering over something I wrote. I suspect it was some tortured inter-connected combination of the two (stamina / partnering) but I'm not going to be cornered into some "gotcha" description so someone can declare victory.

My point was this:

Should you condition and practice solo? Sure. Is that a solution to not doing rounds with your partner? No.

 

[Dr Dance]

First it was the covid19 scare that produced social distancing. Studios were forced to close and income was lost.

Months later, a few competitions tried to rekindle the franchise. Some financially secure studios reopened with health conscious guidelines. Hard core dancers kept the faith alive.

But the hate spawned by election year posturing is further damaging the franchise. Dancers are feeling compelled to join one of two camps that exclude those dancers from the other camp. I have found it to be increasingly difficult to sublimate politics to a lesser important platform than the art of dance.

I refuse to blame one party over the other here (although I am biased and I do have such a personal opinion). All I ask is that dancers view other dancers as people, not as tools for either political party. The best way to ensure the endurance of dance as an art form is to accept people because they are people.

Reject the hate.

 

[Well Rounded]

I miss the times where dance was a place that valued kindness, fun, and inclusiveness. Unpleasantness, divisiveness and controversial topics were left at the door.

 

[fiesta0618]

I miss the times where dance was a place that valued kindness, fun, and inclusiveness. Unpleasantness, divisiveness and controversial topics were left at the door.

To be fair, dance itself still is that way, I think. The unusual thing going on today is that we have a major world event that affects dance quite directly, and that event has become a partisan issue. Absent a pandemic, I don't think the scene would have any notable political divisiveness, since politics and dance don't cross paths much.

The upside being, when the pandemic is over, politics should again recede from view. That won't repair any of the damage done, but it will stop us doing new damage to one another.

 

[Dr Dance]

To be fair, dance itself still is that way, I think. The unusual thing going on today is that we have a major world event that affects dance quite directly, and that event has become a partisan issue. Absent a pandemic, I don't think the scene would have any notable political divisiveness, since politics and dance don't cross paths much.

The upside being, when the pandemic is over, politics should again recede from view. That won't repair any of the damage done, but it will stop us doing new damage to one another.

I hope and pray that you are correct.

 

[Steve Pastor]

You may have heard that there is a bit of tension in down town Portland. I saw some of that truck "convoy" on 205 as I was headed out to the dance place on Saturday.
Nothing much has changed at the country western place, except that the crowd is about 1/4 of what it usually is, and everyone who is on their feet is wearing a mask with close to 100% compliance. (except for the one regular who had his mask on his chin. He was not near me!)

I'm curious, though, about what you all are seing that I'm not.

 

[Dr Dance]

I'm on face book. What I am seeing are dance friends there who have been succumbing to political hate because of their negative focus on "the other party." The propaganda that they share is tiring.

On the one hand, this is their belief and conviction. And everyone has a right to an opinion. Each person has a right to share their beliefs on face book and other social media. But I draw the line when this has evolved into personal attacks on other people (dancers) whose opinions may differ.

Fortunately, there are still those who haven't been too caught up with the hate. These dancers are more "people focused" than "policy focused."

It's difficult to continue with dance training when you are worrying about your job being cancelled, your health being threatened, or other such politically related pressures. This is what I meant by politics decimating the dance industry.

But perhaps... I am being too sensitive. Still... this kind of hate has no place in my life. Life is too short to harbor such negativity.

 

[DanceMentor]

Late 2016 was one of the worst years for me. The company we were building was super busy, and it seemed like for every new customer we gained, we lost one. Then one of our so called customers scammed us out of a few thousand dollars. At the same time it was an election year. A dance friend who I always felt was a nice person started posting crazy things on facebook, and saying terrible things that I didn't even know he was capable of doing. I chose to end our friendship. There were a couple of other episodes like this too.

This weak I unfriended one famous dancer who not only posted outrageous content, but he disrespected others who disagreed with him. I pointed out how poorly his behavior reflected on him, but unfortunately the "hatefulness" virus has gotten to him too for the time being.

But I am a different person than in 2016. I haven't exactly had the best year of my life (though business is booming), but I committed to not letting the election cycle get to me. So far, pretty good.

I think we are all struggling to some degree, but hopefully it is because we see the possibility of a bright future that is possible through our hard work now. I believe things can and will get better.

I am mostly at home every day, helping online customers, exercising multiple times per day, studying two foreign languages, and my social life is mostly talking to people online, often with video.

I miss social dancing and getting massages. I know I will be able to do those things again, but I have also come to terms with needing to work on some other things for a while, and definitely some progress. But again, I really do miss dancing and massages.