Recommended Figures for each level in American Style

[tacad]

Nonprogressive figures are annoying to others on the floor (when the dance is not a nonprogressive dance like rhumba), because they block up the flow of dancers who are progressing. There is an argument that starting beginners on exclusively nonprogressive steps makes them clog up the floor and subjects them to being overrun by dancers doing progressive figures.

Thanks Another Elizabeth. (Great shot of your kid, by the way!) One of my favorite dances is a floorcraft nightmare because of this. I consider it to be all part of the adventure. :lol: ( I like the dance because of the fun, festive mood and people. )

 

[lynn]

that's why beginners are told to stay in the middle of the room so they don't cause traffic jams :lol: !

 

[skwiggy]

There is an argument that starting beginners on exclusively nonprogressive steps makes them clog up the floor and subjects them to being overrun by dancers doing progressive figures.

While this is a good argument, sometimes it just isn't practical to start beginners with progressive figures. Sometimes teaching the fundamentals from the ground up requires them to dance non-progressive figures for awhile. I think the mistake comes in when they are not informed about the fact that they might be in the way.

The simple solution is to teach them with a qualifier. For example, "Eventually, this dance will progress around the floor. For now while you're learning the basics which don't move around the floor, I would recommend dancing in the middle of the floor or towards the corners so that you don't get run over by those who are really moving around the floor." That way, they're not caught off guard by all the movement, which can be very overwhelming, and they know how to get the heck out of the way.

 

[Another Elizabeth]

Unfortunately, the "stay in the middle of the room" strategy doesn't work for all dances. If you're in a venue where people dance international foxtrot, everyone is going to converge on the center about three measures into the dance. Most people will dance from the corners in towards the center, and then back out to the corners, on each long side. In quickstep, the open level dancers frequently go to the center to do their hoppy-boppy stuff, then zoom back out to the corners. In either of these dances, beginners will probably be less likely to be run down by keeping to the edges around the long sides, although no place on the floor is really free of other dancers.

 

[tacad]

This explains why I got run down by quicksteppers when I was trying to do a swing dance in the middle. I would have stayed but the follower was chicken.

 

[cl5814]

that's why beginners are told to stay in the middle of the room so they don't cause traffic jams :lol: !

The trouble is just that some people don't realize they are still beginners......sometimes it takes some of the experienced folks to "run the beginner over" to help them realize they are still beginners and should be in the middle of the room. I constantly joke about "traffic tickets" being issued to beginners not dancing in the middle of the room.

 

[cl5814]

This explains why I got run down by quicksteppers when I was trying to do a swing dance in the middle. I would have stayed but the follower was chicken.

So you did the chicken run ? :lol: :lol:

 

[lynn]

The trouble is just that some people don't realize they are still beginners......sometimes it takes some of the experienced folks to "run the beginner over" to help them realize they are still beginners and should be in the middle of the room. I constantly joke about "traffic tickets" being issued to beginners not dancing in the middle of the room.

Yeah, except the studio I go to, the advanced dancers are very polite and are "highly maneuverable" - they can dodge the "beginner clutter" the last second wihtout a sweat so many of the beginner dancers don't know they're actually creating traffic problems for the others. It's kind of scary seeing a whole conglomerate of people stuck together moving very slowly in one area of the floor - quite amusing if you're not on the dance floor and having difficulty weaving through the traffic :lol: !!

 

[sanityhaven]

It seems like there's been some good suggestions for newcomers, what about for other levels of bronze and silver?