when dancing becomes routine... (and not the other way round)

[elisedance]

or when routines become routine....

How do you keep dancing vital?  After being in the competetive mode for a while routines can become predictable - and after a longer while changing the routines doesn't seem to stir up the same enthusiasm as it did once.  What do you do to keep dancing lively and alive?

[Beachbum]

Try another dance / style / level?

We're still learning silver routines in most dances, so we've not hit the point of dancing ennui.

Perhaps another thread, but how do teachers keep from going nuts with boredom?  How many times can one teach a rumba box to newbs before neuronal collapse?

[elisedance]

Perhaps another thread, but how do teachers keep from going nuts with boredom?  How many times can one teach a rumba box to newbs before neuronal collapse?

LOL!  Probably because its like every other form of teaching - its not what you are trying to teach but how each individual resists, or misunderstands it that makes it interesting

[Bordertangoman]

Perhaps another thread, but how do teachers keep from going nuts with boredom?  How many times can one teach a rumba box to newbs before neuronal collapse?

LOL!  Probably because its like every other form of teaching - its not what you are trying to teach but how each individual resists, or misunderstands it that makes it interesting

"ah the road to become a dancer is paved with a thousand stupidities"

Tao Te Line Step

[elisedance]

Perhaps another thread, but how do teachers keep from going nuts with boredom?  How many times can one teach a rumba box to newbs before neuronal collapse?

LOL!  Probably because its like every other form of teaching - its not what you are trying to teach but how each individual resists, or misunderstands it that makes it interesting

"ah the road to become a dancer is paved with a thousand stupidities"

Tao Te Line Step

I tihnk roads anywhere are similiarly constructed...

[drj]

stop doing routines.

I mean, duh.

[elisedance]

stop doing routines.

I mean, duh.

DING!

brilliant...

Which is what I would LOVE to do...

[Bordertangoman]

ritualise your routines and stop becoming rote....

[elisedance]

ritualise your routines and stop becoming rote....

is that an oxymoron?

[QPO]

I have yet to get bored in our routines.We still have a lot to perfect but I would think that small changes to the routine would be a good start, without too much stress

[Bordertangoman]

ritualise your routines and stop becoming rote....

is that an oxymoron?

I dont know...

[cdnsalsanut]

Videotape you and your partner practicing routines.

I have a friend come out and video my partner and I doing 3 or 4 attempts at all 10 dances. Then I post them on facebook so only she/they (I have 3 different partners; pro am, am, salsa) can see them. Usually out of 30 or so videotapes there will be one or two good ones. The rest are very instructive.

I always see a bunch of things I can work on. I take notes and post them with the video's. Usually tellling my partner what I need to fix in my dancing, so she can remind me. Since I don't have much of a memory.

What were we talking about?

Oh yeah, videotaping. Hmmm I also videotape all the salient points in my lessons. Usually our coach will demonstrate this or that a few times, have us do it seperately and together and at the end of that particular correction I'll videotape her for 5 or 10 seconds demonstrating and talking through what I need to focus on. Now I have a library of technique instruction in all 10 dances, from bronze to open figures.

My coach was very pregnant and didn't want to be videotaped at that time, so I would have her teach us the move, practice it several times, then have her videotape us doing it, while she provided commentary on salient points to be remembered.

It's a bit of a sticky subject these days, videotaping. I try to ensure noone else are in the video's and besides, I don't post them publically anyway. I simply wouldn't choose a teacher who wouldn't let me do this. It's been a wonderful resource and at least I have hundreds reminders on what I'm supposed to be doing, which I reveiw from time to time.

[cdnsalsanut]

Further to that last point. In the last couple of years I've spent thousands of dollars on lessons and the only reminder I have of what's I've been taught is now these videotapes. Interestingly, while reviewing these video's months after the lessons I always see or hear corrections that I didn't quite catch at the time.

I can see why some teachers would not want to be videotaped. There certainly has to be a lot of trust between teacher and student and I can see some poor teachers not wanting their lessons videotaped for fear of giving erroneous information which may later come back to haunt them. I'm lucky enough to have a teacher who knows exactly what she's talking about and having no qualms about the information she gives out.

[Bordertangoman]

I dont want to be videotaped; just shyness; what you remember and take away is up to you