Counting out loud

L

Lawndart

Changui
Hi All,

Do you count out loud when you dance in class. I guess in a club or social it does not matter unless you are shouting :eek:. But in classes I do without thinking about it. I think I must be a bit OCD. Dancing or not, I count out music all the time. But silently.

I've had a couple of followers count "at" me. And its extremely annoying.

And one particular follower has asked me to count out loud for her.

Anyway, I'm wondering if anyone finds it annoying.

Thanks
Mitch
 
Lawndart said:
I've had a couple of followers count "at" me. And its extremely annoying.
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I believe you already have the answer. :P



Why do you insist on counting verbally? I mean, if you are counting just for your own benefit, you can do it much better just counting inside your own head.
 
Counting in a class is OK. Outside of class it is generally not OK unless you have both discussed it. If my partner starts counting out loud I usually take it as a judgement that I am not dancing to the beat of the music. I will just say that that is usually not the case and if I am off the music I already know it. Teaching should be in class otherwise a different etiquette applies.
 
there are some people who counts out loud not for their partner but for themselves. they count silently so you can barely hear them but can see that they are counting.

I tell them not to count but try to rely on my timing.
And counting doesnt improve timing. you can keep counting for a long time and still have timing issues. this is what I see in a couple of girls in my scene.
 
I think some leeway should be given here to beginner/improver dancers. Finding the beat is hard to start with, and a bit of counting out loud is understandable (I think).

When I was getting the hang of dancing on 2, one of the girls told me she would find the beat by watching my lips move(!)
 
I do count for fun sometimes, sometimes to make point and sometimes to relieve stress from the follow, who's worried if she's doing it "right". Also for myself if I try unorthodox timing. I do it silently then.
 
Cross-posted with olamalam.

olamalam said:
I tell them not to count but try to rely on my timing.
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Hmm. I know one or 2 girls that will have a go at dancing on2, and will count out loud when doing so.

I'd rather they did that and got into the feel of breaking on2 to the music, rather than either lapse into dancing on1, or ignore the music and just follow my lead...
 
I should also say that I don't mean I'm loud. It's barely audible. Until last week I was not even aware of it. An instructor pointed it out.

A different case is when a beginner is clearly lost. I will sometimes count out loud until she finds the beat. Or until it becomes obvious that she won't find the beat.

I almost never instruct unless asked otherwise.
 
Once in class, before teaching the partnerwork, the instructor told us to loosen up by social dancing for one song. I danced with one guy (who is in a lower level than me), who would count at times during the song. Afterwards he "corrected" me by telling me I should be counting. I got a bit annoyed and told him I was counting in my head. He told me, "Well you have to be counting out loud." I don't mind counting when there is no music on, or we are learning something in class, but if we're social dancing for fun, I'm not gonna count out loud, c'mon now.
 
I've come across a couple of "directors" in class. Stand here... turn now... move now. Its very distracting. I try to ignore it with beginners. I just figure its nerves.

I wish more instructors would request that beginners refrain from instructing. It would probably save some marriages. :razz:


QueenV said:
Once in class, before teaching the partnerwork, the instructor told us to loosen up by social dancing for one song. I danced with one guy (who is in a lower level than me), who would count at times during the song. Afterwards he "corrected" me by telling me I should be counting. I got a bit annoyed and told him I was counting in my head. He told me, "Well you have to be counting out loud." I don't mind counting when there is no music on, or we are learning something in class, but if we're social dancing for fun, I'm not gonna count out loud, c'mon now.
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Do whatever you want. If it helps, go for it. If they do, go for it. This is absurd to have so many harsh rules. I count, clap, do whatever I want.
 
OK... this counting has to stop. :eek: I just watched a video of myself. I look like I'm chewing a great big wad of tobacco. :shock:
 
olamalam said:
I tell them not to count but try to rely on my timing.
And counting doesnt improve timing. you can keep counting for a long time and still have timing issues. this is what I see in a couple of girls in my scene.
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Well said.

Counting annoys me even in class, because I don't listen to music that way, and counting makes me not listen to the music. It annoys a bit in the same way as when you have a movie in English with also subtitles in English: unnecessary distraction. But I know of course that in the class you have to count, so I accept it. But I don't like it.

Another thing is that the instructor is often counting off-time. Many a instructor will count the beats like 1,2,3 and then concentrate on someone, whereby they lose the beat, and the 4 then comes much later. But this happens when there's no music playing, but it's still annoying that they stretch the bars this way.
 
Lawndart said:
Hi All,
Do you count out loud when you dance in class. I guess in a club or social it does not matter unless you are shouting ...Anyway, I'm wondering if anyone finds it annoying.
Click to expand...

Hi, Mitch,

I don't count aloud, and only occasionally do I count silently in my head - for things like 'festival enchulfa' in ruedas it's probably recommended. I certainly don't mind my partner in class counting out loud - I appreciate that she is taking the class seriously, and react by trying to concentrate more on what we're doing.

Counting aloud in social dancing is a completely different matter and would be taken (in my local scene) as crude criticism of the other partner's timing.

Personally, I am still smarting from embarassment from a comment made to me last week by a partner who accused me of 'dancing on 5' (rather than on 1). I'm sure she was right; and in my defence all I can say is that the music was from the genre I call 'tricky timba'. :oops: It's definitely a sensitive issue.

Regards
HalfMan.
 
HalfMan said:
Personally, I am still smarting from embarassment from a comment made to me last week by a partner who accused me of 'dancing on 5' (rather than on 1).
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A Cuban (i.e. nationality not just dance style) instructor in our area often uses the 5 as a 1, and it doesn't seem to stop him from being a pretty decent dancer. In that dvd I said I'd lend you there's a very good casino demo from 2 Cubans, and part way through they do the same thing. If that's your only fault then that lady should stop moaning.
 
One of my teachers, a Cuban often has us dancing on 5. He even teaches some patterns which incidently swap between the 1 and the 5. I really dislike that because it feels wrong, but I try to adapt as it makes me more flexible.
 
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