Multiple classes a week to progress, or nothing?

MacMoto said:
I also wonder if this may be about how statements should be qualified - with expressions like "not enough to progress" and "to be good". To progress to what? How good is "good"? You took classes with a dance company that travels around the world to perform and teach. Even their student team looks great against a lot of pro teams. Their "good" is "top of the world", and to progress to that level, yes one class a week is probably not enough. But do you need to become that good? It's certainly possible for someone to be far below that level and still enjoy dancing and have a great time on the floor. Most of us fit into that category, even ones that are considered "good" in their own local scenes.
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A very good point! Well said.
 
MacMoto said:
I also wonder if this may be about how statements should be qualified - with expressions like "not enough to progress" and "to be good". To progress to what? How good is "good"? You took classes with a dance company that travels around the world to perform and teach. Even their student team looks great against a lot of pro teams. Their "good" is "top of the world", and to progress to that level, yes one class a week is probably not enough. But do you need to become that good? It's certainly possible for someone to be far below that level and still enjoy dancing and have a great time on the floor. Most of us fit into that category, even ones that are considered "good" in their own local scenes.
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That's a good point, indeed. That's probably why my instructors were giving me that advice to take multiple classes. They probably want their students to reach their level fast, but that probably is not the right goal for me.... at least, not for now.
 
DancingGuy said:
According to my instructors, 1 class is not enough. We've been through this before ad nauseum at another thread.
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Uhm... I can *guarantee* you one class a week is infinitely more than nothing. Yes you can actually improve with one class a week and one social. I'm an instructor.

Sure you won't be awesome overnight, it will take longer, but not taking any classes whatsoever is pointless if you're into salsa.
 
Jag75 said:
Sure you won't be awesome overnight, it will take longer, but not taking any classes whatsoever is pointless if you're into salsa.
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Since I haven't danced in 6 months, I don't know if I'll be into it as I used to be. I gotta take that step onto the dance floor again to find out if I'll still enjoy it. I'll probably be very rusty and back to square one. I sure did screw things up by stopping. I probably should have went to classes once a week just to, at least, maintain the skill I once had even if it wasn't much.
 
Does it take more commitment to continue improving as your become better dancer? Let's say that for beginner dancing once a week allows very slow improvement. Would this change as dancer becomes better? Would the same person improve faster or slower when he/she becomes intermediate and still continues to dance once a week on average?
 
stevensman said:
Does it take more commitment to continue improving as your become better dancer? Let's say that for beginner dancing once a week allows very slow improvement. Would this change as dancer becomes better? Would the same person improve faster or slower when he/she becomes intermediate and still continues to dance once a week on average?
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A very interesting question!

I would say both yes and no; AND that much depends on the individual; AND that it will vary over the time/stage.

The point being that progression is not predictable and not linear. But the obvious still applies... as you get better and better, it will take more effort to make that step up again...

But then, sometimes you improve in bursts... as a result of working on multiple aspects of your dancing, suddenly one night a few of these aspects click in place together and you make a big leap in progress and then as a result of increased confidence, insight into your new found abilities you may then find some other aspects easier to pick up.

So... in short... it depends!
 
suitz said:
A very interesting question!

I would say both yes and no; AND that much depends on the individual; AND that it will vary over the time/stage.

The point being that progression is not predictable and not linear. But the obvious still applies... as you get better and better, it will take more effort to make that step up again...

But then, sometimes you improve in bursts... as a result of working on multiple aspects of your dancing, suddenly one night a few of these aspects click in place together and you make a big leap in progress and then as a result of increased confidence, insight into your new found abilities you may then find some other aspects easier to pick up.

So... in short... it depends!
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Yup. I have nothing I can add to this. Not one word. Great post.
 
LOL the NotDancingGuy doesn't ever go social dancing, so a congress doesn't make that much sense.

For people who do dance socially, a congress is great though ^^
 
stevensman said:
Does it take more commitment to continue improving as your become better dancer? Let's say that for beginner dancing once a week allows very slow improvement. Would this change as dancer becomes better? Would the same person improve faster or slower when he/she becomes intermediate and still continues to dance once a week on average?
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Depends on your goals ; What and how much you have to work on to get where you want.

In the beginning you are only working on a few things; like basics, timing, fundamental moves and leading/following to get social dancing. So progress seems relatively quick.

Often as you improve your eyes are opened to many more possibilities of aspects of dance to work on.

Then depends how good your fundamentals are. If you have to go back and fix a lot of things in order to make the next step. To clean up your technique.

It's hard to work on multiple aspects at a time. The more your focus is split the more work or time it takes ; If you want to work on connection, musicality, styling, body movement, improvisation... this takes time and dedicated focus on each aspect. Especially to improve the quality of what you do rather than just learning new things.

You also need to have a good teacher or guide who can show you the way and the opportunity to apply what you have learned. Much time is waisted with trial-and-error ; you need practice partners and a scene which is conducive to improving in that aspect. It would be harder to learn musicality in a scene with no musical dancers.

1 class a week for a year in a big city like London, LA or NY (ideally with social dancing 3 hours for each class) would more likely produce a better dancer than 1 class a week in the sticks, because with better quality partners you would learn much on the dance floor but some individuals could buck the trend. Especially if you only go to classes and hardly ever social dance.

It would also depend on your natural ability with your body, previous experience with dance in general, how good you are at picking things up and personal dedication.

If you are the kind of person who thinks how best to use that 1 hour a week. If you can do some complementary homework between classes like listening to Salsa, watching videos, practicing the basic (or what you learned in class) for 10 mins a day, it will reinforce and significantly reduce the time to apply it next time. Or you just go along and expect others to do it for you then go home and forget about it until next week.

During partnerwork classes your personal focus could be on the pattern, the technique, quality of basics steps, feeling and moving with the music, connection with your partner, improving body control.. many different things that may not explicitly be the focus of the teaching.

What happens when you are the better dancer on the scene. Who can you improve with if you always have to dance down? You have to find ways around this without alienating your current partners.

Travelling to another scene (or congress) with better dancers may help you get ideas where you should be spending your effort.
 
wildbill20056 said:
It is also full of people attending class once a week and showing their heels to everyone else because they are social dancing their little bottoms off.
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I agree. The value of dancing socially cannot be underestimated. I've found that I often need to devote about 3 hrs of combined social dancing and solo practice for every hour of class instruction to even begin to internalize the material. I find it better to be able to effectively lead a limited number of moves than to rapidly expand my repertoire (by attending many classes a week) without being able to lead anything successfully. I think that being able to lead a move on an "unsuspecting" follower (one that isn't backleading) and in the context of a rhythmically complex song or one that is challenging tempo-wise is a true test of class-content comprehension. Thus, my suggestion is that you go out dancing waaayyyy more often than going to class; besides, it'll be more fun!
 
Just to clarify my situation, the 1-class per week thing was just temporary; it was not something I planned on doing long-term. I've been studying for a bunch of professional licensing exams for my career (which takes MONTHS to study for) and that's why I've been so busy these past several months. Once those finish, I plan to become a hyper-active Salsa dancer again. For now, while I study, I wanted to take 1 class per week just keep myself dancing and to, at least, maintain my Salsa skills while I'm studying. Then when my exams are finished, THEN I will go back to 2+ classes a week. I did not plan on taking 1 class a week for the rest of my life. In fact, I never wanted to because I found Salsa very addicting. :)
 
you should do what you want... not what you teachers want... If you want to take one class a week.. go for it... imo you shouldn't stop dancing all together because the teach says you should take multiple classes...

btw this is the first time I heard that advice... the advice I always heard (and give, because I believe it is true) social dance all you can.. there you can practice..

All classes and no social dancing is like a martial arts training with no sparring.. you learn techniques but you don't get to use them in practice...

just my two cents..
 
DancingGuy said:
I was told that once a week is not enough....PERIOD!! Yes, once a week is fine for my schedule, but if I'm told it's not enough, then I refuse to waste my time with something that is supposedly not enough.



Instructors tell me that 2-3 classes a week is the minimum amount of time a person needs to put in if they want to progress in this type of skill. If I'm going to only go to 1 class a week and it's not enough and therefore, I will not progress, then why should I do it?? .
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Let me give you perspective from teaching group ( and Private ) lessons before any of your teachers were even dancing.

The most important thing in dance instruction is, the CONSISTENCY of the instruction and practice.

Ive managed to create top flite Prof. and Amat. on the 1 lesson a week basis.. with this proviso.. PRACTICE at least 3 hrs per week in any form thats available ( socials or solo ) . Does it take more time ? of course.. but, whats the hurry ? . Learning should NOT be a chore !!

The "sales " pitch that you are being confronted with, and the negative advice, is really not the way to approach prospective students for long term gain.

Everyone has to approach any form of learning, with a schedule that suits the program and the individual.
 
tresto said:
LOL the NotDancingGuy doesn't ever go social dancing, so a congress doesn't make that much sense.

For people who do dance socially, a congress is great though ^^
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In New York there is medium level european salsa congress going on all the time. :)

I visited New York week ago. Quality of social dancing in Club Cache was bit higher than in Scandinavian Salsa Congress on average. In Riga Salsa Festival the level of leaders in parties was definitely much higher than in New York weekly parties. I have also visited St. Petersburg and Taliinn festivals, which are far below of NYC parties.
 
petteri said:
In New York there is medium level european salsa congress going on all the time. :)

I visited New York week ago. Quality of social dancing in Club Cache was bit higher than in Scandinavian Salsa Congress on average. In Riga Salsa Festival the level of leaders in parties was definitely much higher than in New York weekly parties. I have also visited St. Petersburg and Taliinn festivals, which are far below of NYC parties.
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It would be hard, even in a Salsa capital to replicate the intensity of workshops, social dancing, and availability of teaching/performing talent on consecutive days.

You, assuming you go all out, get way less time to over analyse or let nerves get you down.
 
DancingGuy said:
Just to clarify my situation, the 1-class per week thing was just temporary; it was not something I planned on doing long-term. I've been studying for a bunch of professional licensing exams for my career (which takes MONTHS to study for) and that's why I've been so busy these past several months. Once those finish, I plan to become a hyper-active Salsa dancer again. For now, while I study, I wanted to take 1 class per week just keep myself dancing and to, at least, maintain my Salsa skills while I'm studying. Then when my exams are finished, THEN I will go back to 2+ classes a week. I did not plan on taking 1 class a week for the rest of my life. In fact, I never wanted to because I found Salsa very addicting. :)
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Whatever you do re. classes - one per week or 2+ classes - make sure you supplement them with some social dancing! From what you've told us so far, your eventual goal is to be a good social dancer rather than to perform on stage, and I haven't met anyone who have achieved that goal without dancing socially. There are skills that simply cannot be taught in a class setting...

But in the meantime good luck with your exams! Hope all the work you're putting in will pay off so you can start doing fun things again soon :)
 
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