People who only practice or take partnerwork classes

[n00bdancer]

I posted recently that footwork classes often feel like just learning choreography, but I honestly take that back.


I still think you can get many of the same benefits by drilling core steps (basics, Suzy Qs, tap steps, flares, etc.) to fast music. That said, taking a shines class is simply more enjoyable, and practicing alongside other people has its own value.


I’ve noticed that a lot of dancers only take partnerwork classes. Personally, I think that often leads to becoming someone who knows a lot of figures but isn’t actually a well-rounded dancer.


As a lead, I find that some of the follows who only take partnerwork can follow more advanced patterns, but their weight transfer, balance, and overall movement aren’t as strong. The same applies to leads. Weight transfer and balance are fundamental to dancing well, and partnerwork alone doesn’t develop those skills as effectively.


One thing I’ve noticed is that many dancers can comfortably execute advanced partnerwork combinations, but when they walk into a shines class, they struggle to keep up with the footwork.


I understand why some people avoid shines classes. They often cover a lot of material in a short time, and it can feel overwhelming to remember all the steps. But at the same time, I’ve seen plenty of dancers doing advanced partnerwork who still don’t execute basic footwork cleanly.


For me, I don’t see myself taking only a partnerwork class anymore unless I’m also taking a shines or body movement class that day—or unless I’m skipping it because I’m going to a social later.


I think people eventually start viewing shines classes as optional because partnerwork mostly uses basic footwork, while partnerwork classes seem more immediately practical.


My view is the opposite: shines are essential. You need to know how to move well on the dance floor, not just how to execute flashy combinations with a partner.

 

[combo]

I posted recently that footwork classes often feel like just learning choreography, but I honestly take that back.

I still think you can get many of the same benefits by drilling core steps (basics, Suzy Qs, tap steps, flares, etc.) to fast music. That said, taking a shines class is simply more enjoyable, and practicing alongside other people has its own value.

As a lead, I find that some of the follows who only take partnerwork can follow more advanced patterns, but their weight transfer, balance, and overall movement aren’t as strong. The same applies to leads. Weight transfer and balance are fundamental to dancing well, and partnerwork alone doesn’t develop those skills as effectively.

I think people eventually start viewing shines classes as optional because partnerwork mostly uses basic footwork, while partnerwork classes seem more immediately practical.

My view is the opposite: shines are essential. You need to know how to move well on the dance floor, not just how to execute flashy combinations with a partner.

I doubt many here would disagree with you, especially the bolded parts. You're going to forget partner work, but the skills required for Shines boost dance competency, even if you don't remember them.

 

[n00bdancer]

I doubt many here would disagree with you, especially the bolded parts. You're going to forget partner work, but the skills required for Shines boost dance competency, even if you don't remember them.

Yeah, I honestly forget a lot of the steps from my shines classes even after getting the sequence in class. For some reason, they just don't stick in my long term memory.

A lot of people either don't take these classes when they should or take them and don't put much effort.

My studio used to just have level 0 classes where'd you learn the basic step, right turn, left turn, and suzy-qs, etc. and then there were shines classes that started at level 1. However, even the shines classes would be pretty overwhelming for newcomers because they would start to do a bunch of tap steps, syncopated steps, etc, and would cover a sequence with a fair amount of different steps together in one class. The class would teach a legitimate choreo.

Later, people complained that these classes were too difficult and they started offering a fundamental steps class where you would learn a bunch of classical steps in a syllabus so advanced beginner / intermediate classes were more manageable. Yet, these classes didn't even have high attendance so they started offering less of it.

Even though at the point these were offered, I was already comfortable with shines, I still took the fundamental steps class and honestly which my studio offered these my first 2 months instead of figuring things out by continuously taking shines classes. And these classes helped a lot even though executing the steps in the classes weren't necessarily challenging.

I find that the people who either don't take these classes or don't put in effort, aren't really good to dance with in partnerwork - I can mostly speak for followers as a lead but it's the same for leads. Like there's a pretty significant difference trying to lead a more advanced partnerwork sequence on a follower who still have pretty choppy steps and poorer weight transfer. As you would expect, when they started taking the classes or trying harder, I started seeing improvements in their partnerwork.

Honestly, not sure how you can call yourself a dancer when you only practice partnerwork. The only reason I feel competent even as a fairly new dancer because I have clean basics. If I hadn't done that much footwork, I think I would know moves, but not be good to dance with.