Thoughts on Performances Courses

Have you done a performance course?

  • Total voters
    19
olamalam said:
speaking of benefits, i think its worth mentioning performing a non-salsa show. considering the weaknesses of the dancer, s/he might benefit more from another dance if improvement is what s/he is looking for. hip hop could be for better body movement for instance.
i'm hoping to do a modern dance performance, one of the reasons is i think it improves flexibility, balance and spinning.
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Off topic note: I am glad you have adopted the "s/he" expression :) (assuming you saw it in my posts?)--I learned it from a professor my first semester of college and I really liked it for when needing to refer to female or male. It is much nicer than "he/she" or "they".
 
londongirl said:
lol, my main issues with performance groups are that i) 80% of them all look the same, and ii) the costumes are sexist...seriously why put all the women on stage in underwear covered by a tiny bit of lace? sigh.
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Hey, don't bash the best aspect of performance dancing! :p
 
The reality is that if you join a performance group run by a skilled dancer and good choreographer and train and perform multiple times, in an aesthetic sense your dancing will dramatically improve, providing you continue regular social dancing. In fact your dancing will improve in many ways as you will be training many things that you tend to neglect when simply social dancing, such as clean footwork and sharp movements. Your posture and lines will look better, and small aesthetic touches such as pointing your toes in certain instances will happen more naturally.

My advice, if your goal is to become the best dancer you can be, is to take group classes, go regular social dancing, take privates, and join a performance group. I'm certainly glad I did all those years ago :-)
 
Sabrosura said:
Off topic note: I am glad you have adopted the "s/he" expression :) (assuming you saw it in my posts?)--I learned it from a professor my first semester of college and I really liked it for when needing to refer to female or male. It is much nicer than "he/she" or "they".
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i'm afraid not :) i'm also using it from college times.
you are a good searcher, you can find some of my posts that i've used s/he before you joined SF ;)
 
Jag75 said:
My advice, if your goal is to become the best dancer you can be, is to take group classes, go regular social dancing, take privates, and join a performance group. I'm certainly glad I did all those years ago :)
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Luckily, my path was the same as yours. However, I realised that there was a lot of inefficiencies and I could have achieved the same level in a much shorter amount of time if I didn't do a performance course. Since my focus then and now is still on the social dancing aspects and I thought that performance groups will help. To an extent it did, but there was many draw backs.

In a world of limited time, it is good to understand what the pro's and cons are of each product and to choose most appropriately.
 
toan-hoang said:
I think the majority of people really don't know what to expect, hence the purpose of the article. Most people, from what I have seen, believe that it is the next step in their journey and sign up with hazy expectations and finish without the best possible experience.

People may want to get better at dancing, sharpen themselves, or maybe just spend time with one of there idols.
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One benefit I don't think was mentioned is learning better musicality. IF the instructor is a good choreographer, you get to see how moves are matched to phrases in the music, and this can help with one's social dancing. You're also practicing to the same song for 10-12 weeks, so you get to know it in-depth.
 
Wait, are we talking about a performance 'group' or 'course'? To me, a 'group' goes on indefinitely, while a 'course' or 'class' is usually 2-3 months.
 
SnowDancer said:
Wait, are we talking about a performance 'group' or 'course'? To me, a 'group' goes on indefinitely, while a 'course' or 'class' is usually 2-3 months.
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I don't think there are many permanent "performance groups" in London like there are in the US (such as the student teams of Santo Rico, Yamulee, etc.). When they refer to a "performance group" I think London people mean the same thing as a "performance class".
 
Sabrosura said:
I don't think there are many permanent "performance groups" in London like there are in the US (such as the student teams of Santo Rico, Yamulee, etc.). When they refer to a "performance group" I think London people mean the same thing as a "performance class".
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Indeed, there are some schools where you can do course after course, but they are not progressive, and people do dip in a out. I think it is one of the reasons we are not that strong in terms of performing. In most other countries people stay dedicated to the same team for an extended period.
 
I liked your article.
Mainly because I did exactly what you described. Danced for about about 2+ years and then did a performance group.

I benefited from the group most in terms of posture and body movement. I wanted every move to look perfect on video. I wanted my shoulders back, my frame strong, my moves crisp and smooth. I obsessed about hand position on all the footwork - overall, it was tons of fun! That (I hope) has translated into an increased awareness with regard to posture and frame within my social dancing.

Also-the social element exposed me to some really fun and great followers that I love to dance with and who are now my friends.

What I find fascinating is some performance folks that aren't good social dancers. There were many in my group. It's a totally different animal. Some folks (male and female) stoke there salsa fire on performance...possibly because they are turned off or cannot grasp social yet. There is the apparent opposite as well. Overall I found it to be a really fun and worthwhile experience.

I'd do it again in a different setting - I did a large beginner type group where I felt that the routine was a bit flat/simple. I'd like to do a smaller more challenging group. Really enjoyed the challenge though of trying to make the routine look perfect.
 
Sabrosura said:
I don't think there are many permanent "performance groups" in London like there are in the US
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The BR world has them.. " Formation teams " .Heres the oddity; a "team " may win a world comp., take any couple out of that "team ", and place them in an open high level Comp., they are never up to that standard, without complete re - structuring .
 
toan-hoang said:
Luckily, my path was the same as yours. However, I realised that there was a lot of inefficiencies and I could have achieved the same level in a much shorter amount of time if I didn't do a performance course. Since my focus then and now is still on the social dancing aspects and I thought that performance groups will help. To an extent it did, but there was many draw backs.

In a world of limited time, it is good to understand what the pro's and cons are of each product and to choose most appropriately.
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Nice article Toan, and a good read for me at this point in time as I am in the process of leaving one student performance group (bellydancing) but keen to join another one (salsa).

My hopes and reasons for taking part in a performance group/class are well summed up in your article under the sections of community and cosmetics; taking on a challenging common goal with a group of people is usually great fun, and under the right leadership the experience 'should' also help me grow and develop as a dancer.

When you say you could have achieved the same level in a much shorter amount of time without your performance course, what would you have done instead?
 
snowflake said:
When you say you could have achieved the same level in a much shorter amount of time without your performance course, what would you have done instead?
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I personally segment my life a lot and for me it makes more efficiency use of my limited time. So for me the objective was to improve aspects of my Salsa dancing by drilling and training. So instead of a performance course, where about 30-40% was solid training, I would have found a partner and practiced by ourselves or spent time by myself in a studio practicing.
 
toan-hoang said:
I personally segment my life a lot and for me it makes more efficiency use of my limited time. So for me the objective was to improve aspects of my Salsa dancing by drilling and training. So instead of a performance course, where about 30-40% was solid training, I would have found a partner and practiced by ourselves or spent time by myself in a studio practicing.
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Have often thought about enlisting a practice partner, but have not come across a suitable (read willing) candidate as yet ... but if I do a performance course I might find one !
 
snowflake said:
Have often thought about enlisting a practice partner, but have not come across a suitable (read willing) candidate as yet ... but if I do a performance course I might find one !
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It is a question of numbers, you will meet far more people social dancing then in a performance course :)
 
snowflake said:
Have often thought about enlisting a practice partner, but have not come across a suitable (read willing) candidate as yet ... but if I do a performance course I might find one !
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Practicing on your own without a partner (footwork, body movement, balance control, spinning, and of course the basic step) is extremely valuable. Personally I do not see much value for a follow in practicing with a partner. In fact it might even be detrimental if you get too used to that partner's lead style, as a good follow should be able to follow a variety of different leads. From that perspective, I think that for a follow who wants to get partnerwork experience outside of the dance floor a group class is better than a practice partner simply because of the variety of leads. The problem with most partnerwork classes, however, is that most teachers do not teach the follows anything (other than maybe "styling"), they focus all their attention on the leads. I have seen only one teacher (Frankie) that actually teaches valuable points to the follows in his partnerwork classes as well, not just to the leads.
 
toan-hoang said:
It is a question of numbers, you will meet far more people social dancing then in a performance course :)
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no, its not a question of numbers IMO, its how you attach with the crowd. i think you are more likely to meet practice partner from a performance course. in socials, most of the time you say just hello (sadly)
 
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