Hyperreal

Week 6! Wow!

This has been an interesting week. A week of highs and lows. The class tonight was similar, except maybe lows and highs…

Curious? :confused:

Read on…

So the class was upstairs again this week - a bit too cramped I’d say. There were lots of new people - could this be the influence of SDF? (Hey, isn’t it cool that S, D & F are next to each other on the keyboard? )

No new dance moves for me tonight. They were…

1. Shoulder Drop - I had forgotten how this finishes.
2. Step Across - trivial
3. First Move (Push Spin) - to change hands into…
4. Ceroc Spin - did a lot better with this than before.

Met a few of you characters while doing all this - Hey Guys! :nice:

With all the new beginners it was quite difficult because as well as working out my moves and lead, I’m often having to correct the odd lady :whistle: who isn’t able to follow my flawless lead! :innocent:

At the same time there are quite a few (some who I’d have thought would know better) who seem to be leading ahead of me. Someone said that may be because they’re trying to be helpful, or else they’re trying to keep in time with the music and I’m lagging. Either way, it bugs me.

During the first freestyle, with a memory fresh from disasters at the weekend, I avoided dancing, hiding behind a cup of water some of the time. :tears:

The rest of the time I talked with the lady taxi dancer (not my current “favourite” taxi dancer, but now making a strong challenge ) about my progress and whether I should come to the revision class or try the intermediate. Although I’ve got the moves pretty much sorted in my head they aren’t fixed yet, and I think trying to add more advanced moves when I’m still new at this would be a mistake.

How much the revision is helping me is open to question, but it’s something to do rather than watch the intermediates and feel inadequate. Plus, I’m helping the other beginners, while at the same time hammering these moves into my “muscle memory!”

At the end of the revision, a certain taxi guy mentioned a certain web site, so if any of my fellow beginners are reading this (and I doubt many would make it though all hundred-odd posts) a big “Hi!” to you too! :nice:

And so we went back to the main room for freestyle. Again I had resolved not to dance - I wanted to wait until I had had time to work on my emergency manoeuvres for when my mind goes blank. You know, something other than first move, arm-jive, or yo-yo.

Unfortunately, some women won’t take no for an answer! OK, I didn’t say no, but I was thinking it! So a rather good dancer dragged me up and I tried to dance with her. All the same problems as before - I couldn’t even remember the routine we’d done in the class, and things went badly.

My partner though was very sympathetic :flower: and helped me and encouraged me, and I made it through with only wounded pride, rather than simply envying Terri Schiavo. (Woo! A little bit topical! A little bit controversial! evil: )

Afterwards I made a dash for my coat to head out, pausing briefly to see it I could find a couple of ladies you might have come across on this forum… :whistle: - to say goodbye, as I’d said hello to them earlier.

Couldn’t find them (sorry), but I got caught by my new favourite taxi dancer (what can I say? my affections are easily swayed ) and we talked a bit about my problems with freezing up on the dance floor, and also about how I was looking for a dance partner to practice with. She had some good advice on both points. (Thanks! :nice: )

Before I could make safe my escape, I was again captured by an enthusiastic young lady who wouldn’t take no for an answer. (She may also be familiar to you forumistas. )

Based on previous experience - of dancing at the party, of dancing tonight, and of dancing with her - I didn’t think this would go well.

No disrespect intended, but last time I danced with her it was really bad. I put all the blame on my shoulders. I tried to warn her this time, but she wasn’t going to be disheartened. :flower:

Now this lady doesn’t seem to be the patient type. While I’m standing there trying to figure out what I’m going to do, she’ll just lead a move anyway. My lead had turned into a co-operative!

This actually turned out really well though. It meant the dance flowed much more, and while she was thinking for me, it allowed me to get my head back into gear and maybe work out a move to follow on from her move. :confused:

And so we managed to dance through a whole song with much fewer stops and starts than I had feared. She is a really good dancer, and she made me feel that some of the time that I wasn’t too shabby either. It was really good.

So here was a case of a lady leading that I didn’t mind - when I got lost she would decide the move and I’d take over again. Could this be a new style of co-operative lead dancing??

I felt so much better at the end of the dance than I did at the beginning.

Which could only mean one thing!

Time to make a swift exit!!!!

Just a brief stop to talk to the teacher… (She had pulled me up during the class for doing something I shouldn’t be doing… She wanted to apologise, but I had to tell her I’d only done it that one time, and only because I thought that was what she was telling us to do! We sorted that out, don’t worry, I didn’t take it personally, and she’s a great teacher!)

And that was it!

I generally feel a lot better about dancing tonight than I did after Saturday. I’m not saying a huge breakthrough has occurred, but I could see the progress I had made. In fact lots of people said similar things during class. Maybe I’m really beginning to find my dancing feet.

I know I’ve forgotten a lot I had wanted to say, but my mind is shutting down on me here.

A few people said I should come along to the Tuesday nights at JJ’s, but as I’ve said before, circumstances don’t allow it, plus I don’t know I could take two days in a row of dancing and the resultant insomnia.

I’m still looking for a dance partner, though I now have a few more ideas…

I’m unsure about whether to go to the Glasgow beginners’ workshop on the 10th. After the Edinburgh one, I don’t know how much I’d get out of another one, though at the same time it’d still be useful to me - I’d be practicing dancing, meeting more people and (I expect?) experiencing a different teacher. Have to think about this one…. :confused:

Let me finish by saying “Hi!” again to everyone, and a big thanks to the taxis, to all the girls I danced with (even the crap ones!) and especially to the teacher!

:flower: :hug: :worthy: :cheers:

telling us to back off hardly squares with wanting a partner….in another thread…where it is stated that the class isn’t providing enough practice time for working things through….all we’re doing here is suggesting that there ARE people out there who will spend some time in “practice” mode, if asked.

The thing is, I want a partner who is still at around the same level as me, so I can feel that I’m making a contribution too.

I don’t think that class nights (during freestyle) is the best time to help me either. It’s not whether there’s enough practice time at the classes or not - it’s after the class, a few days later that I would want to practice, to see if things are sinking in, and if not, to do something about it. And also to work on putting moves together knowing I have an understanding partner, and no audience. These practice sessions could go on for as much as an hour, maybe more.

That would require a level of commitment that’s difficult to ask of anybody, much less somebody with not much to gain.

But I should probably be writing this in the other thread at the moment…

Bottom line… I appreciate the offers of help from everybody, but dancing with non-beginners is too intimidating for me at the moment, especially as I will feel that I have something to live up to with the people on the forum.

Sorry, it’s just the way I am. :blush:

When I’m ready I will come and ask you to dance, or ask for help. I will be very grateful for any help you can then give. :worthy:

Thanks for all your support. :cheers:

Hi folks,

Well I think I’ve decided to stick at it. Saturday was really tough on me but I’m bouncing back and I reckon I’ll be up for the class by Wednesday.

Thanks for all your encouraging words - it’s nice to know other people have gone through similar things and made it through.

The thing is I’m exceedingly impatient and a total perfectionist. There’s not many things I like doing unless I’m either good at them, or at least can pretend to myself that I’m good.

Ceroc dancing is the only thing I can remember learning which has been so difficult, but that has been fun enough for me to want to keep going.

I don’t think it’s much about improving my muscle memory, as when I’m just doing pretty much any move that I’ve properly learnt, it comes pretty much automatically. Maybe not perfect every time, and probably lacking a lot in style, but usually pretty good without too much thought. (This is maybe why other beginners have been so impressed.)

It’s only when I stop and think does it go wrong. I can do an octopus with my eyes closed; baskets in my sleep; yo-yos to any beat you throw at me. (OK, maybe a little exaggeration there!) But occasionally I’ll “choke” when I allow my conscious mind to go “hey, are you sure about that??!?!” and then suddenly I’m not sure about where I’m going. This doesn’t happen too often though. Once I start a move I can usually finish it.

But please don’t ask me to put them together - that’s when I have to start thinking, and thus stop dancing! And that’s simple “panic” - it’s not that my conscious mind has taken over and things have gone wrong, it’s that the conscious mind has been asked “OK, what’s next?” and not had an answer to give.

The advice I keep hearing is to work on a simple sequence of moves - make them mine, make them part of me. Once I’ve got that, I can extend them, maybe work on another sequence, join the two together… and before you know it, I’ve got a routine that just goes on and on…

But isn’t that (in some sense) cheating? That’s not freestyle, it’s not working with the music, it’s not adapting to my partner, and I’ll still not be able to dance with the same girl too often or else she might figure out my secret! (And then of course I’d have to kill her… )

OK, OK, I know - I’ve only been at it a short while, I need to give myself more time. I am so impatient!!!

I also need a dance partner I can practice with. Not had any offers yet from round these parts… Maybe I’ll have to start asking some of the people that go to the class on Wednesdays. That’s going to be tough.

One last thing… A rather ironic thing happened on Saturday night… When I got home from the dance, feeling like I never want to see another first move in my life, can you guess what was waiting for me on my door mat?

That’s right! Ceroc’s “Modern Jive for Beginner’s” DVD! Just in time for me to want to throw it out the window! I’ll save my review of it to another posting, or perhaps there’s another thread where it would be more appropriate.

Oh, and just another last wee thing - analogies based on driving or swimming don’t help me, as I’m not especially able to do either!

Cheers guys, I would have quit a long time ago if it wasn’t for your support and encouragement. :flower: :hug:

One thing I noticed…

At the workshop, most of the girls had dance shoes - and these are just beginners! Maybe it’s just “any excuse…”

I was the only guy wearing trainers.

At the dance, I only saw one other guy wearing trainers, but he looked like quite a good dancer, though he seemed to be limiting himself to fairly simple moves.

Don’t know what any of this means, just thought I would report it.

Hi Guys,

Well I suppose I owe you all a report on the workshop and dance last night. :nice:

I’m sure you’re all wondering how it went, and I why I’ve been thinking of giving it all up. Well there’s other stuff that’s separate from the dancing which may be a factor, but my number one problem is that I think I’m a crap dancer, and I don’t think any number of workshops or dances are going to help.

Before I go further, let me take you through the day…

It started very early - I woke up unbelievably early worried I would miss the train across to Edinburgh. It turned out I had plenty of time and actually had almost half an hour spare time before the workshop started. Maybe this was just as well as I had forgotten to bring the map to help me find Marco’s! Turned out not to be a problem though, as I’d remembered enough to find it no-bother.

So the workshop consisted of a morning of learning moves, and an afternoon of learning how to put them together.

Let’s see how many moves I can remember… Um…

• first move
• ceroc spin
• yo-yo
• octopus
• basket
• arm-jive
• man spin
• comb
• shoulder slide
• arm-jive push-spin
• in and out (travelling return)

Wow, I think I’ve done it! Haven’t quite got them in the right order, mind!

Now if you look at that list, and you scan back through my posts above, you’ll see that only one of these moves was new to me - the comb. As such, I’m not sure just how much I got out of the morning’s lessons.

It’s funny how in a class of six guys and eight girls, every guy gets to know all the girls, and all the girls get to know all the guys, but the guys don’t get to know each other much, and I don’t suppose the girls do either.

The girls’ experience varying considerably, but I don’t think any were total absolute beginners. At least two of the guys were though, and many of the others still had much less experience than my five continuous weeks of classes. One guy said he’d been dancing for a year and a half, had stopped, and was now restarting it and thought he needed a refresher course.

Because I basically knew almost all the moves already I was pretty confident about what I was doing most of the time, though I still managed to screw up now and then, especially as we started putting moves together - it’s easy to forget what you’re doing with so much going on in your head.

Anyway, a few of the girls commented on how good I was, or how confident I was, one picking out me and the guy with a year and half’s experience as the two good dancers (relatively speaking) in the class. Another couldn’t believe I was just a beginner with only five classes under my belt. I was naturally flattered. :blush:

It was a bit like the last revision class I had back on Wednesday, where I felt able sometimes to help the girl I was dancing with, for example, telling her to use a looser grip, or pulling her up for trying to lead, and I think that was generally appreciated.

The in and out was the last move we did, and the teacher showed us an alternative way to finish the move before going into the return by putting the girl’s hands on your chest and then “flicking” her off. Didn’t really get this to work.

In the afternoon we learnt how to put these moves together in different ways. We called out moves (me more than anybody!) and the teacher would show us how to work them together.

This was pretty straight-forward again. For me, once I know what moves I’m doing, and just so long as I can remember what I’m doing, it’s not a big problem. We had a couple of exercises, where we had to make up mini routines and demonstrate them.

In the first one we were first split into two large groups, a leader was then chosen (yep, me!) and they had to decide on a routine, make sure everyone knew it, and then lead the group in the demo. That went very smoothly. I think we did a first move, into an octopus into an arm-jive. Something like that - fairly straight-forward. That said, I did manage to mess up during our demo by forgetting what we were doing maybe by the third time round. I managed to get it back together, but it was a bad mistake to make when the rest of “my” team seemed to manage OK. :blush:

The second one was just in a pair, where again we had to put “two or three” moves together. This time my partner wasn’t so confident and so we found it hard to get a simple routine that we would both feel comfortable with. And so this turned into another mini disaster as things went bad while we demo-ed our moves.

Shortly after the this we did just what we’ve been talking about in earlier posts, where we had a different girl and then had to lead her through the moves we’ve just made up while she kept her eyes closed. I think this went really well for me and my partner at the time - the only problem was that as my routine started with an arm-jive, when I offered my right hand at the first step back, she didn’t see it to grab on! So instead I stuck another move in front which allowed me to guide her hand into mine. I even managed to vary things a little to keep the girl guessing.

So-far, so-good. And in fact, that was pretty much it. The workshop was really good, the teacher was great, his demo was fab. It was a lot of fun. :nice: But I’m not really sure how much I got out of it really.

I learnt the comb. I learnt I could lead a girl with her eyes closed. I learnt that you can’t put an extra return onto the end of an octopus.

The main thing I learnt was that I have big problems remembering dance routines - that when I get into a a long sequence of moves, even when they are pre-planned and rehearsed, my mind just goes blank and I’m left with not a clue what I’m doing, and with no-where to go.

So that was the workshop. But I hadn’t stop learning…

I killed some time afterwards feeling a bit sorry for myself and for Northern Ireland as I watched the end of their 4-0 defeat to that other country over a pint, then I went to watch “Miss Congeniality 2″, which isn’t actually a bad film, though don’t expect to see it up for any Oscars next year.

And so, feeling somewhat refreshed, I headed back for the party. I got there relatively early, about quarter past 8, but I wanted to make sure I was there for the beginner’s class at the start of the dance.

Before the class started I tried doing a bit of dancing with this really nice, and really pretty girl I met when I arrived. This is where I learnt my next big lesson - I learnt that it’s an even bigger problem when your mind goes blank if you don’t have a sequence pre-planned and you have to continually think of things to do next. Especially when you’re dancing with someone that you might want to impress a bit, and there’s not many people there and so you feel self-conscious. I just can’t do this.

Saved by the beginner’s class!

We did three moves of diminishing complexity. First was a basket - except was it a walking or a travelling basket, or something like that? Basically, you’d wrap the lady, unwrap her and walk forward and wrap her to the left, then back again wrapping her back to the right. It was finished by, I think, some sort of spin. Then into a first move, but on the way out there was a block and spin - this didn’t work well when the girl still had her hand on my shoulder on the way out - no arm to block! The routine finished with a man spin. Nae bother at all.

The extended basket was difficult - lots of complicated arm movements! By the time I’d got through it all I was usually a beat or two behind the teacher! Didn’t help dancing with a lady with a huge skirt which slowed me down during all the turning. :rolleyes:

Afterwards, I danced with a few people whom I’d met during the class, and I could just about manage the routine given, but things would go bad as soon as I varied from it.

Here’s what would happen…

• I’m in a left-to-right hold … what do I do?? … let’s try a first move!
• hmmm, still in a left-to-right hold without a clue - let’s try a side-to-side!
• still left-to-right … now what?? … how about another first move!
• wow, how did I get this right-to-right hold?? hmmm… I know! A yo-yo!
• back to left-to-right … anyone for a first move???!!
• Um, now what was that other move that I did so well this morning?!?!?

Repeat ad-nauseam. Occasionally I’d manage to get into a arm-jive, or an octopus if I’d somehow managed to get hold of another hand. That was usually as a result of the girl saying “let’s do an arm jive!”

It’s either going to be a pretty boring or tedious dance for the girl (and I can tell you, it certainly is for was was me) or it’s just going to be yet another disaster on the dance-floor. Bad either way.

So I felt pretty crap. I was now physically, emotionally and mentally exhausted. And I can’t dance.

It’s not about the dance night and it’s not about the people who were there - though I felt pretty intimidated by how good they all looked. It’s not something that needs to be different about the dances, it’s not anything in the culture of Ceroc. (Though the obligation to accept every offer of a dance kept me hidden in a corner a lot.)

I left early (about quarter to 10) to get my train home even while people were still arriving. If she’s reading, I want to say sorry to the girl I promised a dance to before I left - I couldn’t find you and I didn’t want to miss my train. Sorry. :flower:

“Hi!” to the other people I met there, and “Hi!” to the people I might have seen there but didn’t meet. Sorry I missed you. :flower:

And that’s all there is to say about the workshop and dance.

I don’t know if my problem is panic or choking. Here’s a couple of great articles to read on the subject of panic and choking and what the difference is:

The Art of Failure

Panic! How it Works and What To Do About It

When I mess-up mid-move, like I forget which way I’m going in an octopus, I think that’s choking - I instinctively know what I should be doing, but my conscious mind doesn’t and has tried to take over. When I mess up going between moves, I think that’s simple panic - as the first article says “I searched my mind for what I could do. And nothing came to mind.” Fortunately, dancing isn’t as high-risk as scuba diving or piloting.

I don’t know how to get beyond this. I’ve never been one for thinking on my feet (please excuse the pun :na: ), preferring to stop and think things through. I don’t think I can change.

How would you feel? :confused: What would you do? :confused:

I think I might need some time away from dancing to figure these things out. :tears:

My head is mush. :confused:

Hi,

I’m just back from a very tiring day at a workshop, then a dance in the evening.

I’m beginning to wonder if this dance stuff is for me.

I’m going to my bed right now. Maybe write some more tomorrow.

Bye, D.

Well, this forum is as adictive as dance has now become with you.

Hey, I’m a long-time internet addict, and as a new dance addict, I can get a double dose here!

If I hadn’t have read the bit about you meeting with CJ, I would have thought this was a very clever thread trying to give a beginners insight, and encouragement, to dancing at a Ceroc venue

Besides CJ, I know of three other regular forumites who have witnessed me at this venue - two of whom I’ve danced with, one of whom may not have realised she was dancing with me. I also know a few people who go to the other Glasgow location.

I’m real, and I’m really a beginner - ask the poor woman whose toes I trod on on Wednesday if you don’t believe me! :really:

however, I will give you the benefit and again compliment you on one of the most encouraging and informative threads for a L O N G time.

Thanks, I’m glad you think it’s encouraging - I’m not sure my first couple of posts alone would have that impression. Some way back in this thread, fkirk10 seemed discouraged by what I’d written. I wonder if she went to the class, and how she found it.

You’ve made it thru the first barrier, and now I see you classing yourself as something other than a beginner.

Oh, I still definitely see myself as a beginner - just not a clueless beginner. I hope to go to a couple of beginner’s workshops in the next few weeks. If I get through that, maybe I’ll be ready to move on from beginner-dom by perhaps the end of April…

The only fear I have now is that you will class yourself as “too good for beginners”. PLEASE, never do that.

Always remember this thread, as some years, nae months from now YOU will be showing a beginner how to do a certain move.

Oh no, I love the hero-worship too much to avoid beginners. I think mentoring someone can be such a rewarding experience for both parties. I could see myself being a taxi dancer eventually.

I feel a bit ashamed that I can’t remember in such detail what I did just after breakfast today, let alone what I did last night, but your recollections of a nights dancing lesson lead to such detail of the moves, I still find it hard to believe you have not been planted here just to encourage beginners.

If you look carefully, I think you’ll see I usually end up posting the same night as the class - while things are still fresh in my mind. My memory is just as bad as everyone else - like I said before, I can’t even remember the first move!

My motivations for posting these are many-fold. Here’s some of them:

1. To let Ceroc organisers know what the beginner’s experience is like
2. To let others know what it’s like, or to remind them.
3. To get encouragement and feedback from experienced dancers
4. To have a record of my experiences
5. To maybe encourage other people starting out

COME ON… OWN UP….WHO ARE YOU REALLY ?

OK, I give up, I’m actually Belle de Jour! :really:

(Oops, I hope people realise I’m only joking! )

If you are truly a beginner….. THANK YOU :worthy:
1/ for the interesting read
2/ for the fine descriptions of those moves I should really know
3/ for making this a good bible to point newcomers to (I hate the beginners description)
4/ for taking your time to make us aware of what it’s like
5/ for reminding us what we all felt like on “our” first visits
6/ for your blow by blow recall of “the night before”

Gee, shucks! Thank you. :blush:

Good luck on the dancefloor, and if you ever get down to London, check out the many welcoming dancefloors down here.

Oh yes…… and welcome

Can’t say I’m likely to be in London any time soon - haven’t been there since… um… the 80’s! But if I ever make it back again, I will try to meet up with as many of the London jivers as I can.

:cheers:

Hmmm, naughty taxi-dancer… Back-leading is evil, I remember anticipation being taught as one of the Deadly Sins Of Dancing (I think it was just below BO in the list ). {snip!} but there’s no excuse for a Taxi-Dancer to do this in a normal freestyle session.

Well I forgive her. She’s helped me a lot. As a taxi dancer, dancing with clueless beginners (like I was when I started) all the time must make you into a bit of a back-leader. They need to back-lead to show some of the guys what they should be doing.

For example, doing the side-to-side thing the other day, I think the taxi dancer, and at least one other intermediate-beginner felt compelled to pull my hand further down during the arm-against arm bit to show me where I should have been. I don’t have a problem with this. It’s not quite anticipation, but it’s certainly not me leading.

I wouldn’t expect it during a proper dance, but it must be difficult to switch off.

Hope the workshop goes well, keep on diary-ing!

Cheers!

Hi,

After going to see Kylie last light (which was totally fantastic, thanks for asking ) I awoke again at the crack of dawn. I never had so much trouble sleeping before I started dancing!

Anyway, before I go back to my bed, just time for another quick reply!

David was amongst those that commented on my sticking to the routine we’d just learnt:

I’d try to do some other moves as well - otherwise you can forget the ones you learnt last week (I know I do…). Also, the whole “writing the moves down” thing is important, I know, it’s sad, but I think most guys do it…

Back in my third visit, when I ventured onto the dance floor for basically the first time, I didn’t stick to the set routine. The results were explained back here.

Basically, the beginners were confused when I strayed from the set path, and I even had problems with the taxi dancer as she was expecting me to stick to the routine we’d been taught.

Forgetting moves is definitely a problem - as I sit here I can’t even remember the whole of the first move! I haven’t tried writing down the moves - I’m relying on my memory, this thread and all the great resources out on the web to help me. Not working out so great so-far.

I need to try harder to find a practice-partner.

{on the problems with back-leading followers…}

I like the idea of blindfolding the follower as a test of both my leading skills, and her following skills. I’d love to try this out. Might be a bit hazardous to do spins when you can’t see though. Perhaps if they were to just close their eyes, but were allowed to open them at any time we’re not in contact - that might work better.

I’m sure as I allow myself to dance with more intermediates (especially if they haven’t just attended the beginner’s class) things will get better.

And hopefully the workshop tomorrow will help a lot.

I wonder how I’ll get on at the dance in Edinburgh tomorrow afterwards — if I make it there.

One thing putting me off going to the dance is that I’m going to be beat after the workshop and I’ll have 4-5 hours to kill, with no-where to go and relax. A friend suggested booking a hotel room and staying over, but it seems there’s this thing called Easter which means all the hotels are all booked up!

Think I’ll just go back to my bed now and maybe things will be better this afternoon.

.. enjoying reading your posts! You thought of writing a book - film script?? We’d all go and see it I’m sure (and offer to be extras - of course).

Thanks for the kind words.

Although I might be good at putting my thoughts down on paper, and I’ve written an occasional poem, I’d really be no good at proper creative writing. I’d be really crap at dialogue and characterisation, for instance:

And I was like: “Hi, how are you?” And she was like: “OK.” And I was like: “Great!” And she was like: “How are you?” And I sez: “No bad, bit tired, n’ that.” And she was like: “Yeah, I know what you mean.” … ad nauseum …

Maybe I need a ghost writer… :?

I wonder who I’d like to play my part in the film… George Clooney probably…

We’d get Jennifer Lopez to do a cameo as the glamourous teacher, maybe Cameron Diaz to be the klutzy beginner who’s always pursuing me for a dance. Um… have to think about who’d I put in the role of the taxi dancer.

Perhaps this is a subject for a new thread in another forum…

Anyway, while I’m sure my life at the moment may contain the gem of a great movie, I’m still working on the Hollywood ending.

Thanks everyone else for the support :flower: - I’ll do another follow-up later.

Cheers guys! :cheers:

Hi!

It’s that time again!

Hands up who’s been on the edge of their seats waiting for the next installment? :clap: It’s almost as gripping as “Desperate Housewives”! (And don’t worry, I caught tonight’s episode at the weekend on E4! )

So that was class number 5. Before I go any further, I’ve gotta say I’m really tired, c.f. the thread on insomnia.

So, on with the class - and the first problem… finding it! They had changed to a different room upstairs. Apparently this was the regular venue up until just before I started, so it’s just as well I found some other lost, but smart people. I worry that others may just have turned and left.

It’s good that I’m getting to know a few people there. It makes a big difference. Easier to relax when you can chat with someone rather than just sitting there on your own, with a dazed look on your face. :?

So, the moves!

1) Arm-jive swizzle. Pretty straight-forward. I’m not 100% up with the arm-jive itself, but the swizzle bit is cool.

2) Octopus. My big difficulty is remembering I’m going left this time!!! My lead going into the bit when I turn must be really awful as I always remember too late what I’m supposed to be doing! Otherwise, no bother.

3) Side-to-side something. The something part is where I “chuck” the girl across me into a spin and catch her on the way out. Switched to right-right hand hold at this point - took me a while to sort that out too! Can someone tell me what the “something” is called? I quite like this move. (found out it’s “let go!”)

4) Hatchback. Again, fairly easy. Biggest problem I had was with a lady who didn’t want to let go of my hand and didn’t want to spin. I guess this is just really a variation on a yo-yo. On the return, both hands to go back into the arm-jive…

For maybe the first time I really felt “experienced” compared to some of the other beginners. In fact, I’ve begun to notice that even some of the “intermediate” dancers could do with a few more beginner’s revisions and maybe a workshop.

It’s a good feeling! I must be getting better. One girl (I can’t remember if she was a first-timer or not) complimented me on my confidence. I can’t remember my reaction - I hope it was a smile and a thank-you (c.f. the thread on compliments.) Another said “this isn’t your first time, is it?” I felt good.

So I danced almost all the way through the first freestyle session, pausing only for gulps of water. I tried to stick just to the moves we’d learnt in the class (as I had last week, in case I didn’t say?) and that went fairly well, maybe because I was only dancing with other people who had just done the class too.

My biggest stumbling block was the octopus. Which way am I going now?!?! Everything else was pretty much OK, though sometimes I forgot what I was meant to do next… :?

Fortunately, almost all the partners I had all through the night were excellent back-leaders.

It can really put you off someone. OK, I probably don’t have the best lead in the world, and sometimes I don’t know what I’m doing, but I’d rather mess up and get a puzzled look from my partner than be led into the next move.

Maybe it’s not so bad when you’re not doing set moves and so the girl won’t know what I’m supposed to be doing, but even when I’m doing things right, too many people wanted to try and put my hands in different places from where I wanted them to go.

So, onto the beginner’s revision class. Again, I felt a little like I didn’t really need to be there, but I reckon it’s good for technique, even if I don’t have so much of a problem with the moves. I was saying this to my favourite taxi dancer and although we didn’t get to finish the conversation, I think she was about to tell me that people who move up too fast end up being knowledgeable, but poor dancers. Or something like that. I’m not going to rush things anyway.

After the revision class I went back to the hall and watched the freestyle for a bit. I noticed a few guys doing dips and drops with inexperienced girls in a confined space - much frowned about around here. No sleazy behaviour to report.

I left without dancing. I just wasn’t in the mood. “Tired and emotional” - and I had only been on the water all night.

Interestingly, on the way out of the GUU, there was some filming going on, with lots of lights and people and stuff. I wonder what they were making… :?

Anyway, I’m going to the Edinburgh beginners’ workshop on Saturday. Should be fun!

I’m also maybe going to go to the Edinb’ monthly party that night. Not sure yet. I’ll probably be beat after the workshop, but I might go for a couple of hours.

If I do go, and I do stay, is there anyone from Glasgow who can offer me a lift home? Send me a private message, or google for me and find my email address.

And that’s all I have to say! Hands up who’s still reading? :clap: I know I tend to just skim these long posts. But no, not yours! :halo:

Cheers guys, I’ll see you back here on Saturday or Sunday for a report of the workshop.

Stay cool. :hug:

Hi Guys,

Need to thank you all for your encouragement over these past few weeks. And also a big cheers to the other new boys and girls.

Can I just say this web site and forum needs some serious plugging at the Wednesday night class - there’s so few people I’ve been able to find here who go to this class. (Hi there!) Either that or the lurkers need to de-cloak and identify themselves.

So, onto my weekly tale of a newbie at Ceroc.

This week was a bit difficult. Here are the moves…

1) Yoyo, this time without a push-spin, but with a spin anyway. I though the difference between a spin and a turn was that with a spin you let go? No? We were told to spin the lady, but not let go. Guess it doesn’t make too much difference.

(Another brief aside - haven’t had much feedback on my impressions of the moves themselves through the weeks. Anyone want to jump in with some discussion here?)

2) Catapult. Woah! This is v. tricky. It’s hard to tell though if you’re messing it up or it’s your partner, as it’s all really happening behind your back! I certainly messed it up quite a lot, but sometimes my partner at the time would be blaming herself. Maybe they were just being nice, though when I was dancing with known experienced dancers it usually seemed to go better.

3) Can’t remember the name of this move - but it’s dead easy… L-R hands, swap sides with guy doing 180º anticlockwise turn under his left arm, etc… What’s this called?

4) That fed into the basket, with the usual botched efforts when trying to get the girl’s other hand. I’m not good at baskets.

4a) During the return from the basket, swap hands to go into the yoyo… It’s funny how much time the teacher and taxis spent on this as I found it dead easy. OK, maybe I’m not doing it in the most elegant fashion possible, but that’ll come, I guess…

I’m beginning to get to know a few people there, which is both good and bad… Good, because you get to know them… Bad, cos they’re then more likely to ask you to dance!

So even though I had decided I wouldn’t, I had a few dances during the first freestyle bit. Actually, to tell the truth, it was probably me doing most of the asking!

So it was all fairly disastrous, but fun nevertheless. I’m having trouble remembering who I danced with before and after the revision class, but I’ll just thank everyone who put up with my crap dancing during this time.

The revision class again was very useful. Managed to improve my yoyo and catapult vastly during this time. It’s a shame we didn’t manage to find a good quiet area to practice in. It seems it’s the last week of term this week at Glasgow Uni and everyone is having a party.

We didn’t cover the basket in the revision, but that’s OK, cos I really should know it and I needed the practice more for the other moves. That said, it was total carnage on the dance-floor every time I tried it in the freestyle after. :?

During that time I danced with a couple of beginners, one of which didn’t seem to understand that it was me who’s supposed to be leading… Hope she get’s better, cos she keeps asking me to dance!

I also danced with the taxi dancer - now if only all dancers were as good, and sympathetic as the lady taxi dancers I’ve met at the GUU! :flower:

And I danced with a couple of intermediates (actually, one of them might have been in the first freestyle :? ) again of different standards, but both way better than me! :worthy: One was so much better than me it was embarrassing.

But it was fun! So I decided to run away before I was trapped by another beginner as crap as me.

And that’s it.

Watching the other freestylers still terrifies me, but then it you’re up dancing you don’t see them. It was fun watching the last five minutes or so of the intermediate class and seeing that you can be “intermediate”, but still be pretty clueless now and then.

Think I’ll try to sign up for the beginner’s workshop in Edinburgh at Easter, and then see if I then want to go to the Glasgow one in April.

Hmmm… Seems that the Edinburgh beginner’s is on the same day as the next Edinburgh party. Maybe I’ll also make it along to that.

Hope you’re enjoying reading my ramblings. Let me know what you think and tune in next week to see if I’ve got my baskets in order yet.

Thanks everyone. :flower:

And props to all my posse! :cheers: :hug:

Hi Guys,

Just back from third week. Thought I’d share the highs and lows.

Moves tonight were…

1) Ceroc spin - could never get this right, always forgot to bring my left hand up to block the lady and so used the wrong hand. :?

2) First move - hey, I’ve already done that! Still tricky to get feet where they belong.

3) Arm jive - it’s looks so easy, until the teacher wanted us to do things with our feet too!!!

4) Man spin - hey, done that too! This went straight into the ceroc spin which I always missed cos I was wanting to do a return or something.

I also had big problems getting (or remembering to get) the lady’s other hand for the arm jive.

I never got adopted by my favourite taxi dancer this week. I guess she didn’t find me that cute after all.

After the class I went to talk to the teacher about the beginner’s workshop - seems to have been cancelled. Met Ceroc Jock. Hi! Liked the music, btw - especially Boogie Pimps at the start of the night. :worthy:

While I was hanging around there I watched the freestylers strut their funky stuff. They’re still scary.

Quick, onto the revision class!

These help so much!

Only problem is it’s even more likely you’ll be dancing with beginners who have problems following, or just aren’t very good.

Let me be clear here - this isn’t a criticism of them. In their eyes I’m probably equally crap at leading and just a bit hopeless.

What I’m saying is that in the main class there’s a better chance you’ll be dancing with someone with a more experience than you, so they’ll be better at following, will know the moves better, and things will go smoother. Once you leave these people to their intermediate class I’m stuck with people who are just as bad as me!

(An aside… I met a girl in the beginner’s class who was there for only her second week. She seemed to be doing OK, but she seemed to need a little persuasion to come to the revision class. She left half way through it, but at least I wasn’t to blame as I never got the chance to dance with her! I hope she comes back.)

After the revision, back down to the main hall… I had hoped to hide for a bit but one of the other beginners asked me to dance and I figured it would be impolite to say no. I tried to stick to the routine we’d just been taught, but my memory was on strike and I ended up improvising a bit!

So that’s how you do it! You just need a crap memory!

Unfortunately, my lead maybe wasn’t so good, and my partner was trying to stick rigidly to the moves we’d just learnt, and so it didn’t go so great.

So I ditched her (in a nice way I hope) at the end of the song and went and found the courage to ask the taxi dancer. I knew she could dance!

It must be an occupational hazard for female taxi dancers - because they’ll have learnt all the guy’s parts, have been trying to help teach a particular sequence of moves, and must also be used to back-leading where necessary - that they sometimes miss the lead when a beginner does something different.

Once we’d got over that, and miss taxi dancer allowed me to lead what I wanted to do, I really think I did amazingly well. (Of course, miss taxi was so much better than me!) I did all the moves from this week - even one or two ceroc spins. Then I threw in some side-to-sides from last week. We had to do a quick revision of the yo-yo and the basket before I was able to try including them. Still need to work of them some more. Totally forgot about the shoulder drop and slide.

I decided to leave at that point - on a high note.

This actually was a bit of a turn-around. When I was watching the freestyle earlier, and knowing that the beginner’s workshop had been cancelled, I wondered if I’d ever be good enough to take part, and was very close to deciding this would be my last time at ceroc.

It’s all down to the two taxi dancers that I’ll be back next week. (Are they ever on here?) First for the the revision class, second for encouraging and being sympathetic during our dancing. :flower:

Nevertheless, I still wonder how I’ll do with someone less skilled in the moves, in following a beginner’s lead, and a little less sympathetic.

We’re not out of the woods just yet…

So, big thanks to the teacher, Graham the demo, Ceroc Jock and the fantastic taxis! :clap:

Big “Hi!” and thanks to all my partners through the night, though most of them don’t seem to hang out here. :confused:

And sorry to Graham and anyone else I didn’t get a chance to say “Hi!” to.

And so to bed, to sleep, perchance to dream…

:cheers:

Sorry not to reply before, but I haven’t been on much and hadn’t seen this thread. I think the Glasgow people on the forum are just a bit quiet at the moment (drathzel excluded, obviously :rolleyes: ) Anyway, I was the taxi dancer who took the revision class last week. Glad you’re enjoying yourself, and please say “hi” if you’re there on Wednesday. Thanks very much for posting at such length about your impressions - very interesting.

I have been enjoying my anonymity between the class and here these couple of weeks, but I guess people will start figuring out who I am. Especially as I expect at least one certain individual :whistle: to recognise me tomorrow, if she’s there.

But as there only seems to be about three or four people on the forums who attend on Wednesdays, maybe it won’t be such a problem.

Anyway, I’ve been picking out some of the names of people I’d come across on the nights and figured you were the same Graham. Thanks for all your help in the classes. :cheers:

Depending on how traumatised I am, I’ll try to say “hi”.

D.

Maybe see you at the Glasgow party on the 12th? I’m hoping to make it through this month. (Though, it is rather a lot of freestyle all in one place).

Don’t think I’m quite ready for that yet.

try going more a couple (or three times if you can make it) a week until you start getting your confidence

I can only make one night a week at the moment. I’m thinking about going to a beginner’s workshop soon though.

Reading back my last message, I really forgot to say how much I enjoyed the class and revision. It’s more fun than I deserve.