Finding More Resources
12.10.06

Those who constantly strive to learn and become better dancers are always on the lookout for new information. New sources that will make the learning process easier and faster. We all learn fairly quickly that there is no magic pill to make us "POOF" great dancers. The dancers who are not discouraged by a little hard work just begin digging deeper.
 
When we start out, many of us band together from our group classes or as common students to an instructor. As time passes, the buddies slip away to different dance styles or different instructors. Sometimes you feel alone in the wilderness looking for the next big 'AHA' moment in your dancing. At first, the dance resource is almost completely what the instructor of choice is telling you. If you do make friends with other students, their experiences add to your stream of information. When you start attending dances on a regular basis, new buddies can be found and new sources of information or inspiration are often available.
 
What information is good and what is not? Where are the answers and who has them? What can I do to accelerate my learning? What tools make the most sense for my capabilities and how can I get them at a good price?
 
We've already discussed the "how to pick an instructor that works for you" question in previous articles, so we will not rehash that here. What I would like to explore with you are some of the functions and tools that I have used to help me progress.
 
First, I highly recommend dancing as much as possible. With a good instructor and copious practice time in a social environment, your fundamentals can be really honed over time. Make sure you have some of your buddies give you honest feedback and pay attention to it. Stay focused on your techniques and fundamentals and add patterns very sparingly. Knowing your basics cold will make you a more popular dancer. Knowing a bunch of crazy patterns will not. Would you dance with someone tossing something wild and crazy out of the blue at you?
 
Next good suggestion is get thee to an event. A weekend of dancing with a lot of levels of dancers, especially from different areas of the state/country/world is an exciting chance to test yourself as a follower and a leader. You meet a lot of nice people and many are in the same frame of mind in terms of sharing their ideas and enjoying the different things you may have to express in your dancing.
 
During these events, enter any contests that you can. A lot of dancers are reluctant to do this, but social contests are a great way to challenge yourself. The Jack & Jills in most events are split into different levels and everyone fits in somewhere. Quit worrying about screwing up! If you were perfect, you would have a champion label at the end of your name when introduced. Get in the pool and splash around with everyone else...
 
During these events, take group and private lessons from some of the national level instructors that are available at many of these functions. These people are a little higher priced than your local instructors as a general rule, but they are usually well worth it. The group classes will give you an idea of the approach and style of the instructor, so find one you think you can get comfortable with and have at it! If the cost is too high, get a buddy to split an hour with you. These instructors are usually current with the latest in teaching methods or have a long history with mondo credentials. They have more ways of getting the material across then your average instructor, so they just may be the ticket to higher levels in your dancing.
 
After events, videos of instruction from the workshops and instructors in attendance are available. In many cases the event contests are also available. Count your pennies and buy a few. The event videos will help you remember new ideas that you can discuss with your local instructor to incorporate into your dancing. Don't focus on the WOW moves. They are nice, but not the meat and potatoes of your dancing. Instead, watch for little adjustments to patterns you know. These tweaks can spice up your dancing and help you refine your lead where subtle variations are concerned.
 
Back home, set up video nights with your buddies. this is a cool way to spend time with other dancers watching some inspiring action. This expands your video opportunities by sharing libraries. Swapping ideas from these video nights become an added chance to play with ideas together.
 
Finally, when you practice, video tape! You will find this to be an extremely valuable tool. Patterns and ideas take a whole different meaning when you can see how they are viewed. You will find your eyes to be more critical than any other pair, so give them a chance to see you do your stuff. Common errors in your basics can become very apparent to you by reviewing these tapes of your dancing.
 
Much of this you can do by your little ol' lonesome, but it can be more fun by banding together. More materials can be shared and the journey up the dance mountain is more enjoyable with those friends. Ultimately, they will be your most valuable resource. Don't lose track of them!