Susie's Notebook

Choosing Dances

© 2002 by Susie & Gert-Jan Rotscheid

At various times we all have to choose what dances we are going to buy, teach or showcase. There are some general points that we should consider in making decisions concerning these dances.

First of all, does the dance have good body flow. Consider the body flow not only from the standpoint of the man or the woman, but also from the standpoint of the whole couple. If this is a dance that has figures you can dance to cues, one of the easiest ways to determine if it flows nicely is for you and your partner to dance it through and see if you get "stuck" anywhere. Something else to think about in body flow are the so-called "tricky spots" of a dance. Think about why they are tricky. If it is because of bad body flow, decide if the dance is worth putting your dancers through jerky dancing.

Another point to consider is if the music is nice. There are a few points to think about here. First, does the dance "fit" the music (in quicks and slows). This makes it easier for you to cue, and for the dancers to learn and to dance. Also, does the rhythm of the dance fit to the rhythm of the music. We have seen Cha-Cha put to Rhumba music and vice versa, Jive put to Samba or Cha-Cha, American waltz put to International waltz music, and vice versa, West Coast Swing put to Jive music. While these figures can be danced to these rhythms of music, they don't have the same feeling as if they were danced to the correct rhythm.

Of course, we also need to consider what we are going to use this dance for. Is it for a quick-teach in a square dance club? Is it for the local area repertoire? Maybe for a Square Dance Special, or a Round Dance Special? Or for our own Round Dance Club? All these factors have a bearing on what level and what type of dance we will use.

For a quick teach at a square dance club you usually would need to have a dance you can teach in about 10-15 minutes (that is if you may "teach" a dance at all). You should have a dance prepared with no more 2 new figures or variations, and these should be easy enough for the dancers to learn quickly, and feel successful. To give your dancers at a square dance club more variety, you can also use sequences they are familiar with, but with different music. There is a story told of a cuer who was teaching phase III waltz to her dancers, and after a few weeks they were tired of dancing "Answer Me". So at their next dance she did the exact same sequence a number of times, but never using the record "Answer Me". After the dance one of the dancers came up to her and said,"That was so nice, and we didn't even dance 'Answer Me' once!" If you do something like this, be sure to have checked out the sequence with the music you want to use at home to be sure it fits.

If you are looking for a dance for your local area repertoire, as well as keeping body flow and music in mind, you should consider if this dance would be an asset to planning a local program; it is good to try and build a program with various rhythms, and various levels, so you can give the most dancing pleasure to the most dancers. Also try to think if this dance could be used by your cuers in building up their dancers' knowledge of various rhythms - does it have good basics - is it a dance you could use to introduce a rhythm - could you use it to increase your dancers' knowledge and dancing ability in a familiar rhythm - if it is a higher level dance, is it challenging only because of numerous variations and modifications?

If this is so, even after the figures are learned by the dancers, unless they continue to dance it weekly they will forget who does which modification. Also, the RD leaders will have to spend a lot of time teaching variations and modifications that will often not be repeated in other dances instead of really building up their dancers knowledge and ability.

If the dance you are planning to teach is for a Square Dance Special, especially if it is not in your local area, or an area where you already are familiar with the level of the dancers, there are a few questions you will first need to ask. First, is this in an area where there are mainly square dancers, that is, not too many round dancers? If so, the level might be a little lower. You can ask the organizers how many round dancers they had at their last special, and who was the RD leader. Then take the time to contact that leader and ask what they taught, what level, and how it was received. Could the dancers still dance the dance when it was cued in the evening? If the hosting club has a club cuer you could also ask him/her these questions. And of course you should ask what level they want you to teach.

Remember that if you want them to continue to enjoy the dance you teach, they will have to be able to actually dance it when the workshop is over - you won't usually have an opportunity to review it the next week - so you should try and plan something for a 1 hour teach that has about 3 new figures, or figures that you will have to spend time on. If you have 1 1/2 hours, you have 2 options, depending on the level of the dancers. The one I usually use is doing one phase II for 1/2 hour, and then either a phase III or IV for the full hour. The other option is using the whole 1 1/2 hour for a full teach. If you do that, be sure to give the dancers a break in between. Something nice to do if there is a club cuer, is to bring a copy of the dances you will be teaching to give to them, all ready and complete with short-cues typed out. That way you have a much better chance that "your" teach will be a success, since the dancers will have a chance to continue to dance it.

At a Round Dance Special you will usually have the more dedicated round dancers, who are willing to spend more time and energy in learning something new. There you can usually teach a dance that is more difficult than you would teach at a Square Dance Special, even within the same phase level. You could ask if there is a particular rhythm they would like you to teach. Then in considering the rhythm, you could talk about the phase level.

Most of the European dancers, for instance, are stronger in jive, cha and rhumba, than they are in foxtrot, waltz and quickstep. They are usually not too strong in samba or tango. These are things to consider if you are "phase bound". You will also have to look at your dance, because as we all know, there are "phase V's and phase V's" (as well as in other phases). In other words, there are difficult and easier dances in each level, even within each rhythm. A more difficult dance, especially at a higher phase, will often include modified figures, unusual timing, a number of either right or left turns after each other, unphased figures, or just figures that are newer or not so familiar.

In teaching at a Round Dance Special you can also consider if you will have the opportunity for review the next day. If so, then you can teach something a little more difficult. But even so, be careful about introducing more than 5 new figures in any single dance. It can just get to be more than the dancers can handle. If you have the opportunity to teach more than one of the workshops, try to choose at least one dance that you are sure the dancers will be able to dance when the day is done.

Finally, choosing dances to teach in your own RD Club. Of course, in your own club you know the dancers better, and you also have more leeway than you have anywhere else. You can take more than one session to teach a dance. You can also easily use the clinic-teach method, which will give your dancers a better understanding of the figures and greater dancing confidence and ability. If you have been working for a time on either a difficult dance or a difficult rhythm, remember that the dancers still need to feel success. Also have a dance prepared that they can basically do to cues, so they will still feel they have accomplished learning a new dance. They need a time to relax as well as to learn.

For a round world,
Susie & Gert-Jan