Progressive Group Classes
Group learning is typically handled in one of two ways in the ballroom arena. The first and most common is the "variety approach," in which a studio will offer a wide variety of different classes over a given period. The second and not-so-common is the "progressive approach," in which a single style of dance is covered for an extended period of time. Both of these approaches have their advantages and disadvantages. That's why I've Got Rhythm offers both! Let's take a look and the strengths and weaknesses of each approach.
The Variety Approach (the good)
- A Good Preview: The variety approach allows students to get their feet wet in all the ballroom dances, find out which ones they like, and which they would rather wait on.
- Better Ballroom: Once students have been introduced to a dance, they can at least dance the basics at a party where a variety of music is played; otherwise, they have to sit out.
- Well-Rounded: Those who can dance a variety of dances are better prepared for more of the social situations they will encounter out in real-world social events.
The Variety Approach (the bad)
- Lack Of Depth: Skim the surface for too long and you'll never become really proficient at anything; this approach is good as an introduction but bad in the long-term.
- Easy Sales Pitch: If a studio only offers a variety of brief group classes, their students cannot gain depth in groups class, forcing them to take more expensive private lessons if they want to continue learning.
The Progressive Approach (the good)
- Focused Attack: Staying on a single style of dance for a while allows students to focus their attention and practice time in one direction rather than having their attention divided.
- An In-Depth Look: Once basic patterns become more natural, helpful techniques can be addressed to make students' dancing look better.
- Compound Gain: More advanced patterns can then be compounded on this technique and so on for an overall higher level of dancing.
The Progressive Approach (the bad)
- Old Hat: Staying on one dance too long can become a little wearing, so a change of pace is recommended occasionally.
- Too Specialized: Too much specialization can take away from the enjoyment of dancing other interesting styles of ballroom.
Given the good and bad of both of these approaches, we believe that it is to our students' greatest benefit to offer both. The variety approach is especially suitable to beginners. That's why we offer a beginners group class at our weekly parties where those who've never taken a single rhythmic step in their lives will encounter the basic patterns for every dance we teach via regular attendance at parties over the course of a year or two. In addition to learning in our beginners groups, we encourage our students to try to pick up steps during the practice portion of the parties as well.
Eventually though, students have to graduate from variety to focus. This is a very challenging step, given most people's attention spans, but real progress in ballroom, as with most other things, requires dedicated attention and commitment to learning. Students who fail to make this important transition to progressive learning (whether in groups or in private lessons) end up hitting a wall in their dancing. They stop growing, dancing gets old, and somewhere down the road their interest dies. Progressive groups allow students to continue to grow in depth rather than breadth, and for a much more affordable price than private lessons.
"But I want to know everything right now!" you say jokingly. "I'm just the sort who likes to do it all."
Me too! It's no fun doing one thing all the time. However, if you can't focus long enough to make some real improvement in one dance, you'll never get better at all the dances. On the other hand, if you can manage to focus on one dance for a while and make some noticeable progress, you'll find that all your dances will benefit. For example, get cuban motion down in the Rumba, and you've got it down in all the Latin dances. Learn basic smooth techniques, and they'll apply in some form or fashion to all the smooth dances.
To put it simply, total specialization is just as detrimental to your dancing as total variety, but some degree of specialization is necessary if you really want to learn to dance well. Our progressive group classes are designed to be a next step for students, following their introduction to ballroom through our beginners group classes on the weekends.