My methodology of teaching West Coast Swing (WCS) is a tried and true program that I've
used for
over 19 years. I've been dancing WCS for over 25
years. I've taught
WCS Dancers from Level 1 Basic to Level 4 Advance Intermediate. Many of my prior students have become WCS Teachers and successful competitors.
Each class session is 1 night per week for 1 hour, number of weeks per
session is 6 weeks for Novice/Beginners. For Intermediate & Advance-Intermediate
classes we run on a calendar month schedule. Some months are 4
weeks and some are 5 weeks, so the sessions are adjusted accordingly. Drop-in's (students who come for one night
only) are allowed on Instructor
approval.
Partners are not required. I will rotate partners. People that come as partners and want to stay with that partner may do so,
however, I recommend that everyone rotate partners. You'll learn faster and easier and won't be repeating your errors because your partner is making errors as well,
or is covering up for you or vice versa. Also if your partner is
having a difficult time learning the movement, then you are not stuck
with him/her and you'll be able to practice with someone who may not be
having difficulty. The difficulty may be a "shared" problem that gets
corrected when you go to a different partner.
We all work together as a team.
As you rotate you'll get to know the other students in the class. Most probably, the class will eventually become a "clique" of folks that will
dance together for a long, long time. Your dance skills will be comparable for as long as you take classes together.
As you venture out into the social
world of West Coast Swing Dancers you will be joining a nationwide Dance
Community the has no comparison. You'll find WCS'ers (aka Westies)
in most major cities, and at least once per month somewhere in the US
you'll find a WCS Convention where you can dance, learn, and compete.
You WILL learn to swing dance. I've had many students in the past that had difficulty
in the beginning, but stuck it out and have been
enjoying the dance ever since. In the Novice (beginning) class we do a lot of
practice & repetitions. Some people's dance coordination needs to be learned, however,
everyone can learn if they are willing to work at it and will practice.
There is one session
(6 weeks, 1 night per week) of WCS Basics, we call this
the Novice class for beginners, 7-8 sessions of 4 week Intermediate
sessions, and 6 sessions of 4 week Advance-Intermediate.
Each night of the
Novice class begins with about 30-45 minutes of practicing the moves of the previous nights of the session, then 1 or 2 moves are added to the
choreography depending on time and the students learning the move(s) correctly. At the end of each session you will have learned a complete choreographed set of moves that you can go out and dance with comfortably. If you
complete all sessions you will have learned over
150 WCS movements.
