Discussion about Allan's teaching.

Way back when I was teaching I used to regularly teach country dance lessons.  I got an immense sense of satisfaction out of teaching dance.  In recent years I have rarely had the opportunity.  But recently I have started teaching at German Club when Tommy is playing (at 7 PM) and at Danceland on Friday at 7 PM.

I think I have something good to contribute to the dance community and to the understanding of dance.  I especially like tostart off new dancers and help them feel good about their dancing. So I would like to get lessons going.  Below are some of the main points of my dance teaching and philosophy:

1.  Anyone can learn to dance!  Dancing is after all just pairing the music you hear to the movement of your body.  Couple dancing or partner dancing adds lead and follow to this basic dance.  As such it does not have to be fancy to feel good.  The main purpose of dancing is to enjoy the music, the body and the partnership of dancing.  I think therefore that social dancing is the heart of dance.  Competitive dance is just an offshoot!

2.  First there was music. People figured out how to move to each type of music.  Each type of music invites a certain type of motion.  While each person CAN do this on their own, it is also true that may bright people have discovered movements that go well to each type of music.  This is similar to the way certain spices or wines go with certain foods or certain food combinations go better than others.  That's why good cooks often follow a recipe instead of just making up thing out of their head.  Also like food, once you have a recipe you can play with it and be creative.  So with good dancers they follow the recipe for a certain dance, eg. waltz, or West Coast.  They also add their own stuff and are creative with their dance.   But the dance works best if they follow the basic flavour of the dance they are trying to do.

3.  Because of all this I believe that the music  if necessary to teach the dance. For beginner dancers especially, working without music is foolish and confusing.  WE use numbers to count.  But the purpose is to help the student learn what part of the music to use for what part of the dance.  Watch here for more detailed information.

4.  Music and movement work together.  The type music you use helps you to move correctly to any dance style and the type of movement you use helps star precisely on the music.  Great combination.  For this reason if you find that you are "falling off" the music, there is usually a reason in the body movement which is causing you to go off the music.  Correct your movement, foot position, step size etc. and you will have an easier time.