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Re: Arthur Murray Showcase
Posted by Anonymous
7/30/2006  8:14:00 AM
Like it or not, you are going to have some lousy performances in dance. I just did a well rehearsed Samba in competition and did a lousy performance by making some stupid mistakes. Don't worry about a bad performance. You have a better chance of doing well with a showcase since it's only one dance.
In competition one does multiple dances--I did 15 different dances in my last comp.--made some mistakes too--so what.

You probably should do the showcase to just you past your fear of mistakes or a bad performance.
Re: Arthur Murray Showcase
Posted by Anonymous
7/30/2006  2:45:00 PM
I would do the Showcase. Competitions and exhibitions, such as Showcase, do a lot to move your dancing forward. A cynic would say it's because you have to increase your lesson "burn-rate," which somebody above mentioned with some bitterness. Ask your instructor if he thinks you can do a creditable job without having to increase your lesson load. If the answer is no, then I would wait. But if he says yes, go ahead and do it. And then have fun; life is short.
Re: Arthur Murray Showcase
Posted by anon
7/30/2006  3:36:00 PM
<<<< The showcase is an Int. Rumba with a Argentine Tango flair. The choreography is all basic syllabus work.
She figured 6 lessons at most, since she already knows all the syllabus through gold level.

She is on lesson 4 now and they still don't have all their choreography and the teacher is good, but very inefficient. He is slowly working with her on balance and the basics. Now she is irritated at the teacher and about the whole idea. At the pace that he is going it will take 20 lessons. He is now trying to talk her into extra lessons for the performance.>>>

Actually, she is probably getting more out of the lessons by doing balance and the basics than she might if she does choreography - so in this case the teacher is doing the right thing.

If it's syllabus, and she 'knows' syllabus, then why would the coach need to teach the syllabus, anyway?

However, I'll wager that the sutdent is not very good at even doing basics or balance, tho she thinks that by 'knowing syllabus thru gold' that she is better than she thinks. Six lessons are just that - lessons - not practice. She needs to go off and practice what she gets in the lessons - it's not up to the teacher to do that for her.

I have read that there are three levels of dance lessoning: student dances with teacher is the very lowest and beginner-est level. The reality check is in....
Re: Arthur Murray Showcase
Posted by dancer
7/30/2006  5:30:00 PM
Hi all,
learning to dance can be a tricky buisness with finding a good instructor, watching out for sales tactics which make you pay/buy more lessons. Its everywhere and truly speaking dancing is a buisness.
But at the end of the day its what you really want out of your lessons and where you want to be with your dancing. All studios apart from private/group classes have competitions, social nights. showcases etc...but then its upto each individual to decide if they are ready for it or not and are ready to sell out more money just to be in the comp.
If you think you are being forced to do something that you would not normally doo or are feeling uneasy about the whole idea of taking part in a showcase just because you are not ready to dance, then dont do it.
no subject
Posted by anon
7/3/2007  7:38:00 AM
Whats a showcase?
no subject
Posted by terence2
7/5/2007  5:55:00 AM
essentially, performances in varying levels ( Bronze thru Gold ) in the different genres of ballroom .

Normally at Pro/ Amat. status. Routines are done solo, and graded on all the points relevant to the dance performed .

These types of events, are usually " closed " ,and were introduced by the chain schools, as a good revenue source .They can be done " in house " as many are, or at regional type events .
Re: Arthur Murray Showcase
Posted by Anonymous
7/31/2006  12:34:00 PM
anon,

The lady friend that is preparing for the showcase is also my dance partner.
She has a very sketchy background in dance. She is from E. Europe and danced folk and ballroom with a traveling company-had never done any competition, social dancing, or ever heard of a showcase until moving here 7 years ago. She had never had a private lesson. They were just assigned a partner and went to work. All of their lessons were very demanding group lessons. They did lots of solo drilling, class drilling, and the teacher was very much a dictator. All of the dance was choreographed with a group--she said she did a Jive routine once that lasted 7 minutes.

When we started dancing together I was a total beginner and she was more advanced than me. She attended private lessons, but they were about 65% for me--and I paid for them.

Now she is paying for her own private lessons and possibly doing this showcase. She says she did Int. Latin at a high level about 23 years ago, but has forgotten most of it. She could't remember a hockey stick. She is finding out that she is weak in lots of technique issues. She is not a beginner in some ways, but she is like starting over with these Latin dances and the very specific footwork and technique. She knows the syllabus, but it gets mixed up with time and different language. We competed recently in Int Latin and this helped her realize that she needed some work. We did American Rhythm for years and have switched to Int. Latin recently. I am way ahead of her in some ways since I have been taking lessons, competing, and working with my teacher partner for about 1 1/2 years.

We had lots of problems and wasted lesson time on choreograpy issues. She is very picky about what figures she will dance. Lots of lesson time was wasted on this using my dime.

I watched her last lesson and she is improving drastically. It's funny to watch and listen to the process. Her lesson costs about $65 per hour and she is on a tight budget and is very frugal.
Guess she wants the teacher to read her mind on acceptable choreography just for her. I think now she has given up on any type of choreography and is settling for him to just help with the basic technique on each latin dance. I am very happy that she is taking private lessons now. I take from the same teacher and at some point we may split a lesson. We plan on competing again in May. The interest in private lessons for her are to help prepare her to be a dance teacher.
Re: Arthur Murray Showcase
Posted by Carie
8/12/2013  6:09:00 PM
I have been dancing for 4 years now but my partner is moving away. Needless to say, I am looking for a new male lead who is 5ft.9in. or taller (to make turns etc. easier). I have taken 4 yrs. of lessons plus weekly practices & dances. I am not perfect but together am willing to do my share.4436MJ

If anyone out there is interested or knows where I should look, please e-mail me @
613-273-2067.
Re: Arthur Murray Showcase
Posted by danz4joy
8/12/2007  2:12:00 PM
For the average student, a showcase will take 10 additional lessons even if you are not learning very difficult steps. Performance dancing is very different than social dancing. You have to memorize the choro=eography, and work on technique and presintation. But if you put in the commitment and practice time, I assure you that you will be happy with the outcome, and you will learn alot in that dance.
Re: Arthur Murray Showcase
Posted by danz4joy
8/12/2007  2:15:00 PM
Everyone makes mistakes and messes up during performances. That's par for the course. Embrace that and use it as a tool for learning. just like in life, learn from your mistakes and mishaps in dancing. they will make you a stronger dancer, and will make you more confident.

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