From what I've heard from talking to people in the Boston-area Middle Eastern Dance scene the Goddess Dancing is very well respected and 'really know their stuff'.
Maybe I came across wrong. I think Goddess Dancing is wonderful, but the other day, Karen said to me that most people that take their classes have never moved before in their life. I have had a few different instructors now, and they all have different styles. I was merely suggesting that perhaps there is a teacher whose style better suits you. I don't get all the politics of middle-eastern dance, perhaps, but I wouldn't feel it was wrong to take a class with different instructors as each teacher has something different to bring to the class.
I guess I've heard you complain before about how belly-dancing isn't really a workout, thus my sweating comment. But I think the footwork and the faster movements that we did in the Seattle class I took were both a better workout (if one wanted that), but also more challenging from a dance perspective. I'm really glad I was exposed to it and I incorporate those movements when I practice at home. Since you're already a skilled dancer, a class like that with more moving and more complicated footwork would be more fun for you - and that's why I suggested that you might be able to find something more challenging.
You sounded like you weren't so sure that you wanted to go back to tap & jazz, but I think I read that wrong. I think you said that you needed some time away from that but now you're happy to go back to that because you have a new perspective. Is that right?
On Goddess Dancing... I enjoyed the class because the instructors are great and I definitely learned a lot, but I still felt like it moved at an extraordinarily slow pace, and I was frustrated by some of the people in my class that didn't seem to 'get' it....ever.[1] So I think next time I am going to take the advanced beginner class - even if it will be a little challenging at first. One, I hope that I'll be more interested because it will be more new material and Two, it will avoid the people who skip weeks of classes at a time, only to come back to slow everyone else down with the stuff they haven't learned.
[1] One person in particular I felt was just not trying at all to even pay attention to what was being taught, but realistically, she could have the same problems with dance that I have with math and maybe she really is trying her heart out.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
Re: Dancing
Date: 2003-06-18 08:56 am (UTC)Maybe I came across wrong. I think Goddess Dancing is wonderful, but the other day, Karen said to me that most people that take their classes have never moved before in their life. I have had a few different instructors now, and they all have different styles. I was merely suggesting that perhaps there is a teacher whose style better suits you. I don't get all the politics of middle-eastern dance, perhaps, but I wouldn't feel it was wrong to take a class with different instructors as each teacher has something different to bring to the class.
I guess I've heard you complain before about how belly-dancing isn't really a workout, thus my sweating comment. But I think the footwork and the faster movements that we did in the Seattle class I took were both a better workout (if one wanted that), but also more challenging from a dance perspective. I'm really glad I was exposed to it and I incorporate those movements when I practice at home. Since you're already a skilled dancer, a class like that with more moving and more complicated footwork would be more fun for you - and that's why I suggested that you might be able to find something more challenging.
You sounded like you weren't so sure that you wanted to go back to tap & jazz, but I think I read that wrong. I think you said that you needed some time away from that but now you're happy to go back to that because you have a new perspective. Is that right?
On Goddess Dancing...
I enjoyed the class because the instructors are great and I definitely learned a lot, but I still felt like it moved at an extraordinarily slow pace, and I was frustrated by some of the people in my class that didn't seem to 'get' it....ever.[1] So I think next time I am going to take the advanced beginner class - even if it will be a little challenging at first. One, I hope that I'll be more interested because it will be more new material and Two, it will avoid the people who skip weeks of classes at a time, only to come back to slow everyone else down with the stuff they haven't learned.
[1] One person in particular I felt was just not trying at all to even pay attention to what was being taught, but realistically, she could have the same problems with dance that I have with math and maybe she really is trying her heart out.