On 3/6/2017 12:13 PM, Marie-Michèle Fournier via Callers wrote:
Hi everyone,
Lately a new dancer has started coming to our dance and he is bad
enough that he will often make the set break if the dance is moderately
challenging.
<snip>
I'm sure other dances have had experience with
similar
troubles, does anyone have advice on how to deal with this so that other
dancers still have a good time yet we are nice to this problematic dancer?
Thank you
Marie
ContraMontreal
This is a really tough issue. A lot, for me, would depend on the
attitude of the dancer. Does he really love it? Does he engage in a
friendly and appropriate way with the rest of the group? Good attitude
and motivation can mitigate _some_ of the problems.
Are there dance communities with actual policy about dancers who are
problematic not because of behavior but because of skill level? I'd be
curious myself to hear how others have dealt with this.
There do seem to be some folks who the regular teaching just doesn't
reach, but every now and again those folks, through sheer persistence
and enthusiasm, can finally get it. Not everyone's learning curve is
the same.
If there's a particular move (or moves) that's consistently losing him,
perhaps a set of carefully chosen, diplomatic dance angels could do some
slow and thorough coaching, off the dance floor. The physical
difficulties sound like less of a barrier than the issues with
processing instruction, and it's possible that some well-crafted
individual attention could get him over the hump into being a more
functional member of your dance community.
Kalia Kliban (ever optimistic)