Cruel to be Kind

And chaos reigned! Sometimes I stand back and watch the game attempts of the class to get through a dance that needs far more teaching than time allows. I wonder at my own ambitions as well as the amazing tenacity of some of our dancers who keep going, and smiling, against all the odds... the dance collapses around them, bodies fly around in all directions and lone, lost and bemused newcomers stand momentarily  paralysed in the middle of a set as the lucky onlookers collapse in relieved hilarity on the sidelines and then, somehow, we get there ... by almost a miracle everyone finishes in the right place, with the right partner at the right time! And they'll all get up to give it a go again next time... because that moment of achievement, whether it's linked to a successful attempt or just to everyone suffering together and surviving :-) is part of what makes the class work. I do realise that I challenge a lot of the class with the dances I teach, but I truly believe in the mental benefits of this form of dancing, the need to concentrate to learn new formations or new variations of familiar ones means it stays mentally beneficial for not just the newcomers. Having said that, I also realise that there is a limit to the number of challenges most people can cope with in one evening, so don't worry, there will always be many more familiar or 'easier' dances on our programmes than tricky ones. And if it really gets too confusing don't forget the Monday afternoon beginners and improvers class at the UKCA is taken at a much less challenging pace, but is still great fun.