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.
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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)
