I lost my mojo towards the end of last year.
I found myself getting frustrated with some of the students on my lower level courses.
Students who didn’t listen or put into practice what I taught them. Who insisted on running before they could even walk. Who wanted to be spoon fed everything but not actually engage with the material.
The biggest problem for beginners and improvers is that mostly they want to progress way too quickly – before they have even begun to grasp key fundamentals, such as the key structures the dance is built on, basic musicality, and control of their own bodies.
Most clubs feed this false illusion of progress by introducing certain moves way too early – most notably the travelling cross body turns for ladies, and even dips and tricks.
The biggest problem for newbies (and all those dancers who plateau) is not their lack of potential or actual ability.
It’s their attitude, mindset and work ethic.
So when they come up against my syllabus, a few don’t stay the course for the full 12 weeks.
My level 1 and 2 courses are designed to equip beginners and improvers with way more than just moves, and instill in them a deeper understanding of what those “simple” and “easy” moves are actually all about, how versatile they are, and how you can get way more mileage out of them, whilst improving your balance, coordination, control and timing.
All things that will make your life easier later on.
It works like a weeding-out process for those who really haven’t got the kind of attitude I can work with long term.
And for those people there are plenty of clubs ready with open arms to welcome them into the abyss of mediocrity.
And a few months or years down the line, all those club taught sheep will still be wrestling with their partners and contorting themselves through complex combinations they don’t have the skill to execute at proper dance floor tempo.
And even if they could, chances are they won’t remember them in freestyle where it really matters.
They’ll be moaning that they can “only dance with good leads or followers”,
Or stopping classes altogether because they “aren’t learning anything new”.
(These are all ways of saying “my fundamental technique is crap”)
Technique is infinite.
Creativity is infinite.
Salsa is infinite.
You can never run out of things to learn.
I will never run out of things to teach.
The student is the one setting the limitations.
It doesn’t much matter where you start learning Salsa. You’re going to spend the first few months scrabbling around with basics anyway. For sure it will save you a lot of wasted time if you learn those things the right way from the start, but the best dancers periodically revisit these things, unravelling bad habits and creating new, better ones.
No…the issue is not where you start your journey .
What matters most is how you choose to PROGRESS and CONTINUE your journey.
The people I really admire are those who single mindedly pursue what they really want.
Those who will admit it to themselves when what they are doing isn’t working.
Those who aren’t influenced by peers or partners, or social media or “what everyone else is doing”.
What everyone else is doing never got me anywhere except frustrated and miserable.
Thinking for myself and following my own instincts about what was right for me got me where I wanted to go.
It wasn’t fast and it wasn’t easy.
Damn uncomfortable at times.
But it enabled me to reach a point where I can teach my weird and wonderful ways to ONLY those with the right attitude.
As a result my weeding-out process is going to be even more stringently enforced.
All in the good cause of protecting my mojo.
I will soon be discontinuing my group courses as I have a motivated and committed bunch of private students who I love working with, who love my uncompromising and slightly anal approach, and who are getting great results, and are in for the long haul.
This will mean that apart from the occasional course or workshop that I may decide to run if the mood takes me, the only way you can work with me is one-on-one, or as a couple.
There are a couple of slots available,
But only for the right kind of people 🙂