Posts

Showing posts from January, 2024

January '24 Whips & Dips workshop

Image
 First off, the title is something of a misnomer. This is the name of a workshop series that is being revived -- this was the second time back -- and in fact, neither covered whips or dips! But it's a fun name and we might keep it.   Here's the basic idea. This is mainly the brainchild of my friend Nick.    1. The workshop series will focus on building the community with three pillars:       -Social and emotional wellness      -Positive gameplay      -Financial accessibility    2. High quality of instruction, with the allstar (or higher) tier instructors on board with the guidelines for teaching and interacting in the group   3. A fund/other means for scholarships and community opportunities built using proceeds from the workshop series.    In essence, this is a safe and fun place to learn. Passive aggressive commentary, tearing other people down (from workshop attendees, or instructors), dismissive remarks, etc. are all too often a part of instruction, even in peer-led groups,

Your character sheet as a WCS dancer

"I don't know why Billy made finals when I didn't! I'm just so much better at [xyz miniscule aspect of technique] than he is!"  With sloppy feet, bad posture, lack of phrasing, a stiff upper body, etc. how could someone make finals in a jack & jill?  Everyone has a confirmation bias toward technical elements that they're either working hard on, care a lot about and value in themselves, or both. And this tends to show up when we're judging quality of dance and general dance ability in other people.  The typical response to these complaints is something like "well, were your worst moments better than their best ones" or something similarly unhelpful.  I think that a great lesson to take away from 'who makes it' is to think about why they did  rather than trying to think of reasons why they shouldn't  or why they don't deserve to .  More about growth mindset:  dance image neutrality how to get better at getting better whose fault