The old but popular ones

Some of the very old dances still seem popular such as Pot of Gold. When you weren't taught them first time around it's hard to pick them up.

I can't read a step sheet,

If a class dances the same old dance at every social, they should teach them in a class every now and then.

Hmm I think so too. I've had to teach myself loads of old ones, and I'm still not sure that I'm doing them right. Is it right sailor left sailor or left sailor right sailor!

At my classes we like to recap some of the older dances. Why not find the name of the dance you like and that you know is popular and ask your instructor to do a refresher session on it? But don't ask him/her to do it on the same night as the instructor will probably want to check out the steps themselves first. Other dancers in the class may also want to re-learn it. It's surrising how many people think they know a dance until they try to do it.

Okay - I'll give it a try again.

I love Some Beach - but mainly because I luuuuuuurve Blake Shelton

I love CCS....I know it´s not difficult, but maybe because there are so many songs to dance it to or Midnight waltz...hmmm...come to think of it...will have a look at my stepsheets and do some old ones...


Pat

'Golden Oldie' faves around here seem to be Pot of Gold, Hot Tamales and Vertical Expressions. Unfortunatly I cant do any of them!!

'Golden Oldies' still requested regularly at my classes and socials are:

Shania's Moment
Islands In The Stream
Heartbreak Express
Pot Of Gold
Coastin'
Cajun Mambo
Fields Of Gold
Can't Stop Loving You
Gypsy
Hot Potato
Into The Arena
Just For Grins
Lamtarra Rhumba
Smokey Places
My Maria
Midnight Waltz
Ribbon Of Highway
Swamp Thang
Walkin' The Line

Learnt JUST A KISS last night, very nice

Just For Grins is a good one, never been taught it, just tried to pick it up, so always go wrong for a couple of walls.

Yes we agree many of the old ones are still very popular and are asked for again and again, we think also that many of the new ones are 5 minute wonders and only last as long as the music is current, then they just simply die, but good dances that are well choreographed stay around. Cheers Lawrence & Margaret

I like it when we put the old (established) dances to different music. I want to be able to hear a piece of music and say - let's put so and so to it.

Oh and hello Mistleymover - welcome to our lovely forum

Does anybody still do Grundy Gallop?

I did it at the weekend, for the first time in years! I'd actually forgotton all about it! And how much fun it is!!

Am gonna teach it to my beginners tomorrow!

I saw it and tried to join in at Zoofest last year. I'm quite new to LD so don't know lots of these oldies. Soon picked it up - it was a lot of fun

Hi
Grundy Gallop
"....I'm quite new to LD so don't know lots of these oldies....."

And as I have been saying quite openly over the years... 'We just didn't go from One Step Forward to The Beast - we did a heck of a lot of dances in between. We should never loose track of that - but sad to say a good number of Instructors and Choreographers have lost track.
As they become more experienced (?) they assume that everyone else is at their 'level' (hence some Absolute Beginner dances with full turns and syncopated movements). At one time you were lucky to get to see (let alone taught) a dance with even a single half turn - such was the simplicity of those early dances.. these are the very dances that 'some' of out illustrious Instructors and Choreographers were taught - and no doubt gave them a heck of a lot of pleasure.... so why have they turned their backs in an almost arrogant way and ‘mock’ those quite basic dances.

Even with those ‘basic’ dances we can (and do) add a little styling or use different music.

Grundy Gallop was a huge hit tonight! Danced 4 times and had everybody in fits of laughter (although that could've been my 'styling' which involved horse impressions & lassooing motions, naturally!! )

I have some dancers who go to another class where they are starting to learn the likes of Heart of An Angel, Dont Feel Like Dancing (wonderful dances which fill the floors so obviously have to be learned!) but they really enjoy learning the 'Golden Oldie' beginner dances so they come to me as well.

These ladies told me tonight that their other class has a social coming up which they have been discouraged from attending. The reason? They are beginner/improver level and most of the other dancers are either too 'advanced' or only like 'new' dances and will not want beginner/older ones eating into their dancing time.

I think its a really sad situation, dancers being made to feel inferior simply because they stick to the older or easier dances. I know you have to please the majority of dancers, but its hard enough for beginners to go to socials and feel completely comfortable. They are adament they are going though so good for them!

(Sorry! Soapboxing again!!)

Jennie!!... soapboxing???.... you stick to it, girl.

Too many Instructors feel that their beginners (?) are holding them back. The Instructors want their dancers to be at their level... and thus creating peer pressure resulting in (often) dancers being taught some very 'boring' (not to be confused with 'basic') dances which are being taught to the latest 'awesome', 'funky' and or 'cool' (but very popular) music.

Mike Taylor wrote:

Jennie!!... soapboxing???.... you stick to it, girl.

Too many Instructors feel that their beginners (?) are holding them back. The Instructors want their dancers to be at their level... and thus creating peer pressure resulting in (often) dancers being taught some very 'boring' (not to be confused with 'basic') dances which are being taught to the latest 'awesome', 'funky' and or 'cool' (but very popular) music.

hear hear to that!

my views exactly - 'some' instructors do appear to 'rush' their beginners through the early stages of learning - i suspect in some instances because they are bored with teaching the easier dances?

i know of clubs that say 'all welcome' but they certainly dont cater for 'all' - its a case of 'you sit and watch and if you are clever enough you may pick the steps up from watching' what an attitude to take!?

they are paying their hard earned just the same as everyone else in the class - they deserve to be 'taught' how to dance just as they would if they went to any other 'dance' class.

i believe this is down to the other dancers in the class too - i know of plenty of experienced intermediates who turn their noses up at the easier routines and just hate it when new people walk through the door - and i think i know why........ they are addicts!!! lol - they go to their classes for their 'fix' of line dancing and need the challenges to get harder and harder to actually enjoy themselves. its sad really tho isnt it? i dont understand it completely - im happy to dance 'one step forward' on a social night - not ashamed by it......i have to say at this point tho that i have actually been ridiculed for doing so, by a fellow instructor...oh yes!

i was mocked for getting up and dancing the easier dances, and taunted by that person who actually asked me if i was only, and i quote 'a beginner dancer' myself, simply because they hadnt 'seen' me dancing anything hard.....(which was untrue)

yeah - im a beginner dancer how i manage to run 5 classes a week tho is a mystery! LOL LOL LOL

if someone can be nasty like that to me - who has bucket loads of confidence on the dance floor - imagine how beginners must feel in amongst a group of sneering intermediates?

sorry if ive veered off topic ooops!!

ok thats me done! lol

*nicks Jennies soapbox.....

Hubbs and I had to teach ourselves all the old dances we know -because none of the instructors would teach them. The amount of times we've been told just to join in and we'll pick it up.

It's really hard coming into line dancing when others have been doing it for years. We have to try to keep up with all the new ones and try to learn the oldies but goodies.

Gets a bit daunting and has made us wonder if we want to keep it up

Dancing Gal wrote:

Gets a bit daunting and has made us wonder if we want to keep it up

Oh you should definitly keep it up! I've had to teach myself some of the older dances as well but its worth the effort if you cant find someone to teach it to you!

At a social last weekend the floor was split 'All The Way' & 'DHSS' I can do both but chose to do the latter because I hadnt done it for a while. One particular woman couldnt do All The Way and wouldnt get up to do DHSS because she didnt want people to think she was just a beginner. So she chose to sit out completely

Jennie wrote:

wouldnt get up to do DHSS because she didnt want people to think she was just a beginner. So she chose to sit out completely

What a daft woman Surely it's enjoying dancing and the music that counts, not the apparent level of dance. Tsk

Dancing Gal wrote:

Jennie wrote:

wouldnt get up to do DHSS because she didnt want people to think she was just a beginner. So she chose to sit out completely

What a daft woman Surely it's enjoying dancing and the music that counts, not the apparent level of dance. Tsk

not for some! some only will dance the most bang up to date - hot off the press - fabby dances!

im serious - they lose touch with what dancing should be about - fun!

lets hope the same fate doesnt befall any of us eh?

Just looking at my old files to see which dances are still popular & back in 1996 I taught Rock Around The Clock....this is such a useful dance, as it fits loads of tracks of music. Midnight Waltz still being danced as is Waltz Across Texas, Native American, Stroll Along, Fly Like A Bird, Tush Push, Copperhead & as mentioned by Jennie, Grundy Gallop. Lamtarra, God Bless Texas, Watermelon Crawl, Jose Cuervo, Twist Em, Country Walkin', My Maria, Just For Grins, Tropicana, Sweet Maria.....am getting bored now & only up to the end of 1997

Hi,
I might be late to answer, but.....most of the old favourites of yours are still danced and teached here....we might be a little "behind" the latest dances.... and the easier/beginner dances you all mentioned, like Tushpush, Rock around the clock, Waltz across Texas and and and are floor fillers here. One reason could be, that we don´t have so much possibilites to learn dances, as you have in England and are happy to get to learn any dance
We did a repetition night last wednesday and here is, what we danced:
Urban Living
Coastin´
Closer
Redneck
Jolene
More to follow
Straighten up
Naughty but nice
Quando when Quando
Midnight Waltz
Stroll along
Grundy Gallop
King of the road
Speak to the sky
Never Ever
Don´t feel like dancing & Holding back the Ocean.
As you can see, mostly old favourites....we will be going on a social on saturday and I think, that all of them will be danced

We do have the problems of having some dancer getting bored with the older or beginner stuff,too. But as I don´t have to earn my living through teaching, I personally think....if they don´t like it and can´t accept beginner dancer.....they are free to go and find another class....might be a little hard, I know.....

As most of the clubs I visited while I travelled do some of the older stuff in their classes, I´m always happy to join in


Thanks for that !!!!
Pat