Israeli Dancing Weekend Workshop

Published: Mon, 04/20/15

Gainesville Ocala Israeli and Folk Dance Newsletter 2015-04-20

Israeli Dancing Weekend Workshop

Hello and Gainesville Ocala Israeli and Folk Dancers,

Israeli Dancing tonight, Monday, as usual from 7:15 to 8:30 pm at B'nai Israel, 3830 NW 16 Blvd, $5

Line Dancing at the Senior Center on Thursdays at noon, as usual.

Coming up is an Israeli Dancing Weekend Workshop this Saturday night and Sunday at Kol Simcha. They will be teaching about a dozen, brand new Israeli dances.

To Move Your Hips, Or Not Move Your Hips, That is the Question

In school, I argued with my teachers mercilessly. My Dad used to say to me, "The teachers look for a reason to give your sister an A and you a B. If she has a B+, they give her an A. If you have anything less than an A+, they give you a B." In my dance sessions, you can argue with me, though it may have to wait until after class so as not to affect others. I do not mind you arguing with me, probably because I like to argue.

On the other hand, my basketball coach used to say, "When I tell you something, do it. No excuses." He was not interested in arguing. Even if you had a good excuse for what you did, he did not care. He was not criticizing you for what you did. He wanted you to learn for the future. The burden was on you to learn from what he was telling you. In one game, our star player got the ball in the middle of the court. When you get the ball in that position, you are supposed to dribble down the middle and the other guys are supposed to fill the wings, so when you get close to the basket, the guy in the center can pass you the ball cutting to the basket. I was on the side and took off down the wing. This is what we had practiced countless times, but our star player panicked a little and threw me the ball on the wing, something he was not supposed to do and something that had never happened in practice. I was not looking at him, since I was filling the wing, and the ball hit me in the back. The embarrassment did not bother me, but getting yanked from the game did. I still think it was unfair to get yanked, but over the next twenty plus years of playing basketball, I never took my eye off the ball again.

When my dance teacher was out of town, I visited another teacher on the same day as another guy from my class. Neither of us ever argue with our dance teacher and I did not argue with this other one either, but I was surprised when my friend did. When she corrected him, he said to her, "You are not following me, other ladies do." I thought, if he argues with her, he is not going to learn anything from her. She will stop correcting him. People do not like correcting you. It is not fun. When you find somebody willing to do so, you do not want to discourage them from doing so.

The other day, while walking around the room, my dance teacher asked me why I was not doing something we were learning in class. I said to her, "You know I do not like to lead with my hands." She knows I have a shoulder injury, so she stopped class and told all the ladies that there was no pushing and pulling. She went to each of them, and one at a time, told them all what they were doing was too hard until they got it right. Then she came back to me and asked me how was it the way she did it. I said, "That was fine," which it was. Even when it is not as overt as this, your dance teachers are looking out for you.

One of the ladies in my swing class grew up with Latin music. When she was dancing with me, I said, "those are salsa hips, not swing".

She asked, "Should I not move my hips and just keep them straight?"

I replied, "Well it is not swing, but none of the guys you dance with are going to complain about the way you move your hips."

In the end, the burden is on you to learn what you will and to answer the question, to move your hips or not.

Happy Dancing,
Andy

publish@gainesvilledance.com
352-327-3672

Dance Calendar for Gainesville and Ocala

www.DanceCalendar.info/u/event.asp?idarea=19

Note: if you do not see the calendar in color, click the compatibility view in your browser. In Internet Explorer, press alt-t, then check Compatibility View.

Dance Quotes

You learn more quickly under the guidance of experienced teachers. You waste a lot of time going down blind alleys if you have no one to lead you. - W. Somerset Maugham, 1874-1965

Dance Schedule

Confirm all programs before going

  1. Monday 4/20 - English Country Dancing
  2. Monday 4/20 - Israeli Dancing with Andy
  3. Tuesday 4/21 - Square Dancing with Lon Ligon
  4. Thursday 4/23 - Israeli Dancing with Kol Simcha
  5. Thursday 4/23 - Line Dancing with Andy at the Senior Center 3 of 6 New Series Sign Up Via SFC
  6. Saturday-Sunday 4/25-26 - Israeli Dancing Weekend Workshop with Kol Simcha
  7. Sunday 5/03 - Contra Dance
  8. Friday 5/08 - Contra Dance in Melrose
  9. Saturday 5/16 - Contra Dance
  10. Sunday 5/17 - Vintage Waltz Brunch

Ongoing Dancing

Classes with Andy

To sign up for classes offered via Santa Fe College Community Education (SFC) call Jennifer 352-395-5193 or visit www.sfcollege.edu/cied/communityed

  1. Israeli Dancing at 7 pm, Israeli Partner Dancing at 8 pm, on Mondays at B'nai Israel, 3830 NW 16 Blvd, only $5, drop in, no sign up required, ongoing.
  2. Line Dancing on Tuesdays at 6 pm at Hawthorne High School, sign up via SFC. Next series starts February 3, 2015
  3. Square Dancing on Tuesdays at 7 pm at Hawthorne High School, sign up via SFC. Next series starts February 3, 2015
  4. Line Dancing on Thursdays at noon at the Senior Center, sign up via SFC, ongoing. Next series starts January 22, 2015
  5. Beginning Salsa Dancing on Thursdays at 6 pm at Gainesville High School, sign up via SFC, ongoing. Next series starts January 22, 2015
  6. Private Lessons, classes for Novice Dancers, Wedding Dances, also for Argentine Tango, Contra, Hustle, Lindy, Line, West Coast Swing, Vintage Waltz contact Andy

Israeli Dances

See www.IsraeliDancing.info for videos to the Israeli dances we have been doing.

Line Dances

See www.LineDancing.info for videos to the line dances we have been doing.

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Andrew Weitzen, publish@gainesvilledance.com, 352-327-3672, Gainesville, FL