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Do you spend time at
home working on your dance skills? Or would you like to? Here are some resources
that will help:
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Instructional Videos - If a picture is
worth a 1000 words, then the value of a dance video is high indeed. A figure
or figure sequence can be watched over and over and also viewed in slow
motion. You can practice the figure, return to the video and then practice
some more. If you are just learning a figure, you can use the video to
reinforce what you learned in class. If you are an experienced dancer, you can
use the videos to review and improve your technique.
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Steppin' Out with the Blackfords -
Wayne & Barbara Blackford have released 12 DVDs in this series. Volumes 1&2
are titled "Smooth - Left Turning Figures". Volumes 3&4
are titled "Smooth - Right Turning and Picture Figures".
The series continues with Volumes 5&6 "Tango", Volume 7 "Rumba", Volume
8 "Cha Cha", Volume 9
"Bolero", Volumes 10&11 "WCS", and Volume 12 "Smooth Addendum.
[Note that there is some overlap between volumes 1 & 2 and also between
volumes 3& 4. You may wish to purchase just volumes 1 & 3 OR 2 & 4. Look at
the figure lists to decide.] Figure lists and ordering information can be found on their web site:
theblackfords.rounddancing.us |
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Private Lessons with Curt & Tammy –
Curt & Tammy Worlock have released 12 volumes in the series. Each volume
presents a selection of (mostly advanced) figures from the Latin and Smooth
rhythms. Go to the Worlock web site:
www.stardustdancecenter.com for a flyer (click on Private Lessons)
listing the figures on each tape. |
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Demonstration Videos – Typically at
a dance event where a dance is being taught, the teaching couple will do the
dance as a demonstration. Frequently some of the watching dancers will have
video cameras and sometimes these recording will make their way to the web.
Keep in mind these are home videos and the quality will vary from excellent to
good enough. In any case, these videos can be quite useful if you have
had a teach and want to review or if you haven't yet seen the dance and want
to teach it to yourself or others.
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Figure Manuals – Videos are probably the
best tool for learning figures (other than a live instructor), but manuals
have greater coverage as well as being much cheaper. Manuals are difficult to
learn from and are probably best used to review the details of a figure with
which you have some familiarity.
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The
Standards Manual published by
Round-a-Lab contains descriptions of all the figures used in round
dancing (except the modifications and new figures that choreographers use to
make our lives more interesting). If you have forgotten a figure or would
like to refresh your memory on a recent teach, this is a good source. It
comes organized by phase; you may prefer to reorganize it by rhythm. Current
price: $45.00 plus shipping.
Also available on a CD (using both Word and PDF formats) for $16.25 |
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Technical Manual published by
ICBDA.
A CD (MS Word format) with figure definitions. Does not cover all the figures
as in the Round-a-Lab manual, but the detail is much greater. For each step
of a figure, information is given on timing, direction of movement, body
turn, technique, and more. If you have the Round-a-Lab manual and still
thirst after knowledge, this is the manual to get. Current price: $10.00 plus
shipping. (See Newsletter to order.) |
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Web Site
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Round Dancing: An Instruction Manual. Lots of information on this web site
by Harold and Meredith Sears. Also an extensive photo gallery illustrating
various dance positions. Browse through the site and return from time to
time to see what you can learn. |
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Organizations to Join
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Cue sheets come in
two varieties – head cues, which are the words used by the cuer and full cue
sheets or fine prints, which give all the movement detail for each figure. You
may find the full cue sheet useful when reviewing a dance at home to verify
alignments and to check figure definitions. Here is where you can look:
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The best single source for cue sheets is
Cue Sheets from All Over maintained by Mark Brautigam. He has collected
and posted a large number of cue sheets himself and has indexed and linked
to cue sheets on many other web sites. Also note his "Advanced search" where
one can specify dance name, choreographer, rhythm, and phase. If you are
looking for a new dance and cannot find it on Mark's site, check back
frequently. There can be a time lag in posting. |
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List of sites that post cue sheets. Also
maintained by Mark Brautigam. |
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