Thread: Workshop Etiquette

Is it just me, or does anyone else get highly annoyed when you pay a lot of money to take a workshop, and mostly all you can hear is the ching ching ching of coin belts? Especially from those who: 1. walk in late for the workshop OR 2. want to practice their shimmy while the master instructor is talking.

I instruct all of my students to don noiseless scarves for any workshops. Anyone else?

Nilaja

I'm sooooo with you on that one Nilaja. This is one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to workshops.

I just took a workshop last weekend and stepped on several beads that had fallen off the coin belts - ouch! And I sometimes had a hard time hearing because of the jingling of coins. There were a lot of people there with coin belts on.

Even if it's posted that coinbelts aren't allowed for a workshop, someone will walk in and put theirs on.

What also drives me nuts is when the lines aren't rotated. If I pay a lot of money to go to a workshop and then somehow I get in the back and that is where I stay the whole time and can't see or sometimes hear what the instructor is saying. Not to mention but sometimes the ones in front are the diva's who think they are god's gift to BD.

I have lots of peeves:
Personal space ladies and gents: arms length, if space is small take smaller steps. I hate when people bump into me and step on my toes.(but it will happen) And space hogs(for those who don't let anyone see and purposely block your view of teacher)
teachers please rotate lines so all can benefit seeing the combo or movement.
cellphones OFF!!! put on vibrate.
don't be chatty cathies i want to hear the workshop teacher not you planning dinner or any other personal information or socializing which is none of my business nor care to hear during the workshop,go outside classroom or Do this after class or during break.
Don't wear noisy coin belts.
please don't leave bottled water or coffee cups in the middle of the dance floor.(i seen this and a few workshops)
there are lots of other pet peeves but there are ones i probably can't think of at this moment

Alrana

Cellphones OFF or on silent mode !!!
The rudeset thing i have ever had happen in a workshop is a teacher ( a workshop instructor actually) coming in at the end of a workshop someone else was giving saying hello to everyone on the side then of course her cell phone rang and she actually answered the stupid phone loudly in the class,m:: . I wanted to really throw her out of the workshop room with a kick in the butt.

- rotating lines is important

-somehow even if i am among the first 10 people in the room for a workshop people walking in 5 minutes before the workshop start always just go right in front squeezing in between people or often just in front ...and i just end up going in the back so i dont have to fight for space.

yes, any extra noise of any kind make it much harder to hear the instructor.

cell phones = off/vibrate

and i really wish everyone would remember to use something to control sweaty body oder so you don't make your classmates pass out!

Originally Posted by theesfield

I instruct all of my students to don noiseless scarves for any workshops. Anyone else?

Nilaja

Yep. Although I sell coin hip scarves in my classes for those who want them, I point out that my hip scarf is noiseless and that I wear it when I attend workshops; I encourage others to do the same.

Deb

Originally Posted by sabrinabellydancer

and i really wish everyone would remember to use something to control sweaty body oder so you don't make your classmates pass out!

This is a difficult one, because although BO can be really offensive and distracting, there are several people in my dance school, for example, that are allergic to a lot of deodorants and sprays. IMO it's polite to wear an unscented/natural deodorant to workshops - especially since you'll probably sweat anyway - just in case people with these fairly common allergies are present.

Cell phones annoy the tar out of me too, yet coin scarves don't so long as people use some common sense and manners.
I always tell my gals to take both a quiet, and if they really love wearing noisy scarves, a coin one to workshops and decide which to wear at the workshop based on what seems to be worn by the majority. That also means they are prepared if the instructor asks for no noisy scarves at the start of the workshop. I tell them to make sure they take a workhorse coin scarf if they must take one, one that has proven to be durable and will not fall apart, and to try to take one that has a more muted sound like a single coin edge instead of a heavily coined one. I also tell them if they take a coin or bead scarf they need to pay attention to it and if it suddenly starts to fall apart they need to stop, pick up anything that has fallen off and change scarves before they create a hazzard for the other dancers.

Being a shorty, i hate front row hogs, especially the ones that despite the teacher asking them to move to the back in order to rotate the lines, they just ignore him/her and stay there! Whats with that?????????????

Surely in this instance the teacher shouldn't let them get away with it? She could say something like "I'm sorry but I can't continue until we've rotated the rows" It would take a lot of nerve to continue standing there with everyone looking and waiting for them to move.

Originally Posted by Shimmy_N_Sheik

Being a shorty, i hate front row hogs, especially the ones that despite the teacher asking them to move to the back in order to rotate the lines, they just ignore him/her and stay there! Whats with that?????????????

I find it annoying when the instructor spends half the workshop time talking about themselves and how wonderful/wise they are.

Curses upon:
1.She who owns the scarf of a million ultra shiny, noisy coins
2.She who dresses up in full gear especially tribal with HUGE knickers, skirts and headgear. Trying a getting a view around that!
3. She who hogs the front row, responding not to teacher.
4. She who chatters and worse still she who nudges you when you don't reply:angry: Wot is that all about???
5. She,the hopeless case who has chosen the wrong level of workshop then asks constant dumb questions and complains loudly about the teacher.
6.She who sprays her perfume/deodorant/foot cooller over her personage and for yards about her making some of us reach for an inhaler. Give me BO any day ( as long as you showered that morning)
7. She who complains that you are too fat/tall etc to see around.
8. She who takes photographs/films without first seeking not just teachers permission but students! RUDE!!!

Yes I didn't say he 'cos I never met an awkward male in a belly dance workshop...yet.......g.:
And yes I have met all 8 !! And I can safely say I cannot be accused any any of these.
1.I wear a fringed scarf if any
2. I wear t-shirt and jazz pants
3. I do as I'm told
4. I listen determined to get my money's worth
5. I have been clueless but I watch others as best I can and ask questions of my clever mates after.
6. I shower and use deodorants and do not spray away
7. I AM reasonably tall and somewhat large BUT I deserve my turn near the front
8. I have taken photos of teacher AFTER class with his/her permission.

Aren't I a goody-goody? .p::

Originally Posted by theesfield

Is it just me, or does anyone else get highly annoyed when you pay a lot of money to take a workshop, and mostly all you can hear is the ching ching ching of coin belts? Especially from those who: 1. walk in late for the workshop OR 2. want to practice their shimmy while the master instructor is talking.

I instruct all of my students to don noiseless scarves for any workshops. Anyone else?

Nilaja

I'm with you 100%. Apart from being distracting, dangerous (bits of broken glass on the floor), expensive (those belts have a limited life), it screams "beginner" to me. Look around, experienced dancers and teachers tend to dress to work not look pretty.

Originally Posted by jahbie

Surely in this instance the teacher shouldn't let them get away with it? She could say something like "I'm sorry but I can't continue until we've rotated the rows" It would take a lot of nerve to continue standing there with everyone looking and waiting for them to move.

Yeh, but most do move so it appears to the teacher that they have moved. Quite often when they are discovered, the teacher will tell them again, and this works!

I agree with most of the points made here but think that the workshop instructor is partially responsible for setting the standards of good behavior--especially when it comes to line rotations. I was very impressed, for example, with how Heather Stants ran her combo workshop at the last Tribal Revolution. She was so organized and made sure to include line rotation along with her instruction. She taught a few steps, drilled them a couple times with music and then asked us to rotate. A few of us also started the habit of lowering ourselves close to the floor when in the front lines which helped those in the back. This seemed to catch on and made learning the combos even easier when you were way in the back lines.

A microphone/headset for the instructor is so nice--especially in the huge workshops taught by many well-known performers. If a headset isn't available, then coined hip scarves should be out of the question. Again, the instructor or event organizer should set this expectation in the beginning...just in case some student is attending his/her first workshop and doesn't know any better.

Everyone should behave like a polite adult in workshops but strong, clear leadership is also essential. If the instructor feels uncomfortable taking charge, the event organizer should lay the ground rules. I can't imagine some of the antics I've witnessed in belly dance workshops ever happening in the ballet classes and conferences I used to attend. These people would get at least a stern lecture from a ballet teacher...or even the sting of stick from time to time. .w.:

Originally Posted by jaded

I agree with most of the points made here but think that the workshop instructor is partially responsible for setting the standards of good behavior-- .w.:

I'll take that one step further and say the workshop instructor is ENTIRELY responsbile! My main peeve of workshops is instructors who simply can't/won't control the class. ,m::

hear hear ladies
I am actually sick to death of coins anyway. I prefer to wear noiseless scarves or none.
And what about when you've set up early at the front of the class and someone comes in with a group of friends and makes another front row in front of you.
I also can't stand it when people get too technical in a workshop. A workshop in my opinion is to get an idea this is not an intensive. So when you're learning the choreography and someone is asking these poited questions about- "how are you moving your knees, or where is your baby toe, or I can't see your elbow." I can't stand that. they would be better off just asking if they can tape the workshop.

Whenever I get the chance, I stand in the front row ! However, I don't think I am being obnoxious by doing so. I rotate when asked. I prefer to stand where I can't see anyone else as I am then forced to actually learn the choreography instead of just copying others 1/100th of a second behind. I ask questions, as learning a choreography is often not the whole intent of the teacher, it is the technique "inside" the choreography that enquiring minds want to know. Questions like "are you squeezing your glutes when you do that?" or is that a very fast shimmy or an hagalla/egyptian walk/three-quarter shimmy? I like it when others ask questions too. I don't really care in the end about memorising a sequence, more about memorising the tools to make sequences with. Also, I empathise with students who wear coin belts in class, after all, many of them specifically bought them from their teachers so that they could wear them in class. If there are 100's of students in a big workshop though, I could see that sheer numbers would be a jingly volume problem.

I forgot, my peeves are:

1. People who hit you multiple times during class, because they fling themselves about as if they were alone.
2. Anyone who puts their elbow in my elbow and pushes me backwards so they can get a better spot (i.e. MY spot!).
3. People who make personal comments about the teacher during class while he/she is in earshot (so rude).
4. People with different ideas on personal space i.e. I have stood here, you got here later on, I don't want my nose pressed up against your back.
5. The class clown who takes over the lesson.

I agree with those sorts of questions but sometimes people ask questions about simple movements or specifics of the choreography that there are not time for. I think technique can be covered but generally workshops are for intermediate or advanced students. so a serious break down is not in order. nor does it matter if you are actually turning your head in the same direction as the instructor. but i'm not a stickler for details so thats probably my problem.

I hate choreography workshops where the the teacher suddenly decides to stop dancing and see if you've got it-mainly because i never have!!
People with phones
And when I'm teaching a workshop
People whose eyes glaze over and look bored when I'm trying to explain something about the background to a dance or where it fits into the culture and then later ask you to explain it.AAARGH!!!

My pet peeves in workshops are:

*not so much the coin scarves as the ones that keep falling apart and the dancer won't just take the blasted thing off! I always have a trusty back-up noiseless simple black velvet tie belt and that's the type I normally wear anyway, but I do get that people love the colors and flash of a coin scarf.
*the unwashed, doesn't "believe in underarm deodorant" workshop participant.
*the cell phone diva
*the non-listening chit-chat individual - just rude even in a class
*the "challenger" - has to make some comment about every single step the workshop instructor is teaching. Obviously, the challenger knows so much already they don't need the workshop, so why did they pay to attend?
*last but certainly not least, the late arrivals who have the consummate gall to not even be discreet about it; oh no, they chat and try to push their way into *whatever* row looks good to them instead of quietly going to the back. Geez. All these behaviors remind me why I don't take many workshops - you never know what corpses are going to float to the top..............ugh!!

Hossam Ramzy has a rule about no coin belts in workshops. Must have got on his nerves as well.

The cell phone thing drove me nuts at a recent weekend long workshop. All day long I heard rings, beeps, low battery tones, etc. Grrr - gets annoying to hear a "beep beep" every minute to let me know a phone is going dead.

The noisy coin scarves are bad too. Oh, and worse is the zil playing when the workshop instructor is explaining something. That is not the time to be practicing patterns!

Originally Posted by SamiraShuruk

I find it annoying when the instructor spends half the workshop time talking about themselves and how wonderful/wise they are.

I second this one. I'm paying the instructor to teach me something about dance. Sometimes it feels like the instructor should be paying the students to stroke her ego. I feel like saying, "Yeah. We all know you are wonderful. That's why we're paying to be here."

I went to a workshop and show a few years back, and my husband and I just laughed as we read the program. The front of the program went on and on about how wonderful and loved this particular sponsor was, and then on every page were statements like "Production by Suzy Shake-it", "Art Direction by Suzie Shake-it", " Music by Suzy Shake-it", etc. The list went on forever.

Some people have some huge egos. But, if they are going to talk about how wonderful they are, talk about it while we are learning, not while we are sitting on our butts for 20 minutes.

Although I am tall and usually end up in the back rows, I would like to get a close up look at the instructor too. It bothers me sometimes that the shorties feel that it is their God-given right to get the front row and never move.

Rotating lines or teaching with mirrors is a big help.

Souzan

I, too, find it annoying when there are coin belts jingling and the instructor is trying to teach. I have not been bellydancing that long, (about three years), but I have learned not to wear a jingly coin belt to workshops.

I also don't like it when people chatter when the instructor is trying to teach. I'm there to learn from whomever is teaching - not to listen to others gab!

I'm usually up near the front but I do appreciate it when the instructor rotates the rows so everyone has an opportunity to watch the instructor.

Cell phones don't bother me much - often if a person has left theirs on, it is because there is some type of problem that is of an urgent nature. I know when my father was sick and near the end of his days, I often had my phone on in case that call came when I had to leave quickly to be with him. So, sometimes, there is a reason for leaving it on and that can be excused.

All in all, my experiences at workshops that I have attended have been great!

Re: row rotation. Now, this is a big, BIG bugbear of mine. <ahem>... excuse me...

:soapbox: Ah, that's better! One thing that MAJORLY bugs me is those people who don't *quite* hog the front row... oh, they DO, but they strive hard to LOOK like they don't. They swan in, head to the front, and when asked to rotate they move approximately ONE NANOMETER backwards, and gesticulate wildly at those of us behind them to: "Come on, move to the front then!". Then, when I shake my head in disagreement and decide NOT to try to squeeze my body into the millimetre of space they've so generously given me, they can be quite content that they're still in the front row, and respond if prodded: "But I tried to get her to come to the front but she won't/is too shy, laff laff laff". ,m::

Also, those people who are suddenly really, really attracted to you. Perhaps one should take it as a compliment, but when Ms Laterunner strolls in and stands about an inch from my nose, it bugs me. It REALLY bugs me. And then I shuffle back a little so that I can breathe without snorking her hair up my nose... and SHE MOVES BACK because joy of joys, she has some space! GAAAAAAH! Stay away from me, new magnetic friend! Bah.

Mostly, for me, it's a space issue. Take a space. STAY in it. You can travel without flinging yourself around the entire room. I only need about three feet square. Therefore, so do you. I don't really care much if you decide to take a bazillion acres, BUT STAY OUT OF MY THREE FEET SQUARE!

/:soapbox: <begin calm breathing>

Since this hasn't been mentioned yet, I'll chime in:

I hate the people who, having BEEN rotated to the front... leave an 8-ft wide DMZ between themselves and the instructor. She isn't going to BITE you! Move UP! Otherwise those of us rotate to the back are utterly squeezed together!

I also wish instructors would remember to split the group several times to let us do the choreo with only half the people on the floor.