Thread: Begnners in Wrong Level workshop: what do you do?

Originally Posted by Nepenthe

I don't know if I believe the beginners need to stay at the back.

I don't think beginners need to stay at the back of a mixed-level workshop.

But if you're in the situation described in this thread -- you've knowingly signed up for an advanced class in a topic you know nothing about -- you are absolutely going to be a distraction to everyone around you, and possibly a danger to others and yourself.

I'm not a beginner, but I have been to workshops where I've fallen behind (brain overload at the end of the day... totally different style than I'm used to... headache... whatever). The first thing I do when that happens is go to the back of the room so I'm not messing up the people behind me. If I get caught up, I rotate with the rows. But for as long as I'm lost, I stay in back as a courtesy to those around me.

As a general statement about cluelessness and not understanding one's place in the grand scheme of things, occasionally a student in the front row (beginner or otherwise) will get intoxicated by the proximity of the instructor, forget that the workshop is not their private lesson, and ask a lot of personal questions, which is frustrating to everybody else. Asking questions is right up there with positioning in terms of providing a stage for the un-self-aware to advertise their lack of boundaries.

There's a difference between things that pertain specifically to you and questions the whole group might benefit from hearing. Students should feel comfortable asking questions, but those inquiries should refer to what is being taught (although the size and formality of the class does influence how rigorously this should be enforced). Good questions include topics the teacher may not be explaining adequately, like moves that are not commonly done in your area, tricky weight shifts in choreography, clarifications of unfamiliar terms, and so on, not requests for personal technique evaluation, BS-ing about what your troupe does, or ego-stroking games of "I Do and Know All of This Stuff the Other Students Probably Don't." Teachers shouldn't be afraid to defer questions that are too tangential or specific to an individual to a more convenient time. And for goodness sake, teachers, if you're going to answer the question, repeat it first!

Student: "Mumble, mumble, mumble?"
Teacher: "Yes, that's most important part of the choreography."
Everybody else: "What did she ask? Did you hear that?"

[QUOTE=tahiradancer;948217]those of us who were "advanced" were disappointing that AN decided to bring the workshop down to a basic level. I think there were three of us who were offered refunds.QUOTE]

This happened in my community, where a big-name instructor was teaching an expensive (for our neck of the woods) workshop. It was to be for intermediate students. After the warmup, she started her instruction, and after about 15 minutes basically dumped the curriculum and went to beginner-level instruction. I would say about 50% of the room was beginner-level. Adding to the dynamics, there were more than 100 people in what was to be a class capped at 60. I had, I think, eight (non-beginner) students there. Sure, they learned some things, but compared to their expectations, it was such a disappointment. To this day, a workshop is an extremely hard sell.

Just want to echo a few things:

1. It's often difficult to get any kind of detailed info on a workshop from the organizers (I suppose sometimes they don't have the info either!), so it's often a bit of a gamble.

That said:

2. I would *not* want a workshop changed, even if it was too hard for me. I have a billion beginner bellydance videos, and have taken half as many beginner courses. If I'm paying the big bucks for a workshop, I want something more special, more advanced, even if I won't come away knowing it all. I will learn *something* new, and I'll learn what I have to aspire toward.

Also, a few times I've had the experience of signing up for workshops that were beyond my level (my problem tends to be the opposite -- I'm too wary of doing so -- but organizers encouraged me) and surprising myself with how much I really could do. These were wonderful experiences, and I wouldn't have had them if the workshops had been dumbed down, or if I had only signed up for workshops at what I thought my level was. I'm perfectly capable of going to the back and judging how much I can do and when it's time to sit down and take notes.

I'd agree with what Philoclea said. It can be difficult to get specifics of what level or knowledge base the instructor is expecting.