Teachers Gone Wild

    I need to start this post with a confession: (those who know me will not be surprised) I get excited pretty easily. Glass bottle Coke, the air before a storm, a favorite "Oldie" on the radio...they all do it. "It" being eliciting a random manifestation of my lack of supreme self-control (usually jumping up and down spontaneously or, as one lucky student found out when he did an exceptionally great job, hitting like an eight year old girl)... basically, I get a little carried away;)
    And tonight, on yet another wonderful Tuesday social dance class, I let myself get too excited! I apologize. I apologize because when instructors get excited they teach too much or they teach moves that are too difficult. I am guilty of this, usually rookie, mistake tonight. 
    Hustle has such a natural flow to it that it's sometimes hard to slow down in the class setting. But I forgot it might not be natural to everyone at first!? I should have spent more time on the basic. I'm sorry. Sometimes I get caught up trying to please the advanced students - it is the challenge of an all level class: pleasing everyone - but I've been teaching long enough to know you keep the moves simple, yet interesting, and you give the advanced students technique to improve upon. 
    The reason I write this is two-fold. One, to tell people I'm not perfect. I'm still working on the art of teaching and dancing. And two, to say if you've ever felt overwhelmed in a dance class now you know it might not have been about you. It may be the instructor had a glass bottle Coke before class;) Or you're doing so well she thinks you've got it and want more - forgetting even the best meals need time to digest. Maybe you're one of two beginners in the class and other people have been dancing for years, so the teacher moves faster to please the majority. Whatever the case, my hope is you don't get discouraged and give up dancing! Remember, everything is most challenging when it's new. It will get easier with time and effort.   
    We all make mistakes on the dance floor... despite that, it's still tons of fun! So, you keep dancing and I'll try to stay a tad more controlled while I teach. I make no promises about the social dance afterward though;) See you on the hardwood!