From: death@alexandria.lcs.mit.edu (Mark A. Sheldon)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.dance
Subject: Restricted syllabus
Keywords: ballroom, mailing list
Date: 9 Nov 92 15:25:12 GMT
Reply-To: death@alexandria.lcs.mit.edu (Mark A. Sheldon)
Organization: None
Gatewayed-From: ballroom@athena.mit.edu


   Date: Sun, 8 Nov 92 14:58:06 -0800
   From: rbrennen@iron.Berkeley.EDU (Reid "Turtle" Alyn Brennen)

   Mark,
	   Thanks for expanding my knowledge on the subject of
   closed events.  

No problem :-)

	   I myself have not gone through the whole Bronze through
   Gold syllabus (although I plan to do so in the future) and
   learned each step.  I am learning them in a more haphazard
   manner - my competition groups that I get from my coach.  I
   think that learning steps in this manner is beneficial but
   in a completely different way than learning each of the 
   syllabus figures.  I am learning the figures in ways that
   promote the sense of continuity and flow of the dances, _for
   my and my partner's particular style and feeling of dancing_.
   I don't do figures if they don't feel right to me and do
   do them if they do feel right to me AND look good to my
   coach.  

I may have misled you a bit.  There is no rule that you must know or
dance all syllabus figures.  The syllabus restrictions do not include
minimum requirements, they just set upper limits.  Thus, it is perfectly
acceptable to do the 5 (or so) pre-bronze foxtrot figures from your
first competition and in every competition including the US and World
Championships :-)  The goal is *not* to make sure that everyone knows
these figures, but to remove the pressure of learning figures so that
one concentrates on the basic actions.  If you cannot do a figure or you
can't look good doing it with your partner, then don't do it.  Complete
knowledge of the syllabus is only important really for passing
professional exams (to demonstrate that you are competant to teach the
figures).  I don't know what exactly examiners require of amateurs who
take medal tests since I've never taken any (I would rather spend the
money on lessons).  Since you have not competed in closed syllabus
events, and probably never will, there is no real reason for you to
worry about the syllabus.  In short, I agree with your approach given
your current situation.  Again, learning particular figures is not the
point.  One thing that you are probably finding, at least I am, is that
*simplifying* a group often helps my partner and me look better:  more
musical and more at ease.  Using syallbus figures may or may not be a
helpful way to simplify a particular group --- it depends on how figures
`fit together' as you said.  The standard technique, which is what the
syllabus restrictions are supposed to force you to concentrate on,
applies to open material --- that's why it's the standard technique ;-)
Often, a coach will illustrate a particular aspect of technique using
one or more syllabus figures in which this feature is of special
importance.  This helps abstract away certain distractions while we
attempt to fix whatever the problem was (body position, shape, etc.).
Then we go back and employ the technique in whatever figure brought the
problem to the coach's attention.  As you can imagine, prior knowledge
of at least a core set of syllabus figures is very helpful in these
situations.  I don't know whether this is as common in Latin, but it
certainly is in Standard --- especially if you have just a few hours
with some visiting coach.

	   Hmmm... I guess what I am really talking about
   is how figures fit together, not how the steps are done.
   In this last process, I can learn how to do each step in
   the syllabus but at this point learning how to do the step
   in the syllabus manner would probably be detrimental to
   my competition dancing.  (I can hear groans from all over the
   ballroom community after reading that statement. :-)

Not a groan.  I can see what you mean.  Again, Latin may be different,
but in Standard, I often find that the construction of the syllabus
figures can provide insight into how earlier dancers have conceived of
the dance.  Views change, of course.  (Note what's happened in Tango in
timing and choreography.)  That said, I have no second thoughts about
violating the syllabus in my open dancing.  I will change timing and
alignment or use just bits and pieces of syllabus figures if it suits
the group we're working on.  (Actually, we get our choreography mostly
from our coaches, but we're doing more ourselves these days.)  There are
certain things that cannot change --- a feather finish must never turn
too much because then the balance of the partnership is destroyed.
Ditto for a telemark...  You get the idea.

-Mark