Ain't Technology Grand?
06.30.07

I am feeling like I've got a new lease on life. Before I got stomped on by a truck, Beth and I had decided to learn how to instruct from some of the best in the business. We accomplished this and went into instructing West Coast Swing dancing in our community. Although technically qualified to teach most of the dances in the ballroom and social scene, we both feel most comfortable and needed in the West Coast Swing arena. We have had several students make great strides working with the material we have presented and become confident stronger dancers playing in this area.
 
In WCS, there are many ways to teach and many personalities in the industry that can help each and every one of us. We have been a strong supporter and organizer in bringing in national level talent to reinforce what we have been teaching and will be expanding that aspect of our efforts here soon.
 
Beth and I travel frequently and bring back as much information as we can to share with our community. We have gotten back on track with this process and now see several of our friends and dance neighbors at these events. It is great to see this and have more voices bringing the latest in WCS developments to our area. In addition to the comraderie, more voices just makes it easier for others to hear, see and emulate the great ideas that abound across the nation.
 
We have also been developing and procuring tools to help the individual and group students in our classes. Many of the tools we use in our classes may be low tech by any standard, but they are tried and true methods that few have seen on this side of the country. In our group classes, we have made it a point to bring our music to the classes in a couple of forms, using the most convenient and best way to broadcast our voices and music to the class.
 
Now, Beth and I have also invested in a private sound system that allows our individual students to hear our music and if necessary our voices through wireless broadcast to ear phones that they wear during the class. Those sensitive about what they put on or over their ears may bring their own ear sets to the session. They connect to a belt pack and hear the music. This allows us to function in an environment with other instructors using different music or where there are other distractions. This will allow the student to focus on their own material.
 
We are making every effort to add quality material and teaching techniques to our repertoire. Add to that our commitment to finding and implementing technical innovations to help our students absorb these lessons. We believe that these efforts will generate more value for you, our students.