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Formation
Dancing
The
following article is one of the series of articles by the Ballroom Teachers
Committee, but is on this occasion taken from the newly updated Formation
Dancing and Medal Tests booklet by Peggy Spencer MBE.
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Peggy
Spencer MBE |
In
all forms of teaching, it is desirable to have a goal or an aim to get
the best out of pupil and teacher. This applies perhaps more to a voluntary,
occupational hobby. The average dancing teacher will train beginner
pupils for social dancing and some on to Medal dancing and then finds
the pupil may wish to continue training with a definite aim in view.
Perhaps the pupil is not the right type of person - not sufficiently
extrovert or talented enough to be successful as a competitor. Formation
dancing can often fill the gap. It is an artistic outlet for the teacher
to become creative by experimenting with choreography.
The
introduction of formation in a school creates team spirit and maybe
the eventual ambition to enter competitions or to appear on television.
Teachers who have trained teams find that other pupils in the school
are anxious to be good enough to be included, therefore an incentive
to work harder has been created. The regular rehearsal required automatically
improves the standard of dancing of the individual and again creates
a further reason for the pupils to take medals and improve their own
individual standard in order to be good enough to be selected for the
team. Only good schools can produce able formation teams and it doesn't
take the local public long to realise and appreciate this. The local
Press will usually be interested.
Team
work must necessarily be the result of complete understanding and team
spirit between the members and the trainer, and this team spirit can
be felt through the whole school and can be valuable in raising funds
and making party nights more successful. In the case of Junior and Juvenile
teams, parents become very much part of the scene and can be helpful
in administrations, often becoming pupils themselves to keep pace with
their offspring.
Many
medallists only dance with their teacher and have to be encouraged to
dance with a non-professional partner of their own standard. Formation
dancing provides an excellent opportunity.
The
teacher will want to know whether they gain financially from this. It
is a long-term policy which, if persevered with, studied correctly on
the basis given, ie medal work, classwork, newspaper and television
publicity etc., should logically increase the general business of the
school, but perhaps more important retain the business built over a
number of years by giving fresh interest and a reason for attending.
What
the Teacher needs to know
A
sound and up-to-date knowledge of the syllabus work required for medallists,
the ability to count music in bars accurately, and some knowledge and
feeling for musical phrasing. It helps to have a creative imagination
and a flair for presentation, but this can grow with the experience
of developing the routines. It is desirable to have a frame of mind
that is at all times clear and ready to work to a calculated aim at
each rehearsal. The ability to organise and administrate is essential
but very often can develop as the situation demands.
Some
other attributes are - the patience of Job, the wisdom of Soloman, and
the discipline of an army sergeant major (plus the voice!), for you
will be dealing with adults or children of different educational standards
and temperaments and you must be THE BOSS who keeps the team disciplined
and happy.
How
to commence training a team
It
is first of all necessary to train your pupils as medallists. This can
be done by classwork or individual lessons. It is to be assumed that
the pupils have reached a good Bronze or Silver standard in their individual
work to be ready to dance a Bronze Formation, ie a Silver boy could
partner a Bronze girl. Let us assume that a medal class is in training
with formation or group dancing in view.
The
training must include the medallists dancing their routines as partnerships
and in groups doing the steps at the same time as each other. For instance,
if the routine is to be based on a Bronze Waltz, then it is a good idea
to make the whole class dance the routine in a set group to get accustomed
to the idea of mass formation. From this type of experimental preparatory
work you will be able to see which couples are most suited to formation
work, but it is recommended that at all times the teacher should try
to involve the whole group. The rules give the opportunity for training
teams of all sizes and it is possible to have two or three teams at
the same time, even doing the same routines. It is the varying design
that can make the interesting difference.
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| Formation
team at the Imperial Latin Championships |
Now
on to the practical side of forming the team. This can be done in various
ways:
•
A notice on your school board saying that you are intending to start
a team and would like all those interested to come at a certain time
for a preliminary meeting.
• A calculated campaign on selecting the medallists with the highest
marks, having given notice of this intent well beforehand to make the
pupils work.
•
Personal selection of the medallists who the teacher thinks would be
most suitable.
Often
the time for rehearsals is restricted by the high cost of hiring halls
and because of the medal classes already in existence. It is suggested
that the medallist formations could be trained in the 'lull' period
between one medal session and the next. Often the medal classes immediately
following a successful Medal test are an anti-climax, and this formation
work will help, in a subtle way, to improve the individual dancing for
the next Test. An hour of concentrated training should be sufficient.
The teacher must study the pupils and select the dance and music most
suited to them.
The
steps to be used in the formation will in the main have already been
taught during the medal training, so the teacher must now design patterns.
These figures must fit the studio or ballroom which is being used. A
special formation class can be a regular feature of a teacher's programme
and in this class the steps and patterns can be taught and teams formed.
(Competitions can be arranged between each team towards the end of each
session to determine which team has worked the hardest in that class).
It is suggested that all the teams can dance exactly the same steps,
even the same patterns, but this could be varied. The idea would then
be that the consistently best teams are the ones for the Medal test.
To
make the class more interesting, the use of as many rhythms as possible
is suggested, ie four different rhythms making four different routines,
performed by the whole class, would make a very interesting team's work.
For example, 16 couples could be divided into four teams of four couples
per team, all teams dancing all the set routines in turn, according
to the size of the studio. It could then transpire that one team will
excel in, say, the Waltz, while another team is better at the Cha Cha
Cha. The teacher would then enter them for the Medal Test in their best
dance. This system ensures that, because the whole class has learnt
all the routines, if one person is ill or away there is always someone
ready to take their place in that emergency.
It
is important that the teacher has worked out the pattern or patterns
of the present routine before taking the rehearsal. It is a mistake
to experiment with the team. The teacher must be able to dictate the
steps and positions with confidence which can only be done if the routine
has been worked out beforehand, first by drawing it on paper and then
by personally dancing each position. It is wise only to teach and dance
a phrase of music at a time, ie after the entry or introduction teach
the first 8 bars and repeat this section many times before going on
to the next 8 bars. It is a mistake to try to do too much at first.
With experience, the team and teacher will be able to increase the amount
learnt in each rehearsal.
The
management of the rehearsals and couples is almost as important as the
routine. Do not permit the couples to voice their opinion. Do not allow
chatting. Be firm about attendance and punctuality and the responsibility
of each person to the team and trainer. Use music as often as possible,
to create a sense of performance. Try to choose tunes that the team
like. Use good danceable music. If possible arrange a rehearsal costume
such as same colour blouse or jumper and skirt. This is much easier
for training and identifies them as a team. Do not spend a lot of money
on this, a simple outfit will suffice at this stage. When conducting
formation rehearsals, make sure everyone is occupied. For instance,
if the trainer is working with one team in one part of the room, deputise
an assistant to rehearse a figure or part of a routine of another team
in another part of the room.
Music
Bronze
The music used for general classwork, whether CDs or tapes, can also
be used for the Bronze Medal Test, but care must be taken to ensure
that the music for the actual test is of good quality. It is obvious
that a recording would be used many, many times for rehearsal, so make
sure to have a new CD or tape for the test. The 'disc jockey' must know
precisely when to commence and when to cancel out the track in order
to then play the music required for the routine. It is suggested that,
if only part of the CD or tape is used, to fade out the rest of the
music is easier on the examiner's ear than a sudden stop, perhaps in
the middle of a phrase.
Silver,
Gold and Gold Star
In these sections more than one rhythm is required musically. This can
be achieved by using more than one track, changing after each dance.
This is not easy and needs very careful management. It is more efficient
to record the music from CD to a tape recorder or mini disc. Nearly
everyone has a recording enthusiast in their school who would be only
too happy to help with this. A tape recording of this kind may not be
used during or for a public performance in Great Britain.
If
more than one track is used, the changing of tracks and fading and starting
are important rehearsal items as is also the correct sound balance.
Otherwise problems will occur in making a smooth transition. Bad music
or management in this section can spoil the whole effect!
Choosing
the music
The choice of music is very important. Music is the inspiration for
dance and can help the formation routines. Music with clear melody is
good for formation dancing because the phrasing is usually obvious,
ie 4 bar to 8 bar phrasing. Try to choose popular tunes the teams enjoy
dancing to, and don't ignore present day 'top pop'.
Formation
Events at Area Events
Why
not form your own Formation Team? Being introduced at this seasons Area
Ballroom & Latin events is a one and a half minute Cha Cha Cha formation
event.
Using
the existing formation rules this event of four or more couples could
prove an excellent way of bringing formation into your school.
For
more information of formation in your area please contact your Area
Organiser.
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