- Why take series classes?-
written by Kara Noyes
Midtown Stomp Instructor

Commitment of yourself and your partners: Signing up for a series class requires a commitment. Even if it's only for 4 weeks, scheduling at least one hour for dancing a week in your calendar will change your mentality, and your success rate! Not only that, but a series class will also show the commitment of the other dancers in the class - your dance partners! Series classes create a warm, friendly, but committed environment where people of the same goals can practice and learn together.

Commitment of Your Instructors: Series classes take much, MUCH more preparation on the part of the instructors, than drop-in formats. An individual drop-in style class ends entirely when that hour is over, and it does not matter how much or little material the class covered. A true series-format requires that certain movements and concepts be completed in order for the next class to be as successful as possible. This means that for every class the instructors have asked themselves, "What did the class before this teach? What will the class after this teach? How much time do we need to review previous material?". You can be sure that every class within a series was entirely planned out well in advance, and not just thrown together by the instructors a half hour before the class starts.

Direction and Flexibility of Classes: Preparing classes as part of a series is entirely different than preparing individual classes. With 4 weeks of classes, the instructors can prepare for a goal that would not be obtainable in one hour. Even if each individual class is in a different topic, the instructors have the capability of building from material learned in a previous class. At the same time, series classes offer a level of flexibility. If the class runs a little behind schedule, and a topic at the end of the class gets rushed, the instructors can easily go over the move again at the beginning of the next class.

Review: Perhaps one of the most important advantages of series formats is the chance to review material from the previous weeks. If classes are drop-in only, the instructors cannot review material from the last classes, because it can confuse students who were not in attendance the previous week. Reviewing material will increase your chances of internalizing the material and actually remembering it when it's important - on the dance floor!