Boy! This weekend gave me so much to think about! Thanks to Myles and Tessa for the fabulous workshops and to Charles and Michelle for bringing such superstars out to teach us…I will be using the fridge, shopping cart, car and cue ball analogies in my own classes to help people understand what sort of tension they are after…


Thank you for an amazing weekend. Our expectations were well and truly exceeded. I am glad that you spend the first day on techniques and basics as I now feel comfortable moving forward and learning more complicated patterns - after all they are just a combination of the basic 6…Tessa, thank you so much for the amazing dance and the time you gave me to calibrate my tension…In regards to the only negative points resulting from the weekend: 1) Penny and I now have to set up a roster for the use of the fridge as it could possibly lead to "relationship clashing" because of our unwillingness to share the door handle. 2) I think some of the boys' reputation will be placed on the line once word gets out that they went out to buy Barbie dolls to, apperently, "train" ;) Michelle and Charles, thanks again for bringing them to Oz.

What a fabulous weekend! The workshops were terrific and I have learnt so much, most importantly about anchoring and stretch. It makes the dance so much nicer and flows a lot better... I still think my following needs a lot of work but I will be back!...Myles and Tessa's technique and analogies (especially now we have been introduced to Oscar and Sadie ;) allowed me to really understand the concepts and how to put them into practice….even though it feels like I have done West Coast Swing for ages, I have really only ever had 6 or 7 official classes in West Coast Swing, including workshops…Thank you also to Michelle and Charles, who without, we wouldn’t get such fantastic dancers out and I would still be flailing about like a fish. You do so much and it is appreciated by absolutely everyone…Thank you thank you thank you!

 

Thank you to Myles & Tessa so much for the masses of technical information and great teaching tips and analogies, for the stylish cabaret and freestyle performances and for the opportunity for all of us to "test our calibration" and have a social dance with both of you…Thanks to Michelle & Charles for bringing Canada's Best to Sydney and for the great organization of the weekend and the cool West Coast music.


Myles & Tessa were fantastic!!!! Yes so much technique - moves are something we can get from a DVD so the technique taught and being able to 'feel it' was fantastic!


Oh my god what a fabulous weekend! They truly are fabulous teachers, and have some really fabulous analogies for getting the right images across for the rest of us…I'm so glad we did the workshops!...We were also one of the lucky few to book in for a Private Lesson with one of them, Myles is really a fantastic teacher, and (not for the first time) managed to point out about 50,000 flaws in my leading technique ;)
Oh my god! I've now got so much to work on, and think about when I'm dancing.
My poor fridge. Is going to get a lot of attention over the next few thousand years.

Thank you for giving us so many fun, info-packed classes over the past week. From reading your website and various other sources, I had very high expectations of your teaching. You met and exceeded them. Best of all, you taught what I wanted to learn, in the way I prefer to learn it… Right now I can’t specifically recall most of what you said, but I know from experience that things you said will some back to me as I’m ready for them and need them. I’ll be learning from you for months after you’ve left.

 

Two moments stand out now in my memory. At the very first class you defined “posting”. People had used that word before, but nobody had given a definition. Just hearing you explain it opened so many possibilities, and several moves I had been taught in past months suddenly made sense. The other moment was during a dance with Tessa when I realized that she had the lead. My thoughts went something like this:

How did that happen? I didn’t know I was offering her the lead.

If she’s leading, that means I have to follow!

What do I do?! I don’t know how to follow!

Hang on, I’ve already bee following her for several beats now, so relax!

Wow, this is fun!

Oh, it’s my turn to lead again.

 

By Saturday night, I was having as much fun with WCS as I ever do with Modern Jive. THANK YOU!

 

San Luis Obispo Workshop May 2007

workshop feedback
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THANK YOU for coming East and helping to make CSC a destination for WCS! You charmed us, inspired us, guided us, encouraged us and made us laugh. Most importantly, you have helped Andre & I turn a corner in our WCS dancing. We no longer feel that we've "hit our ceiling", and we're more excited than ever about improving our dancing, our competition skills and our teaching ... and you have relit the performance flame, too. Yup - all that in just 2.5 days ... you're miracle workers! Once we've had a bit of time to work on what you gave us, we'll be in touch to schedule some private webinars. (We've never been so excited about/thankful for technology!)
"My wife and I were thrilled to be able to attend your Intensive in San Rafael this weekend. I am now an Extreme Swing Club member! I have never enjoyed "Technique" so much.  All the words and descriptions and stories made for an unforgettable experience. Your intended goal to provide us what is unique about you versus "another pattern" was right on.   Also, I found the followers to be very receptive to mutual feedback in the first hour and that trust and intimacy carried through.  You created the finest learning enviornment.   What a talent you have. I certainly look forward to being a part of your future intensives. Thank you for giving so much of your selves to your class.  Thank you for your kindness in every situation we have interacted with you. You both are very special to us."
 
"Thanks for a great workshop you conducted Mother's Day weekend! It was such a pleasure to be able to meet with you. Your instructional techniques combined with you sense of humor aided in the retention of some difficult patterns. It is refreshing to know that as a result of your hard work in your profession, you are still well-grounded and can connect with dancers at atll levels. Hopefully, we will be able to bring you back next year. This area needs you and I can forsee a huge event developing in the years to come. Best of luck and stay approachable."

Australia Workshop September 2006

Montreal's Canadian Swing Championships May 2007

Thank you for the excellent WCS workshop last weekend! We truly appreciated all the knowledge, experience talent and planning that you put into your workshop. We have never before had anyone focus so thoroughly on the value of WCS stretch, lead and follow mechanics. My wife Sarah and I left with a much better knowledge and understanding of what we should be doing and feeling as we dance. Now that you have provided us with this invaluable information we will practice until we get it right. I plan to spend a lot of time working with my refrigerator door in the next few weeks! We quickly noticed that there were a lot of dancers at the Tri-Cities workshop that were very new to WCS. And we appreciated your pushing forward with your intended material instead of backing down to teaching WCS basic patterns. As you said, anyone can learn patterns - but few social dancers actually learn what they should to be able to dance well. Tessa, thank you for the dance Saturday night. It was a fantastic experience! And Myles, thank you for dancing with my wife Sarah. She was absolutely thrilled to be "driven" by such an expert!

 

Tri-Cities, WA Workshop March 2007