Mad Hatter Theory of Dance Lessons

[judith pitt]

"Take some more tea," the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly.
"I've had nothing yet," Alice replied in an offended tone, "so I can't
take more." "You mean you can't take less," said the Hatter: "It's
very easy to take more than nothing." Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll
I remember being struck by the scene in Alice's Adventures in
Wonderland in which Alice is offended because she is offered tea but
is given none - even though she hadn't asked for tea in the first
place. So she helps herself to the tea, the bread and the butter. From
my perspective as a dance instructor, I believe that the best way for
a person to become a good dancer is to listen to Alice when she says,
"...I can't take more" because "I've had nothing yet." The Hatter
would have us believe that "you can't take less"; however, that is
exactly what many dancers do when they are motivated by the promise of
accelerated proficiency, into taking more advanced classes before they
have a sufficient mastery of the basics to assimilate the new
information. In this "terpsichorean reversal," these underprepared
dancers work harder and learn less!
Matt Auclair, a six-time National Swing Dance Champion and one of St.
Louis' foremost instructors says, "it is not uncommon for an
enthusiastic, new swing dancer, who is continually exposed to more
accomplished dancers at different club activities, to begin taking
Intermediate level dance classes before he or she is ready; and then,
to become a less competent dancer as a result. Over the years, I have
found that the dancers who learn Imperial Swing the fastest are not
the impulsive ones who take self-directed shortcuts in their training;
instead, they are the disciplined ones who practice regularly to
become proficient with the basics before they attempt to learn more
challenging dance moves." Auclair concludes, "the time that these
dancers initially spend on practicing the fundamentals invariably pays
off as an investment in time saved in the future because their
progression into more advanced training is much less likely to
'plateau' for deficiencies in their understanding of the Basics."
It may very well be true, as the Mad Hatter says, that in the topsy-
turvy world of Wonderland, "if you can't take less," then "it's very
easy to take more than nothing"; however, we do not live in
Wonderland! In our realm above that netherworld, where we can easily
"take less" unintentionally, I imagine that the Hatter might say,
"it's not very easy to take more than nothing!" I asked Matt if he had
any final thoughts on this "Hatter" (pun intended). After giving me
one of his exasperated "no more questions" looks, he said, "Skip, I
really don't like to drink tea very much (except for Crystal* Light,
of course); I think about rabbits only on Easter; and besides, who
ever said that learning to swing dance is easy!"
*Note: Matt's wife is named Crystal.
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