David wrote "Who can discern one's own faults". ~ from the Yom Kippur liturgy

Introduction from our newsletter - 6/14/2005

It has been 5 months. It is time we started learning some more advanced dances. We are going to teach a level 2 (has 2 parts) circle and partner dance Thursday and Sunday and see how we do.

The way we struggled with Remez, shows us we are not quite ready for level 3 dances (dances with 3 parts).

Catering to Beginners and Advanced Dancers

We are trying to find the right mix to encourage beginners and help them learn and enjoy Israeli dancing, while still making for an exciting night for advanced dancers.

All successful groups need to cater to both beginners and advanced dancers.

The beginners are the people that allow the group to grow and replace regulars who move away.

The advanced group are the enthusiasts that give Israeli dance its energy and excitement.

So, here is our schedule:

Beginners - First Hour: the first hour we cater to the newest people and go at the pace of the newest person there. We slowly review dances we have already taught as needed. This is also the time where each week, we try to teach one new circle dance, slowly and go over each step. The repetoire is easy dances and we try to do one partner set of two or three easy partner dances.

Intermediate - Second Hour: the second hour we go at an intermediate pace. We quickly review dances as needed to give people more of chance to follow them. During this time, we quickly teach the same dance we taught during the beginner hour. We try to do one set of partner dances, and may teach a partner dance during this time.

Advanced - Third and Fourth Hours: the rest of the evening is advanced dancing and there is no teaching or review of circle dances, except on rare occassions. We may do one or more partner sets of three dances, and we might teach a partner dance. Depending on who is there, we may devote the last 20 to 40 minutes of the evening to partner dances.