How do you recap teaching 16 hours? 7 blues, 5 west coast swing, 4 lindy hop. 2 hours private lesson, 2 hours group private lesson, 1 hour taster class, 11 hours workshops. Ok, clearly there are a few ways to summarize my teaching time spent in Prague. Then add 4 or so training hours. I like making sure my teaching partners are prepared with the teaching material, the possible examples and drills I might use, and know what I might look for from the students. Let’s also add another 3-5 hours for class planning. Each scene is unique and has unique needs. Organizers are always welcome to provide guidance so I can deliver what they think their dance scene needs. Also, I run a popular YouTube channel, so I’m always pushing myself to have new material. Redundancy does occur, but it’s nice that I can give a unique video recap playlist.
16 hours is a breeze when you have great organizers. Zdeněk Kabát and Aneta Pérez represented the westie organizers, Monika Kadanková and Matus Haluska the lindy hop/blues organizers with Marie Prachenská also assisting me in those workshops. Some qualities they exhibited that I enjoyed were their organization, promotions (online and flyers), communication, great tour guides (Prague tourism sites and great food), enthusiasm for their scene and making the workshops a success. I felt very comfortable and at ease in Prague. That could be the delicious potato salad, dumplings, and sausage talking.
Some highlights from my weekend were the westies organizing a Czech Blues demonstration for me. Marie and I taught a 50 person blues taster at the Jam Cafe Saturday night. We expected a few people and planned accordingly. I threw those plans out as soon as 20-30+ random people showed up. Wow! Secrets to teaching large taster classes in foreign cities: entertain, keep them dancing, play lots of music, keep them learning, reduce any technical information that comes to mind, have fun. A recent highlight has been the Easter decorations in Old Town Square with cute farm animals, live orchestra, and much food.
So come to Prague, dance a bit, enjoy the Czech cuisine, see the sites. I hear there is a blues festival in May.