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Does it matter what level you are in? Most people feel very emotional about this question but maybe it doesn’t matter as much as we think…
Join us as we sit down with Esther and Bernd from Cologne, Germany. They are teachers, scene leaders, event organizers and students of Lindy Hop. You will hear, in this interview, how they handle the leveling question for workshops and classes.
Hello Michael and Evita,
Longtime listener, first time commenter. I have been through the audition process, and am not crazy about it. There are two points I would like to add to this discussion. One is that the audition process is imperfect, and that is inevitable, and that is okay. Each camp has priorities besides perfect assessment, like keeping groups suitably sized, even lead/follow ratio, etc. And as Esther said, the instructors cannot tell everything just by watching, nor are they able to dance with each individual student to assess. It’s imperfect, and that’s okay.
The other thing, though, that has not been mentioned is that students crave validation. We work hard at this, take classes, pay money, practice, social dance, etc. We do it because we enjoy it, but we also really want to get better and are quite insecure about that. Lacking that validation elsewhere, leveling becomes a an imperfect mirror that we hold up to ourselves. And because that was not what leveling was designed for, it inevitably falls short and leaves people unhappy.
[…] https://michaelandevita.com/me-011-leveling/ […]
Hi Michael and Evita, thank you very much für this contribution (is that a correct English wording?). it is comforting and consoling with regard to the leveling problem. Unfortunaltely I am one of those for whom this is very stressing and highly emotional. But with these insights I am backed up to take this less seriously and to better enjoy whatever may come independent of the leveling and labeling. but it still remains a problem… I´ll try to be cooler and more relaxed in this matter. Anne