7/31/2008 SteppersUSA News

[7/31/2008 SteppersUSA News]
Woman to Man Ratio Men Respond
By Markie Bee
Orbies Finals Contest DVD Click Here
Club D'Elegance Contest DVD Click Here
Full WLSC Schedule Released - Click Here
Buy Tickets + Chicago Steppers Convention Info - Click Here

Part of the following series of articles are reprinted with the permission of Lana Reid, a promoter and dancer from Los Angeles CA. The articles are about what is perceived as a lack of participation by men in the Chicago style steppers community. I don't necessarily completely agree with it as, in my travels and observations of all dance forms I have witnessed the same kind of woman to man ratio in dance in general. Just like Lana, the only response to the first part of this series only got responses from the men! I guess I'll have to go out and hunt down some women who are willing to talk about what seems to be a touchy subject... Perhaps it goes back to the different way men and women approach a problem... Oh! Wait! We are talking about the problem and that's the way women deal with problems Right? Role reversal! Men Talking about a problem and women not talking! Rick from Seattle had this to say...
When I started dancing many of the women wouldn't dance with me, but I wanted to learn this dance real bad so I kept up and I practiced and kept asking different women to dance. Eventually, I got good enough where more women wanted to dance with me. The real problem is most men who dance just want to dance will dance with the women who want to dance and leave the others alone or worse they just forget about this dance.
Ernest from Chicago had an eloquent response to the questions posed in yesterdays article...
My thoughts on this is that it's not just that the current male dancers are slow at bringing in their buddies, but it's the ladies that leave their mates at home and bring 3 or 4 of their girlfriends with them the skew the male/female ratio. I think that the main variable that is most important is the women. Men need women to be VERY encouraging and VERY forgiving and NOT judgmental AT ALL. Men have fragile egos and when we think that women are out there judging us and comparing us to better dancers and turning us down because we don't dance well enough or are not attractive or suave enough for some reason, most guys will not be willing to go through the hassle. It's easier to hang out with the fellas who do not judge us or we don't care what they think because we are all in the same boat.
The reason that we have a hard time fixing this problem is because nobody wants to admit what I've just said and everyone (especially the ladies) don't want to believe that it is up to them to change something that is so hard to change. It also would require a mass conscious effort amongst women to make it happen. Let's face it. The current guys that dance have not incentive to bring more guys in.
Some things that would need to be done are;
1.Very patient intermediate and advanced women would have to be willing to dance socially with beginner guys more than they dance with advanced guys. When I say patient I mean no negative comments, no looks of boredom, disgust or discontentedness of any kind on your face or body language, no cutting the dance short to go dance with better guys.
2.Classes and practice sessions where patient and encouraging int/adv ladies work one-on-one with beginner men until they become int/adv. level. This could also be done informally at home or not in a formal classroom. Ladies should think to themselves "how many men have I personally brought into the dancing world?" "Who have I been willing to dance with for a year or so to get them up to speed?" This does not have to be your mate. If every experienced woman was to personally mentor a beginning man for a year, guess what?... more men for all to dance with.
3. Women would have to NEVER be heard (by any man) talking about men who do not dance well and who they don't want to dance with or which great dancers they like dancing with. They should only be heard talking about which men (beginners) are improving nicely.
4. Male teachers could help out by conducting all male classes on a regular basis. Here men can be frank about their insecurities without putting up a front for women and not risk being shot down by a woman during their vulnerable stage.
5. Last but most importantly, NEVER turning down an offer to dance from a guy who is not a good dancer unless he is a long time dancer who will never improve and will monopolize your time if you let him, someone who gropes you or make unwanted advances, or someone who dances dangerously enough to risk injuring you. These guys will be guys that everyone knows about and beginner guys could understand why you wouldn't want to dance with them.
The above suggestion might sound unattractive to women, but I guarantee that if this was done by enough women that there would be no more need to complain about not enough men to dance with. It's all about focusing positive attention on the beginner men. It wouldn't be such a chore or sacrifice if women could find genuine enjoyment in dancing with beginner men.
I am an instructor of other dance forms (Tango and Salsa) in which we have the same problems. I dance with beginner women all the time. It's not always fun. It sometimes even hurts, but I try to find something enjoyable in dancing with them. If nothing else I know they appreciate my being willing to dance with them, which makes me feel good.

THE PROBLEM & SOME SOLUTIONS FROM A MALE’S PERSPECTIVE

(1) Instructors spend more dedicated time teaching the women and little time focusing on male instruction.
(2) Women need to take a more active role in encouraging and giving criticism that does not affect the ego.
(3) Have more females teaching the men (they don’t seem to like dancing with other men even for learning purposes)
(4) For new men to Steppin, it is a turn off to experience women only wanting to dance with the more skilled men all the time. Some even say as a new guy, they were turned down frequently by women who were considered "heavy hitters."
(5) Women project disinterest or boredom when dancing with the newer guys that they don’t see on women’s faces when they dance with a more experienced male.
(6) Some men feel that other males in the Steppin scene are territorial with spreading the knowledge when it comes to teaching "up and coming" males. Some of the men that responded felt that the current "heavy hitters" or more skilled male dancers did not want the attention being taken away from them which caused them to limit the growth of other males.
(7) Some men felt it was a little intimidating to be placed on the class learning setting with droves of women. They felt that smaller "men only" settings with stronger female assistants would be more encouraging and allow more men to stay on the floor throughout the whole learning process.
(8) Although the men hear the women fussing all the time about the lack of males on the floor, they don’t see the women taking a proactive stance in getting more men to the classes and keeping them there.

These are a few of the topics that the men brought to the table. To me as I read over a lot of the responses and rehashed the phone conversations it appears that women are the source of correcting the majority of the problem we complain about. Sooooooooo ladies, "what is we gonna do?"

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	Latest Update: 11/19/2008 <---7/30/2008 Issue Quick Navigation 8/1/2008 Issue---> [7/31/2008 SteppersUSA News] Woman to Man Ratio Men Respond By Markie Bee Orbies Finals Contest DVD Click Here Club D'Elegance Contest DVD Click Here Full WLSC Schedule Released - Click Here Buy Tickets + Chicago Steppers Convention Info - Click Here Part of the following series of articles are reprinted with the permission of Lana Reid, a promoter and dancer from Los Angeles CA. The articles are about what is perceived as a lack of participation by men in the Chicago style steppers community. I don't necessarily completely agree with it as, in my travels and observations of all dance forms I have witnessed the same kind of woman to man ratio in dance in general. Just like Lana, the only response to the first part of this series only got responses from the men! I guess I'll have to go out and hunt down some women who are willing to talk about what seems to be a touchy subject... Perhaps it goes back to the different way men and women approach a problem... Oh! Wait! We are talking about the problem and that's the way women deal with problems Right? Role reversal! Men Talking about a problem and women not talking! Rick from Seattle had this to say... When I started dancing many of the women wouldn't dance with me, but I wanted to learn this dance real bad so I kept up and I practiced and kept asking different women to dance. Eventually, I got good enough where more women wanted to dance with me. The real problem is most men who dance just want to dance will dance with the women who want to dance and leave the others alone or worse they just forget about this dance. Ernest from Chicago had an eloquent response to the questions posed in yesterdays article... My thoughts on this is that it's not just that the current male dancers are slow at bringing in their buddies, but it's the ladies that leave their mates at home and bring 3 or 4 of their girlfriends with them the skew the male/female ratio. I think that the main variable that is most important is the women. Men need women to be VERY encouraging and VERY forgiving and NOT judgmental AT ALL. Men have fragile egos and when we think that women are out there judging us and comparing us to better dancers and turning us down because we don't dance well enough or are not attractive or suave enough for some reason, most guys will not be willing to go through the hassle. It's easier to hang out with the fellas who do not judge us or we don't care what they think because we are all in the same boat. The reason that we have a hard time fixing this problem is because nobody wants to admit what I've just said and everyone (especially the ladies) don't want to believe that it is up to them to change something that is so hard to change. It also would require a mass conscious effort amongst women to make it happen. Let's face it. The current guys that dance have not incentive to bring more guys in. Some things that would need to be done are; 1.Very patient intermediate and advanced women would have to be willing to dance socially with beginner guys more than they dance with advanced guys. When I say patient I mean no negative comments, no looks of boredom, disgust or discontentedness of any kind on your face or body language, no cutting the dance short to go dance with better guys. 2.Classes and practice sessions where patient and encouraging int/adv ladies work one-on-one with beginner men until they become int/adv. level. This could also be done informally at home or not in a formal classroom. Ladies should think to themselves "how many men have I personally brought into the dancing world?" "Who have I been willing to dance with for a year or so to get them up to speed?" This does not have to be your mate. If every experienced woman was to personally mentor a beginning man for a year, guess what?... more men for all to dance with. 3. Women would have to NEVER be heard (by any man) talking about men who do not dance well and who they don't want to dance with or which great dancers they like dancing with. They should only be heard talking about which men (beginners) are improving nicely. 4. Male teachers could help out by conducting all male classes on a regular basis. Here men can be frank about their insecurities without putting up a front for women and not risk being shot down by a woman during their vulnerable stage. 5. Last but most importantly, NEVER turning down an offer to dance from a guy who is not a good dancer unless he is a long time dancer who will never improve and will monopolize your time if you let him, someone who gropes you or make unwanted advances, or someone who dances dangerously enough to risk injuring you. These guys will be guys that everyone knows about and beginner guys could understand why you wouldn't want to dance with them. The above suggestion might sound unattractive to women, but I guarantee that if this was done by enough women that there would be no more need to complain about not enough men to dance with. It's all about focusing positive attention on the beginner men. It wouldn't be such a chore or sacrifice if women could find genuine enjoyment in dancing with beginner men. I am an instructor of other dance forms (Tango and Salsa) in which we have the same problems. I dance with beginner women all the time. It's not always fun. It sometimes even hurts, but I try to find something enjoyable in dancing with them. If nothing else I know they appreciate my being willing to dance with them, which makes me feel good. To view Lana's follow up article with some more male perspectives. Click Here Then Scroll Down THE PROBLEM & SOME SOLUTIONS FROM A MALE’S PERSPECTIVE (1) Instructors spend more dedicated time teaching the women and little time focusing on male instruction. (2) Women need to take a more active role in encouraging and giving criticism that does not affect the ego. (3) Have more females teaching the men (they don’t seem to like dancing with other men even for learning purposes) (4) For new men to Steppin, it is a turn off to experience women only wanting to dance with the more skilled men all the time. Some even say as a new guy, they were turned down frequently by women who were considered "heavy hitters." (5) Women project disinterest or boredom when dancing with the newer guys that they don’t see on women’s faces when they dance with a more experienced male. (6) Some men feel that other males in the Steppin scene are territorial with spreading the knowledge when it comes to teaching "up and coming" males. Some of the men that responded felt that the current "heavy hitters" or more skilled male dancers did not want the attention being taken away from them which caused them to limit the growth of other males. (7) Some men felt it was a little intimidating to be placed on the class learning setting with droves of women. They felt that smaller "men only" settings with stronger female assistants would be more encouraging and allow more men to stay on the floor throughout the whole learning process. (8) Although the men hear the women fussing all the time about the lack of males on the floor, they don’t see the women taking a proactive stance in getting more men to the classes and keeping them there. These are a few of the topics that the men brought to the table. To me as I read over a lot of the responses and rehashed the phone conversations it appears that women are the source of correcting the majority of the problem we complain about. Sooooooooo ladies, "what is we gonna do?" OK ladies can you give us some feedback? Please send us an email. Tags Woman to Man Ratio Men Respond Recent :Woman to Man Ratio Real Talk Episode 6 Steppers Google Real Clubs Love Steppers Mid-Week Contests White Partied Out Steppers Whisperer Move Of The Day Living in The Dark Ages Good for the Economy Orbies in Orbit II Orbies in Orbit Smoked at D'Elegance Four Contests at Once The Numbers Are With Us Readers Emails Steppers Zen Masters Steppers Fourth Proper and Improper Pluggers Hotter In July Colder In January Steppers Wallet Thinning Off The Hook Steppers Club Promise Steppers Grudges Contest Itch Attitude Is Everything Steppers News Steppers Stats & News Steppers Service Conundrum Steppers Shortcuts Private Steppers If you or anyone you know has any photos, footage or information about or from any Steppers contests for the History of Stepping Project, I'd love to add it to what we have. It's Your History! OR If you have a personal recollection concerning stepping or if you care to help with the in any manner, please Send us an email. 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	Please copy the message below and send it on to as many steppers as you can please! This is an open message to ALL steppers. Please share it with as many people as possible. As many of you may already know I started a new web site for the benefit of the greater steppers community. It's called The History of Stepping Project. I wish to encourage you to add your knowledge to the timeline. If you know anything about stepping, please share this with the public on this site. We are looking for all information related to stepping from it's beginnings to the present. The information literally includes everything from clubs and bars which held steppers sets and parties to contests and the participants and results, to when different steppers organizations and classes started, who the instructors were and are; Musical bands, and artists, DJ's, radio and television personalities, Movies, videos, and photos… literally everything stepping. Creating an accurate historic timeline will go a long way toward helping the community take the next step in its logical progression as it continues to grow nationwide and will become a valuable resource for all in the future. Your input, your knowledge and your effort have made the dance what it is today. Don't you feel your place (and your organization's) in the timeline is well deserved? I do! Please send an email to your members or readers inviting them to participate. Place a link on your web site also please. All support is appreciated! The effort requires more than just posting the information. The need for fact checkers, people willing to do some research exists in this important ongoing project. Just a few minutes a week can make a difference. Thank You for your time! Markie Bee The History of Stepping Project Create & buy custom products at Zazzle
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