Thursday's Lindy Practice is pleased to bring 6-year
lindy dancer Debbie Balsley from Portland, to present
a new dance lab concept "Reality Check: the art of
Giving and Receiving Feed Back -- a swing class for
those dedicated to stretching their partnering
talents."

This one-day class isn't about moves.  Instead, in
this lab-type environment, we will be opening up the
verbal lines of communication to enhance the
non-verbal dance conversation.  We will practice
together, different levels, different styles, all
fine-tuning our ability to adjust to each new partner.
 

In this class, unlike the social dance floor, expect
your partner to give you feedback and communicate what
they feel from your dancing.  Similarly, one step
beyond the workshop environment, this class offers
more time and space to discuss dance, one-on-one with
peers, recognized dancers, as well as instructors. 

The class is structured so dancers have the
opportunity to to give and receive feedback from a
fellow dance partner, one at a time, one-on-one, for approximately 5-6
minutes, then we rotate to the next partner.  

"Debbie [as the facilitator] excels at creating a
safe, relaxed atmosphere for learning and discussion.
I'm thrilled that she has asked me to help in the
presentation of this sometimes scary (at least to me) material." -- Mark
Kapner, Swing Out New Hampshire Organizer.

"This class has something rare.  An original idea that
actually works.  You can't help becoming a better
dancer." -- Dan McLean, Portland DJ and Dancer.

BIO: 
Debbie Balsley has danced Lindy in Portland for six to
seven years, replacing her 4-year bout as an aerobic instructor.  She is
a strong member of the Portland lindy community, organizing volunteers
for PDXCHAGNE 2001, and helping to organize this years PDXCHANGE 2004 in
March.  She travels to exchanges and workshops and has recently
facilitate the communication dance lab concept at SONH in 2002 and 2003,
as well as for Portland's, Boogie Back Dance Troupe.  Debbie is skilled
at facilitating meetings, brainstorming sessions, and just plain having
a good time. She has worked at AT&T Wireless for the last four years,
building relationships with corporate and global customers.  She can be
reached at 503-704-6804 with any questions on this class. 

TALKING POINTS WHEN TALKING IT UP (NOT MEANT FOR A
FLYER): 
I'll be reviewing: 
- The Philosophy of the class
- Goals of the class
- Roles of the facilitator, mentors, men-tees.
- Class Format
- Rotation Format
- Ground Rules
- What to say and how to say it. 
- I'll be providing a demonstration
- Group Discussion before and after.
- There will be an opportunity for everyone to give
feedback on the class itself.  
- We can work in videotaping is an option as well.  

OPTIONAL FORMATS. 
1. Peer to peer, sometimes stranger to stranger --
advanced giving feedback to beginners and beginners
giving feedback to advanced. (This worked surprisingly
well at SONH, as well as for the Portland performance
troupe).

2. "Recognized dancer" to peer -- select folks who are "recognized in
the community" or whom students have requested.  Work out a payment
schedule if desired or encourage them to participate for the sake of the
community.  Announce to the community that these 5-6 "recognized
dancers" will be part of the rotation during the Communication Dance Lab
on Thursday. These recognized dancers only give feed back.... in this
case, but it can still go both ways, depending on the dynamics.

3. Peer to peer, with one out-of-town primo follow and
lead, participating in rotation of the dance lab. 
This follow and lead most likely only gives feedback. 
This is what Portland will be doing while Solomon and
Mia are in town.