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Messages - lil_koala

#1
In case you did not see the lesson schedules on the Fanime website, here is the schedule link: http://www.fanime.com/events/#black-and-white-ball. They are all beginner classes, but we will have private lessons available if you have any intermediate/advanced questions. As stated by echoshadow, there will be a sign up sheet for private lessons. In addition, we will be offering workshops see link for more info: http://www.fanime.com/events/black-and-white-ball-lessons-and-workshops/#workshops As for leaders vs. followers when we teach the class, we separate into two groups and you can choose either to lead or follow.

Hope that helps! Feel free to ask if you have more questions.
#2
This year's Black and White Ball actually went by a lot faster but I think that's mainly because I was part of staff this year. It was certainly tiring but fun nonetheless. I enjoyed working with everyone and teaching at some of the lessons.

I thought the decorations were really nice and the sound quality was pretty good for the most part. I'm glad that the water issue from the previous years has been addressed. Overall the demonstrations were great but perhaps we need a preview of each demo to see which ones we can cut if we have repeats.

We definitely need a bigger room for the black and white ball next year. At this rate, even the Imperial Ballroom will not be big enough. It's really hard to emphasize line of dance when there's no room for a line of dance. I hope that Parkside will be a good location for next year but we'll definitely need to plan more for decorations and to check the sound systems.

From the looks of the forum feedback, the music playlist wasn't a hit with everyone. I thought it was ok but I guess we need to focus more on ballroom music to give that classic feel people are looking for. It's actually incredibly hard to find ballroom anime music especially when all the requests in the forum are actually just Viennese waltzes. As for not having pop music, we can limit them but actually a lot of social dance parties incorporate a few nowadays.

The dress code was better enforced this year but I think ladies shoes are still an issue. We might need to post up pictures next year so that we're a bit more clear. I saw stilettos and shoes without straps to hold them in. I think we'll also need to have a meeting before the doors open to have consistence between everyone who has door duty.

And lastly, I thought the dance lessons were great! I was so happy to see so many people attending the lessons and even signing up for private lessons. I loved the use of the mic because it made it easier for everyone to hear the instructors. However, I think we'll need to discuss with the instructors to make sure everyone uses the same names for the steps because each of us learned from different syllabi so I hope we didn't confuse anyone. Although this didn't happen often, I didn't appreciate people talking on the side or over the instructor's voice. We also need more lessons in foxtrot, as we only had one, if we'll do a foxtrot mixer again. I don't know how popular merengue/argentine tango is but I really think we should teach samba next year instead.

I believe that is all for my feedback. I thoroughly enjoyed being part of the b&w ball staff this year and I hope that my schedule will allow for me to return next year.
#3
Hi, I just thought I should post in this thread because the old music request from 2010 was revived and made it a little confusing. This is the request thread for 2011 so please post here if you have a song suggestion.

I would also like to post an example of a waltz song for those browsing their game and anime music collection:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xZlhaLT7IY it's Dreamcatcher by Secret Garden, one of my all time favorite waltz songs

I think it would be a little easier having reference to what a waltz song sounds like instead of looking for songs with 'waltz' in the title. Those are generally Viennese Waltz (waltz on crack :P)

Thank you!  :)

-Lilly

#4
I prefer teaching/dancing quickstep than v.waltz. People tend to go crazy because v.waltz is what they see in movies and stuff. In addition, quickstep is easier to navigate on the dance floor especially with basics and lock steps.
#5
I actually really liked the B&W ball this year and it was a great improvement from last year. Also, it's great to hear that the b&w ball and the dance lessons sparked an interest in ballroom dancing for some people. I know a few places in the bay area so if you're interested, you can pm me.

Goods:
-The dance floor was great and is actually the type of floor I see at competitions. Thanks Jeannie and all of the other volunteers for putting the floor together and taking it apart afterward.
-The tables, water, decorations, and the huge display screen was great.
-I liked that the dances and upcoming dances were displayed.
-No major accidents, no giant mass of people jumping up and down, and great performances.

Needs improvement:
-The music was hard to hear at times which makes it hard to dance to.
-Some of the songs did not match the dance at all. I know that you can dance a few different dances to the same song but some were still completely off.
-Line of dance should be more clearly emphasized so that people who want to travel can do so. The slower traffic can be closer to the center if that is possible to manage with number of attendees.

Overall, it was pretty fun and I got to do a two-way WCS with Alfred and his friend. That totally threw me by surprise but that was really awesome! Thanks, Alfred. :D I'm definitely look forward to the B&W ball next year. Maybe if I can get my dance partner to come next year, we can do ballroom demo? (Not to show-off or anything but we always wanted to do a showcase at fanime but never got around to it)
#6
Hi, Lillian here. For those who don't know/remember me, I would drop by with my friend, Christine and ended up being an assistant on Sunday.

First off, I want to say that I did have a lot of fun at the B&W ball. But perhaps that was more so because of the people I hung out with than the ball itself cause I didn't get to dance much.

I think pretty much all the concerns that I have have already been addressed here so I'll try not to be redundant.

I think the admission fee would work well for those who don't have a badge as long as they follow the rules. I know that some people would like to bring guests who don't attend Fanime to the ball. Of course, that would only work if we have a bigger place that can hold more people. I liked that the ball was at the Fairmont Hotel because it is very pretty there. Perhaps we can get one of the actually ballrooms there for next year?

I disagree with having less dances because obviously not everyone wants to learn the same dance as shown by different people who showed up for different lessons. If anything, we should offer more lessons and help people learn the dances they want to learn. Also, it would be nice if there was more time in between each lesson so that people can actually ask questions and clarification before the next lesson starts. That would also give the instructors a bit of a break. And I think there should also be more assistants who know what they're doing actually show up and help out. (Maybe Chris and Ryan can help out next year? That way we have people we know we can depend on.)

Oh and another thing that really bugged me, people jumping in the mixers without knowing how to dance. The mixers were fun and I think we should have more of them but not if people don't know what they are doing. The waltz one went okay but the foxtrot...I danced with two guys that didn't know what they were doing so I basically had to teach them right there just so we can get across the floor. That was not fun.

Other than that, I believe everything has been mentioned so I'll leave it at that.