Dancers hunt for treasure: results

I know you're all eager to hear how Rats-a-roni: the San Francisco Meat fared on the treasure hunt. Well, we didn't finish, but we had a great time, enjoyed each other's company off the dance floor, and had an adventure in foul weather. We also solved a lot of the clues, which was challenging and exciting. Not very good in the competitive spirit department, I wasn't the only one with the tendency to shout out a solution in great excitement, fully within earshot of other teams in the vicinity. I was shushed good naturedly by the more competitive players on more than one occasion, but in the end it didn't matter since we didn't finish in time to turn in our score card. It's a great exercise in stretching your mind, staring in great frustration at the clue right in front of your nose and not seeing it, until you do. It's hard not to shout "There it is!" at the top of your lungs. There is a certain fun in slogging about in the rain, but all in all I would have enjoyed it more in clement weather.

Dancers hunt for treasure

An important and not often addressed part of dancing is that of community. when you fall in love with a dance, you do it often, and you begin to get to know the other regulars. Sometimes your dance community becomes your social circle. This weekend a group of Lindy Hoppers will try our hand at the annual SF Treasure Hunt. It's the year of the rat, hence our team name, Ratsaroni, the San Francisco Meat. It's a first for me and most of our team. Wish us luck. I'll report on our success after the weekend.

Your Teacher: Does gender matter?

Every once in a while I get a student who wants to learn to follow and expresses a choice to learn from a man instead of a woman. I don't argue with this, as some women just don't feel comfortable dancing with another woman and I'm happy to pass her on to one of my colleagues. However, sometimes it's not a matter of comfort level, but a misunderstanding of what it takes to teach the skill of following. Any dance instructor who teaches alone must be skilled in the arts of leading as well as following. If you want to learn to follow, your instructor must know how to lead, but also he/she must have a clear understanding of how to follow. A man who doesn't follow may be able to teach you, as the leader is directing the follower, but someone who dances both parts will be better equipped to give you the instruction you need than one who only dances lead. If you are not a natural follower, that is someone who picks up the skill intuitively, it can be a very difficult skill to learn. If you are not uncomfortable learning from someone of the same gender, pick you teacher based on experience, teaching skill, and how comfortable you feel with him or her. Gender is not important.