Fixing hustle - Limirting the Damage

In light of what we expect to be the lowest number of hustle
registrations nationally in history for the 2008 competitive season,
lets make some predictions & some fixes:

First =96 After seeing the low numbers, many people will assert wrong
conclusions about the downturn. Wrong answers like the economy, or gas
prices. Why do we know these things aren't the real problem? Because
other dance styles have equal or greater participation than hustle
this year, or less fall off than we do.

Second - some promoters will assert - "We had more hustle
registrations at our event this year" In fact - they may have more
being a new competition, or a more popular competition like MadJam (4
more hustle J&J's than 2007)- but at the price of having 5 other comps
lose people - for an overall lower national total registrations.

Kim Vaneman's letter really got me thinking. Judging my girls poorly
at MadJam is a paradigm symptomatic of our very self destructive
impulse. I didn't realize that standing next to me at the event were
the real hustle celebrities. Namely my three 20 something's doing our
dance! But when we DO find young people eager to carry the hustle
banner forward - our IHDA judges dismiss and discourage them. We are
sending a bad message to 20 something's when we down rate them. They
are trained to dance fast so they will never look as good at NY styled
folks doing a dance that is useless in the clubs. Remember - they are
doing the style that HAS a future - NOT the style that doesn't (NY
style).

Here's what we tell them by discouraging them:

"We'll score you higher if you find another teacher other than David.
Find someone to teach you NY style Hustle - and dance SSSSssslowwwww.
Preferably - someone teaching right here at the IHDA".

Folks - this is the core of the problem. No Hustle teacher with any
new student under 50 should be teaching that person NY styled hustle.
NY style is a great and very pretty dance - that only has
applicability in private events, outside of the nightclubs that is
hustle's birth place and true home. We have sup****ted this NY styled
form of the dance to the exclusion of the very music that birthed our
dance - and chosen a path utterly rejected by the young ever since it
became the competitive standard in 1995.

This is fatal to hustle's future. No matter how pretty or technically
perfect older folks and west coast swing dancers think this NY adapted
version of hustle is - it has no future if young people hate it. And
folks - they hate it - pure and simple. When I ask judges about the
low scores =96 they say =96 "I didn't see your timing". Well, judge,
that's because you can't see the timing in figures you don't know.
Example =96 try judging quick step. You need to view NY style as a dead
form of the dance (that HAS no future) and start rewarding folks who
do hustle styles that DO have a future at competitons.

So =96 the solution:

Teachers - Please DO NOT teach people under 50 NY style hustle. Every
time you do - you damage our future one more little bit by pu****ng
away younger people who might have done a style that COULD go forward.
That is exactly what my girls would have done - carry the dance
forward. That is until MadJam. After that experience - they have
written this whole crowd off - understandably. We'll do non IHDA
events from here on. But we did want to give you one bite at the
apple. So I hope you were paying attention to how we danced while we
were there.

Kim has made me realize the extent of the damage that we do when we
discourage the very young people we most need in our ranks.

Young people WILL carry our dance forward - but it will not be your NY
styled version they select. Teachers - when you get students who are
49 or less - consider other people over yourself and our dance's
future before putting one more nail in our coffin. Please DON'T teach
them a NY based dance style we now KNOW has no future.

Rather - send them to me - so we'll have a future. This will
ultimately benefit you full time dance teachers the very most =96
because after you COMPLETELY relearning hustle from scratch done at
club speeds (with different figures that work at 132 BPM)=96 you will
again have young students in your ranks!

David Flynn

PS =96 please don't ask for more demo's or videos =96 you all saw what we
do at MadJam for 3 days. If you missed it =96 well, what can I say. If
you want me to do a workshop at your event =96 perhaps I can on a case
by case basis.