10/10 Highly recommended! The course material is highly relevant, intelligently sequenced, and will lead to rapid improvements in the quality of your dance. The progressive skill building nature of this course makes progress easy and long lasting.

Learning how best to convey these concepts to students was golden. The assignments were very demanding as you actually have to apply what you learned instead of simply regurgitate it. I’d recommend this to anyone wanting to teach WCS and give your students the best possible chance of coming out of the series with solid fundamentals that make sense no matter what direction WCS takes down the road. If I only had access to these concepts back when first I started I wouldn’t be in the position of having to retrain my body to unlearn years of reinforced bad habits. I feel I owe it to my students to give them the best available information and convey it in the most understandable way I can. I strongly recommend this course.

Last week a young man, who had participated in the beginner class sat off to the side intently watching as the social dance began. I could see that he was literally “drinking it all in”!
When I heard a song with a simple clear beat come on I asked him if he would like to dance.
He was nervous & concentrating SO hard while using the “step back lead and step out of the slot” techniques he learned in class. But then he began to relax, then smile- then break out in a big grin!

This is where having Swing Literacy training and insight led to ME having MY BEST dance of the evening!
Because this young man was “on top of the world” & had a complete change of demeanor at his success.
His eyes shone and he began to talk to others sitting near him.
What a treasure it is to share someone's first real social dance.

Two WCS dance groups in the Atlanta area have had their instructors (and some of the practice assistants) take the Swing Literacy Teacher Training. I know for certain that one of the clubs paid for their teachers to take the training. As a result of this, there is a notable difference between the teaching styles and methods of the teachers who have taken the training and teachers (primarily teaching for other groups) who have not (and notable difference in the improvement of their students).

In addition, the training has changed the approach to beginner lessons, and progression through the beginner series. Both the students and the teachers have benefitted from this Swing Literacy Teacher Training. And, the teachers are able to use the training when they teach private lessons, so it is another benefit to them. -Linda DeGutis

"I recently had the privilege to assist in large back-to-back newcomer (brand new to WCS) workshops. The first workshop employed the Swing Literacy teaching method, and the next workshop used the more traditional method. Having studied both methods, I expected the Swing Literacy method to work better, but I was not prepared for just how effective it was and how quickly it worked.

During the Swing Literacy segment of the newcomers’ workshop, I noticed the students were able to perform many of the skills to a level I would typically expect from more experienced dancers. Dancing with newcomers and being able to feel their elasticity and having them connect to me like an intermediate dancer was definitely a surprising experience: t was easy and enjoyable - it wasn't a chore or struggle to dance with them. I observed them smiling, laughing, keeping their eyes up, and focusing on their partners. After the workshop was over, I was impressed that they were able to sustain these skills as they practiced on their own.

The traditional-method workshop was taught by very experienced and lovable teachers, but about 10 minutes in, the atmosphere in the room changed. I noticed that the students started struggling: the usual frustrations that go along with learning dance for the first time were back. I had one couple ask me for help with the patterns that were being taught, and the leader refused to dance until he could figure out his own steps. At this point he was so frustrated that no matter what I did, whether breaking down the pattern or asking him to ignore the pattern and just dance had no effect. He was already too stressed out to dance or learn at this point: a common problem that I have seen in many classes.

When I danced with the Newcomers in the traditional workshop, many of their skills that made our dances enjoyable for me during the Swing Literacy workshop had disappeared: they stopped their momentum, they stopped using elasticity, their heads were down, looking at their own feet, and they were all focused on trying to do the patterns instead of leading or following.

As someone who has both danced and taught WCS for years I found myself a little confused during the traditional method workshop - I can only wonder how much the Newcomers must have been struggling at that point. From my personal experience during these workshops I would definitely say that the Swing Literacy method taught WCS in a way that newcomers could easily understand and allowed them to not only progress faster but also to enjoy their experience far more than the traditional method of teaching." -Glenn Clark

This is different from any other learning format, and is an opportunity to be exposed to a new way of learning WCS. It is strategic and very well communicated. It keeps you motivated and accountable. It also provides you a sense of Community with others that are like minded. SL is different in that it starts with the foundation and builds from there, as opposed to my past experience, where a multitude of teachers and lessons were constructing a dancer with spackle. Takes all the loose ends from multiple teachers and weaves them into a comprehensive approach that supports the learning process.

I had a gut feeling that things should be taught a different way - Swing Literacy gave me the courage to step out of the box of the old school teaching methodology. It gave me affirmation, guidance, courage, valildation. It reinforced my dedication to the concept of drills & skills over patterns & footwork, and I realized what was critical both to focus on and to avoid focusing on.

I highly recommend the Swing Literacy program for anyone who would like to understand the mechanics of WCS. The pedagogical approach is highly effective as the content and drills build on each other and you'll see results quickly. The program gives you the language to articulate yourself more clearly in class to ask better questions as well as all of the juicy detail you always wanted to know about the "why" and the "how" it works.

First of all it was a lot of fun for me teaching the class with a different approach than how I learned to dance WCS myself a few years ago. There was more interaction with the students than I’ve seen at other beginner classes.

(The recommended drills and sequence)... were not only a lot of fun but also worked great... in no time it looked like they were dancing West Coast Swing even though it was a simpler version. Everyone was on time, followers waited to be led, and they found it easier to pick up new patterns. Nobody looked at their feet, not once! I danced with the followers and really loved their connection, it really felt like a WCS connection already.

The group was small, but definitely not everybody extremely talented, and still everybody seemed to be able to dance WCS passes that look and feel like WCS within an hour. Definitely will use more of this concept for my next beginner workshop :-) - Miranda Lam

“What I love about lessons with Tessa is her really interesting way of teaching. She never says : “Stop thinking, just do this shape like that because I told you to”. Instead, she takes the time to ask you the right questions to guide you to think for YOURSELF about your dance. This self-analysis makes me understand my own body mechanics, and learn even faster! Now every time I leave the ballroom, it’s always with a big smile because I had a lot of fun and also because I discovered something new about my way of dancing. It’s always like a revelation.”

I felt like this program gave me a very solid way to break down concepts, and gave me a solid sequence which is easy to stick to in each lesson.  This also helped increase my confidence as a teacher a lot, because I used to just try to "wing it" and teach based on what I saw, and this program helped me have a good idea for what elements I should be teaching right away.  It also encouraged me not to shy away from more advanced concepts for beginners, which I felt like has allowed me to teach better, keep students interest better, and produce students that are doing the dance better.

I feel as though in other intensives, instructors will demonstrate patterns and strategies, but will not connect these to the basic skills that are required to perform these patterns/strategies. Myles and Tessa do a fantastic job explaining what prerequisite skills are required to compete the task at hand, and that helps people catch onto the material SO MUCH quicker.

We have a huge class of dancers (especially leaders) who are missing critical skills in their dance, trying to perform patterns and strategies in which they don't have the underlying/supporting skills for. Swing Literacy focuses specifically on filling those gaps in dancers' skill base. I definitely attribute MUCH of my success to your teaching style of skills before patterns.

I loved it. I thought the way it was presented and how it flowed was good for how I learn. I think it took me longer to complete because I would read articles and then mull over them and try to think how that worked or changed the way I would teach. It was very rewarding to me and my students did notice the change overnight. It’s helped me learn to engage my students more and organize my thoughts with a more natural progression for the dance. I get so tired of lecture type teaching with zero questions. I want my students to think more for themselves and know earlier about the hows and whys.

Best teaching method I've ever experienced (and I've completed 22 years of formal schooling!) It's like having the reference book on everything WCS PLUS the physical drills, feedback and supportive learning community! 

Up until this course, I had a mish-mash of information and concepts drawn from various teachers and from my own experience, but I didn't have a logical, consistent structure to provide a framework for it all. This is absolutely going to me give me more confidence (much needed), as now I feel like I know what I'm talking about.