March ’15 Initiates, aka, a whole bunch of people who I really miss.

Sometimes at Tribal Fest there’s these mini-intensives where for 2 or 3 days you study with the same teacher. I’ve always avoided signing up for those, because it’s hard enough to avoid schedule conflicts when a workshop is just on a single day. Plus I see Tribal Fest as like, a teacher buffet. I want to try as many teachers as I can! And learn as many subjects as I can!

But after 8 Elements: Initiation, I’m starting to question that. I see the value now of spending a few days in a room with the same teacher and the same bunch of students. You form stronger bonds, and maybe you learn more. There’s certainly more opportunity for the teacher to revisit things and make sure you’re actually absorbing them, as opposed to your average 2 hour workshop where it often feels like the teacher is throwing a hundred things at you in the hopes that maybe two will stick.

I think workshops and intensives serve two very different purposes. A single workshop gives you a little window into either a specific style, prop, or a teacher’s way of thinking. You’re not going to master anything in a two-hour workshop unless you’re a much better learner than I am (and if you are, what is your secret? Will you write a guest post about it?). Maybe the teacher will let you film some things, or provide you with good notes so you can keep practicing at home. But for the most part it’s just going to let you know whether this style or prop is something you want to learn more about, or if this teacher is someone you want to learn more from in the future.

In an intensive, you actually have a chance to hopefully master a move or three, or learn an entire choreography, or get a good grasp of the basics of a style or prop. You still won’t be ready to take the stage as a soloist with that style or prop, but you might have learned enough to do a group number at a festival (a common elements of the mini-intensives at Tribal Fest is a chance to perform with your teacher). You’ll get a really good idea of the teacher’s approach to dance.

And in an intensive, you also learn more about your fellow students. You get to watch them learn right alongside you, see them achieve their goals for the weekend (or week), and maybe take the stage with them to show off what you’ve learned. I feel like I really know several of the people I went through Initiation with, because they shared so much of themselves and really showed their personalities and their character throughout the week. It’s a lot different than seeing the same person in three of your workshops during the festival, but going your separate ways the rest of the week.

Don’t get me wrong, I still love shorter workshops and enjoy my Teacher Buffet idea, but I do think I’m going to make a greater effort to take intensives when the chance arises, and enjoy that really deep immersion in a particular teacher’s style and a particular mini-community.