Hey Michael!

That is a great question!!

There are various takes on what people think are the best practices for retention, (as you know) but here are some tips/ideas that hopefully will help!! :-)

https://www.westcoastswingonline.com/5-tips-help-remember-wcs-patterns/

https://www.westcoastswingonline.com/practicing-without-a-partner/

I have found that with students, putting together a small and easy routine (maybe start with 32 counts) is a good way to start thinking of pieces patterns together. Doesn't have to be hard, in fact, I'd recommend starting with basic patterns first. Once you're comfortable with that, you can add more of the 'fun and cool' patterns to the mix/sequences. Most moves come from pushes, passes and whips, so recognizing the base patterns are really helpful too!

If you want help putting a sequence together that accents the music, watch this video Brian & Megan did about just that! :-) https://youtu.be/U5n-J3tP5iY

Hope that helps!

Emily

Hey there Sue!Welcome to our dance family/community! Thanks for sharing about your dance journey. We love WCS (as well as the other styles too, of course.)One footed/leg spins can be super tricky but doable, for sure! Have you checked out this live video we did from the lockdown? https://youtu.be/U5n-J3tP5iY We cover a few different types of spins and turns for WCS. Hopefully that will help! Musicality is always fun to mess around with and we have tons of information about it on the channel. If you ever have specific questions, please let us know! We're here for you! :-)Happy dancing!

They there Anthony!Thanks for sharing that link...that was so fun to watch!Most of those patterns can actually be found in the Primary and Secondary syllabus videos, which is pretty cool to see. If there is a specific move you and your wife would like from the video, please let us know, and we'll see what we can do to recreate it! Welcome to our dance family! :-)

Hey there John!!What a story...thank you for sharing :-)I/We are so happy you're back to dancing! We are here to help with anything you might need to help knock the dust off and find the joy of dancing again. (Dance people are pretty fun!) Let us know if you ever have any questions regarding any of the videos!Welcome to our dance family!