Western Kentucky University / R / Eric Rivera

I took this class with no dance knowledge whatsoever, to fulfill one of the geneds. At first, the class seems okay, because Rivera is pretty personable, and just wants everyone to learn in a fun way. He is also VERY passionate about dance. He is from NYC where he danced with a company, and still choreographs dances today. He has a pretty heavy accent, but it doesn't get in the way too much. The course consists of lecturing on PowerPoint, and watching videos of the dances you'll talk about. You might play a couple games to prepare for tests, which are very easy (20 questions, all things that are talked about multiple times). The other half of the class is spent physically dancing. We spent a day or two learning ballet, about 4 or 5 days learning modern dance, and about 10 learning various types of ballroom/partner dances. He doesn't really grade you on how good you are, as long as you learn the footwork. He also requires you to keep a dance journal (which he takes up twice during the semester), and go to Winter dance. The class is okay, and the dancing gets tedious and boring, but it's not bad. His attendance policy is what got to me, because if you miss more than two days (no matter what) your grade gets dropped by one letter grade. Seeing as this was a standard MWF class, this was a bit extreme. His reasoning behind it is that if you miss you will lose all the knowledge that he gives you, however it all comes from the book anyway, and you'll review it over and over again (even the dances), so really you won't miss anything. The final is part written, and part dancing (you pick the dance), and isn't hard.