Episode 34: Teaching Beginners, a Conversation with Robert Jones

What makes beginner classes, or teaching the first class a person will ever take, different than other types of teaching? There are many different philosophies on it, and Dr. Adams sits down with long-time local instructor Robert Jones to discuss a philosophy of teaching based in giving beginners a joyful first experience.

Guest: Robert Jones

Robert Jones began dancing at age 16, when Penn State dancers gave a demo at an end-of-semester event at his high school. Clearly Robert was already hooked from that, since he and a handful of friends would go to any Penn State dance event they could for the next two years. Robert learned his fundamentals through the Penn State Swing Dancing club, and his love of dancing was given a space to blossom. It only took a few late night sets and house parties to open him up to blues, and he was forever taken with that dance. Robert taught and DJed blues and swing at PSU until moving to San Antonio in 2010. There, he helped manage both a swing and a blues organization, while continuing to teach and DJ. Robert then moved to New York in 2018 to take a chance at film, and continued to teach and DJ for blues events. Then the pandemic happened. It took Robert a good half-decade to be ready to go dancing again. Fortunately, he met a fabulous organizer at Pride ‘26 whose enthusiasm reawakened him, and Powerhouse Blues (in Philly) is his new dance home.

Produced by Dr. Chelsea AdamsPost-Production by Jeremy Carberry

12-Bar Talk is brought to you from Ogden, Utah's "Junction City" full of blues and jazz history on Historic 25th Street. You can learn more about Ogden's rich black history at https://www.visitogden.com/blog/celebrating-black-history-month-in-ogden-utah/.