A reader who is newer to teaching asked me the following question this past week: “I want to excite new students about this dance, but I feel like I’m boring them. In a beginner class where I’m just teaching the basics, how do I make fundamentals fun?” This is not an uncommon question for new […] Read more…
“They need to know it’s all about connection.” This sentence bubbled to the surface in a breakout group of newer and aspiring teachers at a tango teacher training several years ago. As soon as it did about a third of the group came to life, all reciting different versions of the same incantation, amping each […] Read more…
Skill as a dancer is integral to the art of teaching dance. Because dance is a physical art, played out in and between the very bodies of dancers, students must be able to see and feel what you want them to do. The ability to be an effective visual and kinesthetic model of the dance for your […] Read more…
I hear this statement all the time: “Leading is more difficult than following.” Sometimes apologetically, sometimes with the qualifier, “but just in the beginning and intermediate stages,” but always with the bottom line that leading intrinsically requires more skill, more thought, and more attention than following. This might be okay if it were true, but […] Read more…
“Learning better movement is more like sculpture than painting. You improve your art by taking things away, not adding them.” – Todd Hargrove, A Guide to Better Movement As teachers we understand the importance of relaxing. We know that relaxation – both overall relaxation and the relaxation of specific muscles – allows students to learn better, […] Read more…