April 2011
2 posts
9 tags
Practice club dance???
“How come - my students ask - we have to practice dance but people who we see on the dance floor just do it so effortlessly? They don’t practice, yet they look great”.
Well..they do practice - I say - they just don’t consider it practice. They simply dance. Have you ever seen a guy or a girl in the club who seems to be in the zone, dancing like crazy, not necessarily...
http://www.facebook.com/getdance →
Let me fix your dancing…forever.
October 2010
2 posts
6 tags
Rhythm...never too much?
I noticed something interesting today as I was teaching a new student who claimed he has no rhythm. He backed up his statement by giving me a short demonstration of what he can do. What I said to him afterwards surprised us both. (It surprised me as it was the first time I came to such an unexpected conclusion when watching someone dance). I told him that little or no rhythm was not at all his...
Anonymous asked: can i take pvt lessons?
July 2010
1 post
9 tags
To understand how much you’ve accomplished in your learning process you always have to remember how you started.
On those days when you lack motivation, it is good to remember your first class and how much you’ve improved since then. Then imagine yourself being only at the halfway mark and how much better you will get in the future if you keep the same focus…
Keep it motivated people!
get...
June 2010
3 posts
8 tags
Comunicación
Check this out. Suppose your teacher makes you repeat a specific exercise each time you’re in class. Suppose you don’t have the slightest idea what purpose it serves but you keep doing it regardless. Your teacher happily keeps drilling the exercise - after all it is a part of the class routine. Let’s say the class is 60mins long and you’re spending 10mins out of it on something you find useless....
5 tags
Lately I’ve been asking my students about their previous instructors and their approach to Q&A situations.
We came to a conclusion that it’s a pretty good criterion for the evaluation of your teacher.
Does your teacher encourage you to ask questions? Does he make sure you comprehend what’s being shown to you? After the class does he welcome questions or rather “pushes” you out the door?
Start...
2 tags
Anonymous asked: how much do you charge per lessons?
May 2010
4 posts
4 tags
If you don’t understand something - ASK!
The teacher will give you another explanation, making sure you understand introduced concept. Don’t just say “I understand” because that way your instructor will assume that the problem is solved and you will wonder why you are still making the same mistake. Asking questions is a clear sign for your teacher that you’re...
6 tags
“Goal setting works the same way as target practice. Without a target, you...”
– C.J. Hayden
9 tags
"I SUCK!"
Ok great – you as a student may say – I came to class and I assessed myself really hard as I went through class and I got one conclusion out of it:” I SUCK!” How is that going to help me?
Umm, it won’t. Next time try one simple rule: focus on the positive and no – don’t forget the negative but rather acknowledge the negative. Both you and I know it’s there: the areas that need improvement, the...
8 tags
What can your ass do for you?
(I used the word “ASS” in the title to attract the attention of all of us who wouldn’t read anything that has “ASSESSMENT” in it. Please note that the following blog entry will indeed be about assessment :-)
My understanding of assessment is simple – once we know how we’re doing and where we are, we become aware of where we’re going. It prepares us for the future and gives us...
March 2010
1 post
10 tags
A few words about what I have and you don’t…
So you took a few classes. You learned a few steps. You know how to do them yet somehow you don’t look like your teacher. You seem to lack something. So you ask yourself a question:
“What am I missing? I thought I copied the movement exactly how my teacher showed it to me”
You missed one thing.
Groove. That feeling of relaxation while you’re moving to the music. That “sitting in the pocket”...
February 2010
2 posts
4 tags
“Personal development of each individual towards autonomy must be a teacher’s...”
– Valerie Preston-Dunlop
9 tags
One of my students yesterday brought to class her favorite song and asked me to show how I would dance to it. As a dancer, I wouldn’t hesitate a second – I’m always ready to show off. As a teacher – now that’s another story! I asked her why she wants to see me dance.
Student’s response was: “Because I want to know my potential. I want to know what to strive for”.
Well, that’s nice but how are...
January 2010
26 posts
3 tags
“In learning you don’t understand things until you’ve made them your own and...”
– Margaret H’Doubler
8 tags
Own it!
Do you often have those “ah-hah!” moments? Do you have them while taking dance classes? Perhaps when you find yourself able to find song’s rhythm for the first time… or transition smoothly from one movement to the next? Or FINALLY truly freestyle to the song without putting any thought into it?
Congratulations!
Whenever it happens make sure you and no one else takes credit for it. You...
6 tags
“You are not learning now to do steps. You are learning about control and...”
– Harkarvy
5 tags
(Another one of those “little things” you can do to get the most out of your dance learning experience)
After each class, answer this question: ‘what did I learn?’ Answer honestly. But be careful: state facts. Don’t let emotions take over. Example: you’ve found the last exercise in class very challenging and you didn’t do so well. The answer: “Nothing. I suck!” is not what we...
5 tags
“To teach also should imply a belief in that which one teaches, and desire to...”
– Margaret H’Doubler, A Way of Thinking
4 tags
One more thing in case you’re wondering HOW to push past the point of perceived limitation.
We all have thoughts all the time (well…most of us). It just so happens that whenever we come across a challenge, these thoughts are mostly negative. Try these two approaches:
1. Don’t think at all. Stop over-analyzing. Turn that damn chatter box of a head off! Just go for it. You will think about...
7 tags
Point of your perceived limitation
Have you ever heard about a point of our perceived limitation? Even if you never heard about it, you probably experienced it. Just think about how often you tell yourself these four beautiful words: “I can’t do that”…
So here you are in my class and I ask you to do a specific exercise. “You want me to do what?” (you don’t even have to say it out loud,...
4 tags
“To teach is to accept the privilege and responsibility of shaping and directing...”
– Margaret H’Doubler, A Way of Thinking
7 tags
"Good jobs" part 2
I experimented alright. On one person so far because my other student whose name I won’t mention (JACK!) blew it. You couldn’t just NOT read the blog for 1 day, could you? :) Lucky bastard escaped my experiment…
Alright, so my other student [and these were my Absolute Beginner Private Classes for Adults] is a nice, shy guy who feels very uncomfortable on the dance floor; came to me for help...
4 tags
"Good jobs" part 1
Something that has been on my mind after taking a group class yesterday…
The teacher was really generous with “good jobs” (you know: “good job, Tom”, “good job, Maggie” and so on) so I was patiently waiting for him to mention my name as well. When that happened, I started counting HOW MANY TIMES he mentions my name. I got to three - but that’s not...
4 tags
“The joy of improvisation is not to go back and remember what you did when you...”
– Ellen Moore in Wilson, et al. Margaret H’Doubler. The Legacy of America’s Dance Education Pioneer
5 tags
Let me give you guys little science behind our dance learning process (No - I don’t want to bore you to death, just trying to prove to you that everybody is able to do well on the dance floor. That is my job after all) I’ll make it short, I promise.
Learning how to dance, like learning how to do anything physical, is about strengthening the connections between the neurons in the...
4 tags
“Improvisation in dance is the act of creating movement spontaneously. For some,...”
– Nora Ambrosio, Learning About Dance. An Introduction to Dance as an Art Form and Entertainment
5 tags
Groove - icing on the cake
When learning anything new, don’t worry that the movements you execute are not “groovy” yet. It’s very hard to find comfort in something your body is not familiar with. Give it a little time. Exaggerate movements in the beginning so that Muscle Movement Memory can come into play (more about that later). When you have the form and proper timing, that’s when you work on adding the groove, making...
9 tags
Whether you are a professional dancer or you dance just for fun, I’d like you to know that there’s no dance technique that becomes easy with practice. A specific dance style will not become easy for you just because you’ve been practicing for 10 years. There is always room for improvement – you can ALWAYS learn more, do better.
Personally speaking, as a professional hip-hop dancer I could never...
5 tags
“Ballet technique (…) is very difficult. It never becomes easy – it becomes...”
– DeMille
6 tags
Breathe to dance better?
Today, my Bikram yoga teacher - Chris made an interesting comment about breathing in class (I’m surprised I even heard it half dead, sweat in my ears). He was talking about how, when doing any strenuous activity we immediately start gasping for air. Right? Isn’t that what you always do in your dance or aerobic class when you feel “out of air”? You think it calms you down but nah, on...
6 tags
Speak up!
Dance is about self-expression (you’ve heard that, right?). But are you really expressing yourself by copying somebody else’s choreography, repeating their movements and their interpretation of the song? How much freedom do you actually have there?
Wouldn’t you like to formulate your own movements just as you formulate thoughts into words that are coming out of your mouth? Speaking somebody...
3 tags
“Practice does not always make perfect but it does make permanent”
– H. Scheff, et al. in Experiencing Dance from Student to Dance Artist
5 tags
Mean it!
To make sure you truly learn the movement, it has to hold meaning for you. Material that you place value on will “go” to your long term memory. With no emotional or meaningful connections, the brain won’t store the information and it will be soon lost.
How often do you find yourself not able to remember movements that you drilled in your last class? The brain was not forced to pay attention to...
5 tags
Identifying Individual Motivation
Something I find extremely useful when it comes to teaching dance:
“You cannot use one generic motivational technique to motivate everyone. Rather, you must identify the motivational needs of each of your dancers and work to motivate them accordingly. For example a class that focuses on drilling may motivate those dancers who enjoy developing skills but may alienate those who enjoy dance as a...
3 tags
“Frequently the most talented people are those most aware of their own...”
– Lee Strasberg, The Dancer Prepares: Modern Dance for Beginners
4 tags
5 tags
So you just started your classes…
Of course you won’t look graceful right away. When you’re just starting your dance learning experience, there is a lot on your mind! You will feel awfully clumsy, disjointed even, and totally uncoordinated. No wonder! What’s constantly on your mind is how to keep the parts of your body synchronized. That thinking gets in the way of smooth, spontaneous...
3 tags
“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your...”
– Unknown
6 tags
“Start with something simple. Try touching your forehead with your hand.
Ah, that’s easy, automatic. Nothing to it. But there was a time when you were as far removed from the mastery of that simple skill as a nonpianist is from playing a Beethoven sonata.
First, you had to learn to control the movements of your hands (you were just a baby then) and somehow get them to move where you wanted...
December 2009
2 posts
5 tags
I’ve read somewhere about the five stages of change. See for yourself if that makes sense:
1. Pre-contemplation: in our mind we tend to say: “that’s not for me”, “I can’t do this” (sounds familiar?)
2. Contemplation: when we give serious consideration to changing our behavior – we decide to contact somebody about it. This one make take forever,...
6 tags
