Teaching your first dance class; tips
- Tammie Nawathe ʚϊɞ
- Nov 1, 2016
- 6 min read
You could be one of the greatest dancers, and still be nervous when it comes to teaching. The pupils look up to you as if you have the most vast knowledge of dance, performed everywhere and know all about the industry. They rely on you to pass on this information and help shape their future.
Whether you are in a community or educational situation, this fact does not change.
When I talk to peers my age in the industry, I feel they have done so much more or have far superior knowledge. This is only as our experience vary.
Talking about what you have achieved, can sound more professional than what it was. You have your skills and talents that you have done, that once said to someone else will sound like a great achievement. Whether this is school shows or YouTube channels, anything dance related has benefited you.
Now that you know you have skills behind you, hence why you are now in a position to teach, I will give some of my tips on how to prepare for your first class.
As you may or may not know, I worked my first contracted choreographer job over the summer. Here I had four classes a week varying from 1-2 hours. I have no idea the age range, gender, ability or interests of these children.
I played safe and went for a commercial/hip hop routine to start to appeal to the majority (so I thought). As my six weeks progressed, I grew more confident. Looking back now, I can say what I felt I achieved and how I would improve.
General notes
Open with a warm up, isolations and a short stretch- lasting between 5-10 minutes.
Save time at the end for a cool down, to help avoid injuries.
Arrive on time, prepared with; music, speakers and backups.
Have appropriate music, whether this is to do with age or genre
Pick your style
If you can, find out before hand anything about the class. This includes; age range, size of class, ability, gender, purpose and aims.
PLAN, PLAN, PLAN. Know what you want to do in your lesson
Ensure the class is spread out and they can see you clearly. If you have a fairly large class (a few lines of people) then you can consider alternating lines. This means when teaching a section, after a few counts getting the front line to move to the back, so each line has a chance of seeing from the front.
Make sure you are heard- at the beginning of the class as if the music is at an appropriate level and if you can be heard over it. If not, work out the level to perform to and the level to speak over.
Make the choreography challenging enough that there is at least one move, e.g. a hitch kick , that needs to be broken down but at an ability everyone can pick it up.
Some dancers will be stronger than others in a class, either set up variations saying "if you want to challenge yourself try this", or get them to work on their performance skills.
Don't rush teaching the choreography. You know it, they don't. Observe and ask if the class are ready to move on with the routine, go over it again, or break it down slower.
Remind the class that it is ok to not be able to do everything in one go, and the more you practice the easier it will become.
Have "performance" time at the end where you split the class for them to show the routine to their peers. This will help build confidence and a sense of pride for their work. You can ask if anyone would want to have the routine recorded- this gives them an opportunity to self-check their work. Each dancer will see where they improved or need to further develop, as well as linking the feeling of the movement with how it looked to an audience, finding energy and precision details.
Be confident, open and honest. You have to be yourself or the class will see through it. If you are not naturally confident, show that you are sure of what you are doing. It will develop over time.
Don't worry if you forget something, say I need a minute and stay calm. Everyone does it.
Work out your style you would like to teach, research anything you do not know. E.G. if I was to teach a Hip-Hop routine I would make sure I know the names of the moves I am using, or a way to explain it.
Watch others teach and go to classes
Below are three vague plans of a structure to base your class around; there are many others and you can chop and change. Underlined are parts you cannot remove or change the order for health and safety reasons.
Lesson plan:
To start with I would do
INTRODUCTION
WARM UP
ISOLATIONS
STRETCH
ROUTINE
PERFORMANCE
COOL DOWN
Developing on this with more confidence, or free reign:
INTRODUCTION
WARM UP
ISOLATIONS
STRETCH
TECHNIQUE- corner work (more educational setting)
ROUTINE
PERFORMANCE
COOL DOWN
Higher level work:
INTRODUCTION
WARM UP
ISOLATIONS
STRETCH
TASK(S)- how to move or adapting/creating
CREATING A ROUTINE FROM TASK MATERIAL
PERFORMANCE
COOL DOWN
As each layout of a lesson plan varies, they go up in the maturity of a class. Adding tasks, take away a dictator role- allowing students to think more for themselves.
LESSON PLAN 1- I would recommend for; a begging class, new dancers or as a professional class developing quality of movement and memory for auditions.
LESSON PLAN 2- Would be for any ability- as long as the technique follows their skill set- making it easy for beginner to advanced. The age range I would go for would be 8+. All the plans can be done for other ages, but the plan depends on the situation. If I am teaching in a summer camp, I would pick route 1 for new dancers for an opening session regardless of age. Lesson 2 can be used younger, if having previous experience or are focused enough to develop technique. This can be varied from corner work to phrases in the centre (based on age and ability)
LESSON PLAN 3- Educational setting, to develop independence. If in a social dance setting, this would be for 13+ where they are more likely to be confident in creating.
Troubles you may run into;
- Difficult children (do not rise to it- first ask if they can help you with as task [music...], ask quietly if they are ok with the material [they may be struggling]. If this does not work either ask them to sit out, notify parents or ignore the behaviour. This is one of the situations you will learn to deal with as you go, each child and situation is different so it is hard to give a generalisation. As long as you do not retaliate and have another adult present, everything should go smoothly).
- First aid incident (if you are first aid trained then you will know the formal procedure. You will still need to notify reception, and fill out an accident report form, If you are not there will be someone first aid trained [or should be] in the building. Notify them whilst leaving another adult with the injured child. Do not let people crowd around the injured. )
- Unsuitable venue (this is down to judgement about whether to teach or not. If the space is too small to have a high risk of accident then you will need to cancel the class. Faults such as wires hanging out, can be taped down or moved [but use your initiative on it as a hazard]. )
- Unsafe equipment (if equipment is unsafe do not use it. Check your speakers, if bringing some, beforehand. If you cannot work without it then the class will have to be cancelled).
- Low class numbers (you must keep the energy in the class, as if it was full. Keep the class active, conversing and cheering one another on).
- Too high class numbers- Ensure people have enough space to dance, this may mean splitting the group in half to teach [in extreme cases] or working with alternating lines. Again this is an initiative situation where running or lots of swings may not be suitable and need to be adapted).
- Too easy/difficult material- (the material will need to be adapted as you go, to fit the class size. Once the class is over- reflect on how it could have been made better and learn for next time)
WELL DONE ON GETTING YOUR FIRST CLASS. As long as you are prepared you shall do great. Be yourself, have fun.
Teaching is not something you can be just be great at, it takes work and your skills will develop over time. You will have hard students, situations thrown at you but the more you are exposed to the better you will become.
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