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Top 4 Ways to Really Inspire Your Dancers

Kathe Jones — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 16:48:04 +0000

As a former dance teacher, I know how hard it can be to inspire dancers, especially during that middle-of-the-season slump between the spring recitals and end-of-year shows. The summer for dance teachers & studios can turn into a long few months.

But, you have to keep your dancers inspired, motivated and pumped to dance, otherwise you risk losing them. Bored dancers either won’t perform at their peak or they’ll eventually fade away without enrolling next year. For the development of your dancers and your studio, here are some great dance teacher tips on how to inspire your dancers:

1. Go Slow
There’s a common misconception that the more you learn, the more motivated you are. This can be overwhelming. Instead, take it slow and cap your instruction at 1-2 dance steps per week for little ones. With older students, you can step that up significantly.

No matter how old your dancers are, always do a refresher at the start of next class. It cements the moves in their mind and starts off every class with an accomplishment, not a challenge. By not overloading your students, you’ll keep them feeling successful and happy to practice.

2. Attendance Prizes
Attendance prizes are especially effective for older students who may be more likely to skip out on class. Try offering a prize for, say, eight weeks of consecutive attendance. You could give out a t-shirt or leotard with your dance studio logo or a gift certificate for your studio.

3. Fresh Routines
While you shouldn’t rush your students, introducing fresh routines and new little dances are a great way to keep them motivated. Doing the same routine week after week can lead to boredom and apathy.

4. Performance Opportunities
The opportunity to perform is the perfect amount of pressure to keep students excited and motivated. Make sure you provide at least two to three performance opportunities per year. A good performance schedule and just a pinch of pressure is truly one of the best ways to inspire dancers.

photo:grongar

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So You Want to Be a Dance Teacher

Kathe Jones — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 16:16:03 +0000

Trained dancers don’t just walk into dance studios and become dance teachers, they need experience in both dancing and teaching. It’s not always easy finding that experience, but here are my top tips on how to become a fantastic dance teacher:

Start Early
If you’re in school for dance or even considering a career as a dance teacher, start practicing teaching now.

Call up a local dance studio and ask if you can do an internship by helping out with a junior class. Get involved as a volunteer at a local middle school working with their theater students (or cheerleaders), or see if you can help out with a younger class at your own dance studio. Every hour of teaching experience helps.

Start on the Bottom Rung
If you have little-to-no teaching experience, you’ll likely have to start at the bottom of the ladder. While an apprenticeship or teacher assistant position may not pay well, it could be the entrance you need to break into the dance studios of your dreams.

If you’re an experienced and qualified dancer, but just need teaching experience, try contacting a local dance studio and expressing your goals and interests to the owner. You’ll be surprised at how accommodating they can be.

Go Private
Before you break into dance studios, think about private instruction. Enlist a few students from family members and friends in order to build up your references and testimonials. Use these as your foot in the door.

Try Substituting
Offering your services as a substitute dance teacher is a great way to get your feet wet. It gives you a chance to try out teaching and it gives the dance studios a chance to try out you.

Enroll in Teacher Training
There are a number of private and public dance schools that offer teacher training. Most Bachelor of Fine Arts programs offer some teaching instruction, as do non-profit groups like the Dance Educators of America or private organizations like Rhee Gold. Rhee Gold has a great resource for would-be dance teachers at DanceLifeTV, check it out.
photo:glamour schatz

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An Ode to the Frazzled Dance Instructor

Kathe Jones — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 21:28:29 +0000

Spring recitals are in full swing and as a former dance studio instructor, I know how hectic it can be preparing, organizing and coping with recital season.

So, this post goes out to you frazzled dance studio instructors!

At my old studio, we had over 900 dancers, 700 of whom would participate in the recital, with a large number of those dancing in multiple numbers. You know how it goes… soloists, duets, trios, small groups, large groups, production…. Now multiply that by the different categories!

That meant hundreds, if not thousands, of costumes to organize – a daunting task at best. Which is why I really am here to help.

Your Lifeline
First, I offer you a “lifeline” in the form of our collections. We have two collections to help you overworked dance studio instructors – our Basics Collection covers all your essential staple items and our Dance Team Collection features specialty prints, tops, bottoms & dresses to make your design process simple.

Phone-a-Friend
Next, I offer the “phone-a-friend” option… Whether it’s me, one of my colleagues here at MotionWear or one of our local MotionWear retail partners, you CAN call us! We will help you locate that hard to find design, offer advice on collecting and organizing order information from parents, even rush deliver critical dancewear pieces you may have forgotten, or items other companies promised and can’t deliver.

So, take courage… you’ve almost made it! Soon, the glorious memories of another successful recital season will wash over you as every child, parent, grandparent, etc. will have great memories and, I’m sure, at least one video to watch at every family get together until they do it all over again next year.

photo:AndrewEick