Coming along nicely!

Alright... here's the update:

Monday:
Ballet: 3/4 finished
Tap: 3/4 finished
Pointe: 3/4 finished

Tuesday:
Contemporary: movement from start to end of song has been placed, now we just need to add in some details
Co Jazz 1: mostly finished, just need to iron out some kinks with the ending
Co Jazz 2: same as CJ1
Co Jazz 3: 3/4 finished

Wednesday:
Tap: Done!  Just cleaning this sucker
Jazz: Just finished, going to iron out kinks next week

Thursday:
Ballet: will finish today
Tap: 3/4 done
Baby 2: Done.  Review and cleanup today
Baby 1:  Done. Review and cleanup today
Hip-Hop: 3/4 finished

Friday:
Ballet: Just finished. Review and cleanup tomorrow.
Jazz: 3/4 finished.
Hip-Hop: 3/4 finished.

The rest of my goals for classes the week of February 11th

Contemporary
Help them to understand dynamics.

"What are dynamics?  What are some opposite words we can use to describe our movement?  How can you access those in your body?  In an improv? (Try it.) In a combo? (Try it.)"

Co 1 Jazz
Breakdown Isolations

"Which muscles are working?  Why do we do this?  How will this help us with our dancing?"

Co 2 Jazz
Core strength and understanding

"What is your core?  Where is it?  Which muscles?  At what other times in your dancing do you use your core?  Be specific.  Does it need to be strong?  Does it need to be flexible?  What happens if it isn't"

Co 3 Jazz
Improve inner monologues.

Start on isolations.  Move to intrinsic hip stretches.
"What is this? Why do we do it? When did you first learn it?  How smart were you then? What size were you then?  Are you using your body to its potential?  Where does the movement come from?  What is the innitiation? What muscles are you using?"

Int Tap
Same as tap goals in last post.

Elem Jazz
To help them understand how their muscles stop and start their bodies.

"What happens when I flex this? What about if I release it?"

Use freeze dance but have them verify what muscles are tightening as they hold.  Name the muscles. (Seriously, have out an anatomy chart for naming specific muscles.)

Take it to our recital piece.  "When do you use muscles, release muscles?"

Elem Ballet
Raise my expectations of them and help them feel it.

"You are a smart group of girls.  Can you show me how smart you are?  Can you do plies without my help or Miss Bailey's help?  I want to see the whole thing, start to finish.  I trust that you are smart enough to now where it is that you start and finish.... alright smarties, let's come center."

Elem Tap
Same as other tap classes.

Stage Arts 2
Teach them how to practice splits.

Warm up first (center tap and stretch.)

Switch to ballets.  Hold under their arms and help them slide their legs out.  When they are ready they can catch themselves. Treat splits time like tumble time.

Stage Arts 1
Same same.  Establish "Splits Time."

Hip-Hop
Work rise and fall.

"Can we arch up? Pull up? Lead from back? Lead from chest?  Where else can we lead from?  Do we lead down?  With what?  Which muscles are engaged when we go up?  Down?  How will this help us as hip-hoppers?  What about in dance generally?"

Elem Ballet
Same as previous

Elem Jazz
Same as previous

Hip-Hop
Same as previous

Goal-Oriented Teaching

After experiencing a stellar weekend at Hollywood Vibe dance convention and after some events leading up to said convention... I am adopting a new goal-oriented approach to my teaching.  After all... where do you go if you set your sights on nothing?  I'm going to try and set unique goals before each class and I will look forward to reaching them.  Today:

Ballet:
My goal is to help the dancers better understand plies. 
Ask them: "How old were you when you did your first plie?  Do you think you did it right then?  Do you do it better now?  Would you understand your teacher better now or then?"

Begin the exercise and pause between movements:  "What is this? How do we do it? What are we thinking about?  Which muscles are you using? Why? In what other movements will you use these same muscles?"

In conclusion ask them, "Did you learn something about your plies today?"

Tap:
My goal is to verify that they understand some of the basic movements which we combine to make other movements:

Heel tap
Toe tap
Heel dig
Toe dig
Heel
Toe
Toe back
Brush
Step (whole foot/ball of foot)
Stamp
Stomp
Spank

Start with shoes off.  Talk about the various places where we can connect our shoe to the floor. Experiment with the sounds they all make.  Try tapping with our hands holding the shoes, then switch to shoes on feet.

Quiz them and see how quickly they can respond with the right sound.

Pointe:
My goal is to help them develop an inner monologue by breaking down the barre combo we have done a million times."

"What do you feel? How is this different from last week?  What muscles are you using?  During which other movements will you use these muscles?  Where is your body?  Where are your feet?  What are your weaknesses?  How will you strengthen them?  Is it ok to come in to a dance class and leave without having improved?  Where do you want to go with this? If you don't want to be a dancer, are you wasting your time right now?"

We are developing our minds, spirits, and bodies and preparing them to cope with life.  Let's start by learning to hone in our focus.

Ask them what they are thinking throughout class.  Have them shout out.

Choreo Update Week 2

I have  video footage of almost all of the 17 pieces.  (I didn't get to start pointe because their class was cancelled due to weather.)  I watched it tonight and thank goodness I did!  I didn't recognize most of it at first.  It will definitely help having something to review! 

17 Pieces of Choreo in 4 to 5 months

This year I am teaching more studio classes than I ever have before.  Not unlike choreographing a full musical (which I've done) I have to come up with recital dances, unique to each class, for each and every group of dancers... all in a set period of time.  This year, I'm teaching at The Dance Company Inc. and at Heidi Knight School of Dance.  TDC recital is in May, and HK has recital in June.  Between now and then, I will have choreographed, spaced, cleaned, and staged 17 pieces of recital choreography, not including any competition pieces or extra curricular pieces set on private students.

Here's quick documentation of my progress so far:

Costumes:
Chosen for all 17

Music:
Chosen for all TDC and 1.5/6 HK

Choreography:
Started for 5/11 TDC 0/6 HK

Challenges so far:
Having to choose some costumes before having chosen music.  Finding music based on a costume is weird.
Getting my CoJazz3 costume and realizing I hate it with the song I have chosen for them.  Seriously considering a switch...
Starting my IntTap1 choreo and hearing one 11 year old whisper to her neighbor in her best ornery voice that it was too "sexual"... it's Michael Jackson... on 11 and 12 year olds.... trust me, the sexuality is dumbed way down, but we're gonna move our hips.
Realized I cut zero repeating choruses into my baby music.  That might be awkward.

Victories so far:
CoJazz2 dance hasn't even been started yet, but gosh it's gonna rock!
All music for TDC is chosen, cut, and turned in.
ElemBallet1 dance made me nervous: a bunch of noisy little girls who didn't get the concept.  But now that we've started, they've really shut up and danced...and with huge smiles on their faces.  I think they love it.
Restarted Contemporary2 dance and it's so much better than the first take.
IntHip-Hop2 has learned 2 sets of 8, and I'm already stoked for how it's gonna turn out.
Haven't had a Friday run of classes at HK since break yet, but I'm going in there guns-a-blazin' ready to rock their little worlds!

And that is probably good for now.  I hope to update this blog a few more times throughout the next few months as I take on this whole adventure. Chao until next time!