Today went well. We did the Rhythm game to warm up (a song that has you move and rest for specific times) which was more aerobic than I'd expected, but it was good. Nest we did some stretching, and I tried to do some less strenuous stretched and do a little bit more fluid movements. We worked on pirouettes, kicks, leaps, and chaines. Then we learned a new combination (eight counts of kicks and one pirouette) which they didn't like but that they did very well with and then practiced our combination from last time. We ended with freeze dance because they seemed a little worn out in mind and body.
Having the girls freeze dance while coming back from drinks has worked pretty well. It makes me feel like we aren't wasting time, but that none of the girls are missing anything either.
After the other girls left, we played the Jungle Game, the Rhythm Game and did some stretching (only one of the late comers came again). Both of us were pretty tired, and it was hard to come up with things to do that filled the time enough but didn't take up a ton of energy.
The youngest girl didn't actually cry, but she hid behind some chairs and wouldn't come out until I offered to let her "be the teacher." I had her tell us when to start our combination, but she didn't really perk up much or dance with us again until freeze dance at the end. I am not really sure what was wrong. One of my friends suggested that she is doing it for attention, and maybe I'll have to single her out a little bit more, but my natural reaction to people seeking attention is to ignore them. I don't want to baby her or stop the class for her, but I want her to dance and learn as well...
It has been kind of a struggle for me energy wise lately. It has been hard to find the energy to do all that I need to do body wise (I have 3-4.5 hours of dance before each day of teaching) but the students seem more worn out as well. I wonder how to help with that... Maybe do some yoga or slow sustained movements? I am hoping to teach maybe one combination more and then put together the dance. It's cutting it a little close, but I think we can make it work. Hopefully. I think a good deal of it will be poses or tricks, and then the two combinations that I have already taught them. The girls decided to name the one with the fan kick "The Happy Combination" and the one with the kicks and pirouettes "The Straight One." It was pretty cute.
It has been so exciting to get to work with these girls and see their progression and excitement. I am realizing that if they come back for next session I am going to need to have a lot more lesson plans and a greater variety of movement and activities for them though!
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