New Plans

While this last session went well, I am planning on making some revisions.

I hope to have a more set and planned warm up routine. I think it was good to allow them to free dance and learn about rhythms, but I would also like to do some conditioning and things that will help strengthen them to prevent injury. I think a semi-set warm up could be useful.

I also want to include new steps (especially if there are returning students). I am considering adding side leaps, connecting the chasses and the leaps, giving more combinations and adding some hip hop into the jazz curriculum.

In some of my classes we are discussing the effects of movement and technique on the body. I have also been learning about injury prevention, and want to include some of the strengthening and preventative exercises that I have been learning into my lesson plans. I hope that by providing a sound foundation the dancers I teach will continue to be healthy and avoid injury.

I also plan to build upon the technique. I want to be adding "challenges" each time we practice basic technique so that they can always be learning and it will be less stale and boring.

Day Twelve - Showcase!

I arrived late (due to car trouble) but the girls were there and so excited to go!

We began by doing a simple warm up (some free dance and the rhythm song) and then did some quick stretching. We then practiced our "explode" combination, and ran through the dance a few times. We had to practice not talking and narrating through the dance (which I realized we shoul've practiced a lot sooner). I then sent the girls to grab a drink and bring in their families. We were waiting for one parent so I had the girls show their chaines (since they are the main thing we didn't do in our dance) which was very fun. We then did the dance, and besides some giggling it went off without a hitch! They all did so well, and I was so proud of them for remembering and picking up so much! It was really exciting and fun to see them so happy and excited and to see how far they'd come!

With my plans to get a teaching job out of state after I graduate I was a little sad to have this session be over. I'll miss these girls, and I hope they sign up next session as well! But I am also excited to get an opportunity to try some of the new ideas that I've had with this next group of dancers.

Day Eleven

Today was one of the late comer's last day. (The other student hasn't shown up for about a week and a half, and I realized that I don't have any contact information for her because she signed up late.) We had her mom come and watch which was really sweet. It is so cute to see how much these girls love and are excited to show their parents all they've learned. I was also impressed with how well she focused and paid attention even though she had an audience.

We continued in much the same pattern as last time; we went around the circle picking one stretch to do, practiced our technique and then ran our dance. Today I did better with time management and didn't stay on one thing too long. We made it through everything fairly quickly and got right down to the dance. The girls were very concerned about how things would work with one of them missing, but I told them we would practice on Thursday before their parents came.

I handed out fliers with the details of the performance and what each dancer was to wear and expect. I'm having the students come in to warm up and practice and then the audience members enter after that. Hopefully it will go well!

All in all, even with the late start, I think we are ready to perform!

Fliers and Posters

I finally completed the posters and fliers for the next session!
I'm quite excited about them and really hope they get our numbers up. I plan to take them to different businesses around town this afternoon.

Day Ten

Today the main focus was completing the dance.

Things went a lot better today. We began by all picking a favorite stretch (to test their memories and condense the preparation before we began the technique). It was quite fun to see what they remembered and which stretches were their favorites. We then practiced most of our usual technique. I did not keep good track of time, and we ended up spending more time on technique than I had intended. Next time I'll have to pay better attention and try to go faster.

Next we worked on their dance. They remembered it fairly well! All of the dancers participated in learning and doing the rest of the dance, and everything went pretty smoothly. At the end I planned to have each student do a "trick" or favorite move and then come together for an ending pose, but it turned out to be a bit of a mess. They all picked poses instead of movements, and then I let them arrange the ending pose to allow them creativity. While we made the pose symmetrical, it was a little strange. I think I'll have to change the ending so there's only one thing instead of two that blend together and seem messy.

Hopefully we'll be able to practice enough to be ready to perform!

Day Nine

Today went pretty well. I came prepared with a dance for them to learn, and they got most of it down! I kept it pretty simple because I was worried about the younger dancers being able to remember it and execute it, but with the older girls leading it's going well.

The youngest dancer still refuses to do a lot of the things. She starts to pout when we do the combinations but she came and did them (if in an upset manner) after I told her they would be in the dance. She did the first part of the dance well and happily, but when we added kicks and turns she started to pout and wouldn't do anything. I didn't really baby her today; I wanted to get through as much of the dance as I could, and didn't really want to stop the other girls learning by stopping class to convince her to participate. I'll probably try and do more next class to help her, but I'm not sure what...

I had each dancer pick a stretch to do after warming up today, and that worked pretty well. I wanted to keep everything quick and simple, so we could get to learning the dance, and we were still able to stretch pretty well in all directions. I kept all the practicing technique pretty simple and quick since most of the steps were in the dance.

After the other girls left we practiced chaines and pirouettes and then did some free dancing and walking through the jungle. I wish we had more students that stayed longer so that this one student could experience imagining and dancing with others her age better, but it was still fun.

Day Eight

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!