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Pointing the Left Foot in the Right Direction: Tips for The College Dancer

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by Stacey Pepper Schwartz

Stacey Pepper Schwartz

Here are some essential tips and tools for college dancers looking for the best steps towards a dance future.  These simple do’s  will provide a solid foundation for the academic year as well as for many years ahead. (Since I write about college dance frequently, if I have repeated myself at all in this list know that I think it doubly important!)

  1. If you don’t know ask.  One of the hardest things to do and most beneficial.
  2. Introduce yourself to the teacher/guest artist and thank them for the class.   When a teacher knows your name that are more likely to pay attention to you.
  3. Find a mentor. This should be a person you can seek out for advice from what courses you should take to the best place to buy cheap leotards.  Preferably  a dance major a few years ahead of you so you can learn from his/her experiences.
  4. Have a dance journal.  Write about what inspires you. Write about your dreams.  Write about what you want to accomplish in the dance world as well as the world beyond.
  5. Don’t live, sleep and dream dance.  Yep – take a break every now and then. Experience fun things outside the dance studio.  This is necessary so you don’t burn out and because life is not just about one experience. [Read more…]

Teaching First Time Movers at Any Age

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Stacey Pepper Schwartz

Dance can be a very intimidating art form for adults who have never danced before or who do not have an awareness or appreciation of their bodies. People have an image of a dancer and if they don’t fit the mold then they think they can’t dance. I felt this way as a young dancer. I wanted to look like and dance like every dancer I admired. What I discovered is that I had to listen to my own body, my own creative spirit and turn away from the mirror and turn off the judgment in my head. And that is exactly what I asked of a group of pre-teens and parents who took part in a Fit For Kids program I taught at a local hospital where I live.

The focus of the Fit For Kids program is to introduce different ways of exercising to kids and parents who have sedentary lifestyles. If you have the opportunity to teach dance to adults or a mixed age group who are either not used to moving, reluctant about moving or first time movers, it can be quite a challenge. My program started as it usually does when I work with nervous kids and adults: most of the kids were chatting with each other and the parents were trying to disappear into the back wall.

Here are a list of ideas, activities, and tools that I find helpful when teaching a class to people who are hesitant to participate:

1. It is important to engage the adults right away and encourage a positive social interaction between parent and child. Don’t ask if the adults would like to join in. Instead ask them to help by participating. They are more likely to participate if they feel they are being helpful instead of being put on the spot.

2. Adults are used to giving directions and children are taught to follow. Switch this idea around. Have the children lead an exercise and teach a movement to the adults. Also, create an activity where the children and adults have to be partners. In this situation the adults can feel safe by not having to lead something in which they are not comfortable. You are empowering the children to be in charge of their bodies and are giving them some control as well. [Read more…]

What Makes A Good Dance Performance?

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Contributor Stacey Pepper Schwartz is back today to share some insights about what makes a good dance performance–

What makes a great performance?  Is it performing the dance steps perfectly?  Is it dancing without mistakes?  Dancing in perfect unison or keeping a specific formation?  What about expression?  What about movement quality?

When I teach dance, my students mainly focus on performing the steps accurately.  It is hard to teach them that performing to the best of their ability goes far beyond the execution of steps.  I actually think it has little to do with precision and more to do with being in the moment.  If you focus only on counts, steps and spacing then it’s like painting by number.  You haven’t put anything of yourself into the performance.  There is no heart.

Teaching how to perform is just as important as teaching how to do a pirouette.  The trick is unlocking the brain.  When a person is afraid of making a mistake on a test he  will usually tense up and not do as well as if he was relaxed.  The same goes for dance but even more so.  Dancers can tend to judge themselves on how well they perform a single step instead of looking at the dance in its entirety. 

Answer these questions or have your students answer them:

  1. Did you stay in the moment? 
  2. Were you aware of the other dancers on stage and did you relate to them?
  3. Did you focus on the quality of the movements as well as the technical execution of the movements?
  4. How was your use of transitions?
  5. If you made a mistake with the choreography did you stop dancing?  Did you do your best to improvise and stay focused?
  6. Were you constantly  thinking about the steps or were you also focused on the technical aspect of the steps, quality and expression?
  7. Did you do your best?  Did you enjoy performing?

I always tell the dancers I work with that a great performance is not one in which you don’t make a mistake but a performance where if/when you make a mistake you are able to stay in the moment and perform the spirit of the dance.  We are not robots or perfect human beings.  Humans are vulnerable.  That is what is so magical about dance.  The art is created by imperfect beings that lets the audience tap into all sides of themselves.

So, how do you teach this or practice this?

In class when you make a mistake don’t stop.  Don’t criticize or judge.  Keep dancing.  Flub, trip, fall and get up and keep going.  Keep the quality of movement, idea or concept of the dance.  And if a teacher tells you that you must be perfect know that perfection can only be obtained when you make mistakes.  A perfect dance has mistakes and it also has heart, life, vibrancy and a human performer.

Stacey Pepper Schwartz

BIO: Stacey received her BFA in dance performance at Montclair State University and her MA in dance education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She has taught as an artist in residency and guest artist in public and private schools for over twelve years.

Stacey is the Founder and Director of Leaping Legs Creative Movement Programs. The focus of Leaping Legs Creative Movement Programs is to help people regardless of age, experience or ability, become educated about their movement potential, develop kinesthetic awareness, and become more physically fit and healthy together as a family, and community.

Leaping Legs promotes its goal through the original Up Down & All Around DVD. The DVD received Dr. Toy’s 100 Best Children’s Products Award and 10 Best Active Products Award. The DVD has also been featured in many magazines including Dance Retailer News, The National Dance Teachers Association dance journal dancematters, and Dance Teacher. 

Before embarking on dance education, Stacey was a professional dancer and choreographer in New York City.

To All College Dancers: Success is Just a Mentor Away

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Stacey Pepper Schwartz

When I was a freshman in college I had an English professor who told the class the key to becoming successful in your career is to find a mentor; someone who is successful at your chosen profession, someone who inspires you, who can help guide you and teach you.   My professor knew nothing about dance but he knew about life. You can’t do it alone.  You need someone to guide you, someone who has gone down the path you are about to take and can prepare you for the potholes in the road or cheer you as you reach one of your destinations.   

You can have many mentors.  In fact, you should.  My first mentor was a senior dance major when I was a freshman.  She inspired me not only with her dancing but with her outlook on life.   She would answer my questions that I was too embarrassed to ask my professors.  She helped me navigate all the newness around me.  I learned how to be successful  in the dance program because I picked someone to guide me that was extremely successful in the program.  I was fortunate that she was also kind, gracious and giving.      

I would recommend all incoming freshman dancers to shadow a dancer who has been in the program for a while.  Ask her or him questions about classes, teachers, etiquette,  etc.  Gain as much information as you can.  Learning is not reserved just for the classroom or studio. [Read more…]

Props For Dance Class

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Incorporating props into a dance class can be a fun way of introducing new dance concepts, changing up the routine and getting students to think outside the box.  It can be challenging to add a new element, but also very rewarding.

Let the children explore the prop on their own first.   Ask them to show you what they have discovered about how the prop moves and how they like to move with it.   How does the weight, size, material affect how it moves, what movement qualities would they give the object (direct, indirect, strong, light, bound, free, etc.)?

Can you move very big with the prop, can you move in different levels with the prop?  Do you enjoy moving with it?  Why or why not?

Here are some of my favorite props to explore with children… [Read more…]

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