teaching dance

Competition In Dance Class

October 28, 2013 by 4dancers

dancer posing upside down — Janet Neidhardt

by Janet Neidhardt

I recently read the research article entitled “So We Think You Can Learn: How Student Perceptions Affect Learning” by Susan Haines, MFA and Talani Torres, MFA. I should first point out, since I am addressing competition, that the research article won Top Paper Citation 2012 from NDEO. Haines and Torres spent time researching how their students’ perspectives on a rehearsal process affected their learning of choreography for performance. They found that their students’ competitiveness with their peers stopped their learning process. I found this research so interesting and applicable to my own students and teaching that I had my Honors Dance class read the article and discuss their own thoughts and questions about it. (The article is attached below)

My students had a lot to say when it came to feelings of competition in dance. Although some of them dance on competitive teams and others dance within studios that are non-competitive, they all felt some sort of frustration when being placed in the back or not getting solos when it came time to learn dances which would be performed for an audience. They said things like “it just hurts my self-confidence when I feel like I have worked so hard but I keep getting placed in the back.” They clearly identified with the sentiments expressed by students in the research article.

The competitive environment becomes a problem if student learning is halted because they no longer feel competent or confident in their own dancing.

Only one student said that she wants to become a better dancer for herself not to be better than anyone else. She explained that she loves the challenge she feels within herself when dancing and trying to master movement. She even quoted Mikhail Baryshnikov saying “I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to dance better than myself.”

During this somewhat heated discussion I talked with my students about the goals of my class specifically and explained that no one should feel competitive and unable to learn in my classroom. I want to create an environment in which my students feel internally motivated to improve their skills as artists. I want my students to feel able to take risks and push themselves and learn from one another in a safe and caring environment. My goals in teaching movement and choreography skills, dance history, and development of aesthetics are for the individuals to learn about themselves within the process of learning about dance.

I said to them, “What if your grade depended on the success of the person next to you?” The students quickly responded that they would be helping each other to learn movement and remind each other about details and performance. It was interesting how quickly they began to realize how their focus could shift if their goals were changed from the individual success to the group success.

This is clearly an ongoing conversation and evaluation to have with my students. I hope to instill in them a sense of internal motivation while caring for the development of those around them. Our theme for the year, dancing from the inside out, directly ties into this conversation and will hopefully guide the students to new perspectives about how they approach dance.

Contributor Janet Neidhardt has been a dance educator for 10 years. She has taught modern, ballet, and jazz at various studios and schools on Chicago’s North Shore. She received her MA in Dance with an emphasis in Choreography from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and her BA in Communications with a Dance Minor from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Throughout her time in graduate school, Janet performed with Sidelong Dance Company based in Winston-Salem, NC.

Currently, Janet teaches dance at Loyola Academy High School in Wilmette, IL. She is the Director of Loyola Academy Dance Company B and the Brother Small Arts Guild, and choreographs for the Spring Dance Concert and school musical each year. Janet is very active within the Loyola Academy community leading student retreats and summer service trips. She regularly seeks out professional development opportunities to continue her own artistic growth. Recently, Janet performed with Keigwin and Company in the Chicago Dancing Festival 2012 and attended the Bates Dance Festival.

When she isn’t dancing, Janet enjoys teaching Pilates, practicing yoga, and running races around the city of Chicago.

DVD Review: Turns & Turn Combos with Michele Assaf

October 20, 2013 by 4dancers

by Emily Kate Long

Michele Assaf is on faculty at Broadway Dance Center in New York City. She is also co-founder of Tezoro Productions Live, the producers of this instructional DVD. She has directed, produced and choreographed for opera, theater, and recording artists across the country.

This one-hour DVD contains a video index of turns and a segment of across the floor turning combinations. The index covers turns large and small, from chaines all the way to grand pirouettes and fouette turns, in classical and contemporary shapes. The enchainements range from the very simple—four chaines and a balance in retire—to quite complex—a variety of ball-change and pirouette combinations, with interesting rhythmic and dynamic variations in the turns and transitions. Each turn and combination is shown as a balance or shape-by shape breakdown, then a single turn, then at a faster tempo or with multiple turns. Groups of students show each level of difficulty, and it’s interesting and helpful to see the individual style and dynamic of each dancer, especially for the more advanced combinations. Assaf states that the key in learning to turn lies in each dancer feeling the sensation of centered turning in his or her own body.

Regrettably, Assaf uses a breakdown for linked pique turns that’s all too common, but ineffective. First, the rond de jambe from front to side to prepare for pique turns en dedans, and next, a tombe to the side for piques en dehors. The physics of movement make the extra action of rond de jambe counterproductive in linked turns, and to tombe over second results in a turned-in second leg. The more advanced dancers disprove the usefulness of the breakdowns. Especially for multiple rotations, they simply pique or tombe forward over fourth position.

As a grab-bag of material, this DVD has a lot to offer, but it provides comparatively little in terms of analysis or useful correction. Its value is in the quantity and clarity of the content presented.

Here’s a look at the video:

Dancing From The Inside Out

August 27, 2013 by 4dancers

by Janet Neidhardt

As I begin a new school year I think about a theme for my classes to embrace. It needs to be a theme broad enough to fit within every unit of study and one that can be used as a through-line for the year. This year I have decided that dancing from the inside out will be my theme of choice.

What is dancing from the inside out?

Since there are many ways to interpret this theme, I discussed this with my students on the first day of class. We have determined that for us, this year, dancing from the inside out is being authentic about the way in which your body moves. I am approaching this topic from the standpoint of when I teach a movement phrase students will undoubtedly copy me however I want to push them to go beyond imitation and shift into a place of ownership over movement–right from the start. I want them to be aware of their body in space and time. Aware of their back, arms, feet, head, etc.

I can connect risk taking, performance, process of learning movement, ownership of movement, and so much more to this theme of dancing from the inside out. Having this theme will not only change how my students learn movement and concepts but it will also change how I teach movement and concepts. For example I might not demonstrate movement as much and ask that students work on their own to discover the movement in their bodies. I also will place emphasis on what movement feels like and transitions in movement phrases.

At the high school level students have the ability to take on more challenges yet they are still hesitant to take risks and be on their own. So much of how they value themselves is placed on what they look like or how they appear to others. Dancing from the inside out is a way for them to connect to themselves and have permission to look different than the person next to them without feeling like they are doing something wrong.

When teaching improvisation and choreography I hope that this theme will allow students to be more creative with their movement choices and experimentation. Perhaps students will make movement choices more based on feeling and instinct rather than what they think looks visually appealing, like tricks of some kind. Overall I think this theme will allow for individual process to take place within a community setting.

I am looking forward to seeing how this theme of dancing from the inside out changes and hopefully evolves my students understanding of what dancing is for them. Embracing this concept will be a good challenge for us all.

Currently, Janet teaches dance at Loyola Academy High School in Wilmette, IL. She is the Director of Loyola Academy Dance Company B and the Brother Small Arts Guild, and choreographs for the Spring Dance Concert and school musical each year. Janet is very active within the Loyola Academy community leading student retreats and summer service trips. She regularly seeks out professional development opportunities to continue her own artistic growth. Recently, Janet performed with Keigwin and Company in the Chicago Dancing Festival 2012 and attended the Bates Dance Festival.

When she isn’t dancing, Janet enjoys teaching Pilates, practicing yoga, and running races around the city of Chicago.

Ballet Class with Dmitri Roudnev: Beginner/Intermediate level

August 22, 2013 by Ashley David

by Emily Kate Long

In this 54-minute DVD, Bolshoi-trained Roudnev leads his 12-year-old student Maggie through barre, center, and pointe work. As a set of exercises, the class is quite well constructed, but is offset by the DVD’s home-video production quality. Each exercise is demonstrated and explained by Roudnev, then demonstrated by Maggie with music from volume 11 of Roudnev’s Ballet Class music CD series.

Roudnev’s student demonstrates strengths consistent with classical Bolshoi-style training: a solid back and strong, straight legs: extremely deep demi-plie, and well-coordinated jump. Troublingly, however, he encourages the placement of the feet in 180-degree turnout whether or not the hips allow it. Similarly, the position of the leg a la seconde points directly side of the body, whether or not the hips permit the leg to open so far. For a body that possesses full rotation, such a stance is logical. In today’s democratic training landscape, however, where not every student’s body is “ideal”, the practice of developing turnout from the feet up seems questionable at best.

Roudnev’s method of developing pointe work features the practice of jumping off pointe without rolling through the feet for beginners. Here again we see in Maggie strong, straight legs and ankles (Roudnev reveals it’s only her fourth pointe lesson), but a lack of refinement in the use of the feet.

Roudnev’s class construction for the beginner lesson is sensible and thorough. His teaching manner is both nurturing and demanding. As a study tool for teachers, this disc is a look into Dmitri Roudnev’s method. Like any syllabus, teacher, or teaching tool, it has both value and limitations—aspects that are effective, and aspects less so. Ballet Class with Dmitri Roudnev: Beginning/Intermediate Level is available on Amazon.com and on Roudnev’s website, BalletMethod.com.

Accentuate The Positive: Creating A Great Atmosphere In Dance Class

August 16, 2013 by 4dancers

by Catherine L. Tully

Creating a positive atmosphere doesn’t mean that you have to walk around smiling and singing all the time, giving out countless compliments to your students. A positive atmosphere is instead an environment where students feel supported, nurtured and motivated to improve.

So how do you go about establishing this type of feel in your classroom?

First and foremost, it can help to realize that it is a deliberate thing. A positive atmosphere is grown by the instructor and supported by the students. Here are some elements that are present in a positive classroom environment:

Respect. The teacher exhibits respect for the students. The students respect the teacher—and the students respect one another.
Interest. The teacher shows interest in the students’ improvement and the students are eager to learn and grow.
Positive reinforcement. The teacher recognizes when students are doing well and gives them feedback accordingly.
Constructive criticism. The instructor gives corrections in such a way that the students are eager to try and improve.
Energy. A positive classroom environment is infused with energy and enthusiasm.

Knowing that these are some of the qualities in a positive learning situation is great. Getting them to work in the dance class environment is more of a challenge. For example, how do you show a student that you are interested in them? Or how can you create energy in class?

The very first step is to ask those kinds of questions. Often the answer is not too hard if you just dig a little bit and try things out. Coming up with concrete ways to build these blocks into the class lesson is challenging, but it certainly can be done.

Here are some suggestions to help get you started: [Read more…]

What is dancing from the inside out?

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