Summing Up The Summit

Three days goes by really fast.

Spend three days at a conference for dance teachers (like I did in early August at the Dance Teacher Summit in NYC) and you just might feel as though a tornado spat you out on the doorstep upon your return home. In fact, I can sympathize with poor Dorothy. Having been whisked off to a colorful place filled with compelling characters, I woke up a little woozy, too… and you were there, and you were there, and you… And also like Dorothy, I found myself back at home with very little physical evidence that I had actually been there! I am afraid I am as neglectful at photography as Miss Gale is at landing houses. C’est la vie!

So, instead of actual snapshots I’m sharing some of the thoughts and impressions I picked up along the yellow brick road (I promise that’s the last Wizard of Oz reference). I hope you’ll use, think about, or act upon these little nuggets from the Dance Teacher Summit. I had a great time collecting them for you.

Please note that unless quotations are used, I am paraphrasing as nearly as I can the awesome info shared by these esteemed guest artists.

Break the mold

When competing students, consider the body of work which you are presenting. Prepare the students well and diversify. Not everyone will fit that “contemporary, acoustic” mold. You have students in the back row on those numbers waiting to soar with their strengths in other realms. Mandy Moore had a ton of great things like this to say in her open conversation with attendees about competition mistakes.

Preparing for partnering

When you are getting ready for partnering (or helping to prepare students for partnering) both the guys and girls need to have a strong core. Pilates is great for that. In addition, according to Keith Roberts (Come Fly With Me, ABT, Twyla Tharp Dance), what guys need more than a ton of push-ups, is to build leg strength. Girls need to get strong too and a great exercise for women, according to Laurie Kanyok (Come Fly With Me, Movin Out, Fosse): practice smoothly lifting yourself up and out of a swimming pool with your arms. Summer’s not yet over so give that one a try!

Top secret

There is a recipe for good pirouettes and an essential ingredient is an effective downward plié and push into the floor. Think of an old-fashioned top and where its power to spin comes from. The button spirals down into the mechanism, and when it rises it spins beautifully with ease on that little point. Thanks to Finis Jhung for that theft-worthy image!

Teacher rewards

The love and fire and soul you give away today as a teacher will return to you. Your students will give back to you and lift you up and heal your spirit, perhaps when you need it most. Frank Hatchett is an inspirational example and after a fun, classic, jazz class, his beautiful message sent us out the door.

Let it flow

Kathy Blake offered many quotable thoughts in her session on Studio Ethics. You don’t have to own a studio to be inspired by this: Being a positive problem solver, one with high levels of integrity and maturity, is not inherent or natural to most people. It is a choice you make every day to “be bigger than the problem you are solving.” As a leader you must help people adhere to your policies and procedures because what you put up with, you give permission to. Know that it is okay and the natural course of things to let people (including students) flow into your life, but also out of your life and studio.

Purposeful props

Just about anything is a prop when you are working with little ones and you should keep that in mind when you visit dollar stores and shops. In addition to sparking imaginations, they are great for helping young dancers work together and learn to do basic partner work and formations. Have children share and pass a prop to learn how to take turns and promenade (walk) around a partner. Or, use floor mats or other markers to aim and stop at a point in the space when crossing the floor. I loved the Ribbon Rings used by Beverly Spell in her Props & Across The Floor Session. Purchase these and other great materials at Leap ‘N Learn. And check out Maria Hanley’s homemade ribbon rings (with directions) at Maria’s Movers.

Counting and rhythm

To help your students develop understanding of rhythm and timing, address their developmental needs. When working with 3 to 5 year-olds, use pictures. Relate the step or movement to something that they can visually picture in their mind. Kids this age can’t associate number counts to beats of the music, associate numbers with the amount of times you do a step instead.  For ages 5 to 7, use pictures in conjunction with sounds relative to their movement (like zip, boom, tat).  Kids can come up with fun sounds too.  Start to associate numbers with the beat of the music and introduce some musical theory. For ages 8 and up, along with pictures and sounds, use counts.  By now students should be able to associate number counts with an 8-count of music and they are capable of learning where to start count 1 in a phrase of music. Tricia Gomez of HYPE Studios and Dance -- In a Box, packed a ton of great teaching tips into her Hip-Hop for All Ages seminar.

Give studio parents some face time

Your studio Facebook page (that’s the one with the big ‘Like’ button) provides a great platform for your school to become “the thread woven throughout your community.” Use it to share links and news from the broader arts and dance world and to connect with businesses, organizations, and events in your local community. Better still, says Suzanne Blake Gerety in her session on Social Media, spread goodwill (and probably get a little returned to you) by making it a point to connect with the local businesses and pages for dance parents at your studio.

Return to one’s roots

Dance is for everyone. We are deeply connected to movement as a means of expressing the human experience. Reconnecting to that basic need to dance is just joyous. It isn’t necessarily a lesson I had forgotten but I know few teachers who communicate our shared history in dance as well or as enthusiastically as Thom Cobb. It’s been years since I took his “Vintage Jazz” at Slippery Rock University as a student and dance major, and I was glad to be reminded how much I like “killin’ time” with TC. Waaw!

Avoid the scribble and scramble

Carry business cards. Okay, that one is just my own advice for any teacher that finds themselves at a conference or out in public for that matter. Hey, it doesn’t happen often; take advantage when it does! It was so fun seeing excited teachers meet and share resources and advice with someone new at the Summit. Inevitably I watched many do the scribble and scramble as they tried to quickly exchange information before the next session, while others easily exchanged cards.

Be generous with who you are

At the Dance Teacher Summit I had the great fortune to meet a few of you, along with a number of brand new names and faces. In addition, I met in person some friends I first encountered via Twitter and only previously interacted with online.

With many of these friends I have shared tweets, emails, and phone calls over the last year or more. Among the group are Suzanne Blake Gerety of DanceStudioOwner.com, Maria Hanley of Maria’s Movers (see Maria’s Summit wrap-up here), Leslea Clark of Uptown Dance (see Leslea’s Summit reflections here), Chad Michael Lawson of Real Deal Dance Marketing, José Ramirez of Backdrops Beautiful (see Jose’s post on our little Tweetup here), and Marc Kirschner of TenduTV.

Following the summit Suzanne wrote something about her experience that I’d like to share with you.

“When you’re being generous with who you are, what you stand for, what you’re passionate about, and truly being social…the ripple effect of a tweet can’t be measured.”

Whether it is online or at a conference like the Dance Teacher Summit, I’ve found it immeasurably important for teachers, dancers, and artists to find opportunities to encounter new ideas and validate ‘old’ ones by spending time with others in their field. The Dance Teacher Summit was a success because so many wonderful professionals, both well-known and not, shared their generosity and passion for dance with peers and colleagues. I encourage you to be generous with who you are as often as you can manage it. It is really the only way to make great connections online and off.

I hope to see you next year at Dance Teacher Summit 2011!

Unite … Share … Inspire

Some clips from the DTS 2010 Gala, courtesy Leslea of Uptown Dance NJ

Special thanks to all the Dance Teacher Summit organizers and staff for a great time!

Top 10 List: Reasons Teachers Should Continue their Education

Is the expense to attend a teacher training or summer seminar worth it?

Particularly when money and times are tight, dance educators wrestle with this question. It seems we find it hard to justify spending money or attention on our own development, though we would encourage it for our students. Below is my top ten list of reasons you would want to seriously consider some continuing ed for yourself this year.

1. New Classroom Tools

Teacher workshops directly provide curriculum, music, or methods for your use. As a participant  in technique class, there is opportunity to experience new ways of combining steps, of structuring a class, of delivering a concept. Take notes throughout your experience, borrowing the best from your observations.

2. Remembering What It’s Like

Students feel pressure to do well, they get nervous, they are sometimes afraid to try something new, they struggle with physical or psychological challenges. The occasional reminder of what it feels like to be a student, to push oneself through challenges, to risk and take on something new will bring added depth and understanding to your teaching.

3. Physical Exercise

If you are a teacher, you probably recognize that the physical demands of instructing students is very different from actual dancing. You spend time moving but not as you would as a class participant or performer. A challenging program or class can help keep you in shape.

4. Mental Exercise

Ditto on giving your brain a workout. Teaching can become routine and repetitive. Demanding more of your brain is stimulating and refreshing.

5. Creative Input/Output

Teachers do a lot of giving. Choreography, class exercises, working with students – these things require creativity. However, consistent output without refilling the well of creativity can cause the source to dry up. And creativity does breed creativity. Sometimes even taking the opportunity to create something for your own pleasure (an art class, a writing workshop, crafting, even a choreography workshop) can replenish your reserves.

6. Improved Business

Each new experience adds credibility. Parents and students will appreciate that you’ve made an effort to improve your teaching, expand your repertoire, study and grow. The more diverse your education, the more marketable you become as a teacher. You want to be able to share what you did over summer vacation, too!

7. Networking

A dance-related conference or seminar offers the chance to interact with other teachers and professionals from all over the country or world. Making these contacts strengthens your ties to the dance world beyond your studio, creating opportunities for you and your students. Events in your own backyard can still add benefit. You may develop friendships or connect with those that are willing to donate, offer sponsorship, or collaborate on a project. You just never know.

8. Validation

If you ever feel like others in your life (husbands/wives, friends, relatives) don’t understand your passion and commitment to dance and teaching, here is a chance to be among others that get it! Not only is sharing your thoughts and ideas with these folks restorative but the affirmation you receive among comrades can sustain you through the coming year.

9. Personal Growth

Address your own need for development. Mastery and accomplishment serve to increase self-confidence in your pupils and will do the same for you. And, this could be a separate point but, your willingness to grow and learn will inspire the same in your students!

10. Staying Ahead of Change

The quote below, really says it all. New theories and practices in physiological science are changing the ways dance teachers teach. Dance training, though rooted in tradition, is a vast field – there will always be something new to learn and discover. Staying on top of your game will benefit you and your students.

“In a time of drastic change, it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.” — Eric Hoffer, US philosopher

Though it is a great idea to set aside some funds for you and/or your teachers to attend workshops or summits, I want to emphasize that growth experiences do not have to be pricey or far away. In fact, they may not even have to be dance-related! There is much to be gained from observing teachers who specialize in other disciplines, from opening yourself to new experiences, from simply taking time to create or learn something just for you.

Do you have a reasons or benefits you’d like to add to the list?

What are some experiences you’d recommend to other teachers?

What inexpensive or even non-dance activities have informed and supported your teaching or helped you through the year?