Teachers of young dancers are always looking for creative ways to ease the separation anxiety children feel when their grown-ups drop them off for class. Maria shares what’s worked best for her and acknowledges those times when a child just isn’t ready to separate.
Teaching
Reduce New Pointe Student Letdown With A Pre-Shoe Primer
Find out why holding a Pre-Pointe seminar before your students are permitted to buy their pointe shoes is a great idea and what to include to present a comprehensive and rewarding introduction to this new and exhilarating phase of your students’ dancing careers.
Warming Up to Engage: Three Options to Get Your Dancers Moving
The role of warm-up progresses as our understanding of dance changes. This is true whether our role is that of a student or a teacher. For many young dancers, warm-up is something to be endured before set free to really “dance” in the subsequent segments of class. For my students, it is what they are […]
Choices, Choices: Growing Independent Dancers
Yellow or Pink? Maria teaches life lessons and manages behavior by giving her young students a balance of direct choices and free choices during dance class. Apply these tips for growing independent dancers in your own classes.
Tap Is Music (And I Can Prove It) Part 2
Welcome back! I hope everyone enjoyed Part 1 of Tap Is Music (And I Can Prove It). We’re halfway there so read on, true believers! So far we have covered how tap dancers can control their dynamics to make steps loud and soft and how they can sustain certain “notes”. This article will focus on […]
Fireworks, Parades, and Independence
Children will have fun exploring and exploding as fireworks and participating in patriotic parades. Share your ideas for Independence Day dances, too!
