ballet teacher needs advice?

Question

I am teaching ballet for my second year, and I have found that on the first day of class I seem to be short of words and it's hard for me to relate to the students. I'm afraid my classes are a bit boring and I'm getting too technical on my younger students. Does anyone have any advice as to what I can do to break the ice and be better prepared for class?

Anpadh I don't understand why you're insulting me, I'm thankful for the help but I don't get why you're calling me an idiot. I never said I had to teach ballet the whole time and I'm very willing to have the group sit down and talk sometimes.

Answer 1

I had the same trouble with my first ballet classes (I taught ballet just a couple summers for a small-town recreation program). I am _so_ technical that I would forget how easily kids get totally and utterly bored of ballet. They would actually start crawling all over the barre, and when that happened, barre was over for the class period.

Anyway, I wouldn't worry too much about the very first day of class, but establish some kind of routine starting activity. To start every class, for example, I put on a slow to medium-paced piece of music (their favorite was Enya's 'Sail Away') and did a warm-up using an 8-count format:

8 counts to the floor
8 counts on the floor
8 counts to stand up
8 counts to skip/hop/chasse/walk backward

Play games. Kids love games - it keeps them thoroughly occupied - and there are tons of games you can even make up yourself to help them memorize the five positions and the different types of locomotor movements. There are two books that I found indispensible for teaching both youth ballet and creative dance and that are full of great activities that'll keep you busy for a long time: _Creative Dance for All Ages_ by Anne Green Gilbert, and _Dance Technique for Children_ by Mary Joyce. They're both kind of old books, but are still the best in the field and were first recommended to me by one of my dance professors at the University of Wisconsin.

For ballet-appreciation activities, I brought in some pictures of ballerinas I cut out of old magazines, gave one to each student, and we sat in a circle and practiced describing what we saw (this is a definite skill to be learned - just think of how difficult it is to describe how you're moving without a ballet vocabulary). Another time we had movie day and watched 'The Firebird' and ate apples and peanut butter. And another time I bought cheap folders and glitter glue, brought in a pile of old dance magazines, and let the girls cut them up and decorate their own ballet folders for school.

Anyway, keep it simple. The girls don't know or care how simple your activity is as long as it keeps them thinking and moving. I actually used to keep my lesson plan out where I could look at it during class and it would keep me on track.

E-mail me if you like. We could trade music ideas or something, or I could e-mail you some of my old lesson plans.

Answer 2

I'm not a ballet teacher but I have some experience teaching and some appreciation that teaching is actually not trivial even if you know the material. I teach Physics (and Ballroom on my spare time). I noticed that the class always gets bored if you talk too much and go into one technical detail after another. The other extreme is talking too little, which is you just show them what to do and expect them to repeat it. How much is too much? When is a good time to go into details? I find that giving them one or two concepts at a time, one or two things to try at the same time is enough. Then you let them try it. If you go into details right away withoutletting them tryin a few times (8 or 16 seems like a good number) - their attention wonders and they forget what you were talking about in the first place. Young teachers often get into this pattern - giving too much info at once, because they want their sudent to be perfect rigt away without making any mistlakes. But people learn by trying. Let them try, then stop them and give them more details or feedback. You might be surprised - maybe they don't even need to hear some of the details, they just sort of "get it" from what you said originally.

BTW, long "personal" introductions, as suggested in the rude comment, always made me feel uncomfortable as a student and often seemed like a giant waste of time as a teacher. Parents pay you all those money to teach them dance, not to talk about irrelevant stuff. Memorizing names on the first lessons is sufficient. There are games that you can play with them in order for everyone to memorize each other's name by the end of the first class.

Answer 3

Your chances of going professional will depend on your body type and your natural aptitude for ballet. Try to take class as often as you can, and listen to your teacher. It is most important that you have good instruction, because you have no time to waste. A studio that teaches only ballet may be better. Judge the teacher by the dancers they produce. What is the highest level taught by the teacher? Consider that they mught be very knowledgeable, but limited by the time they have been teaching, when you consider the dancers they have produced. Make sure your weight is appropriate for the dance form chosen. Ballet favors a naturally thin, small-boned build. Get your weight in order quickly, so you don't have to build overly large muscles to move you larger body. At your age, you should get into pre-pointe after a year of good study - 2-3 times a week. Practice slow eleves in pointe shoes, so that your feet will become strong, and work on your flexibilty in your hip flexors and your ankles. Two good stretches. Hip flexors. Passe and grab your foot. extend your leg high and to second. The foot should be level with your ears. With the standing leg completely straight, lean back, stretching the muscles and tendons deep within your hip socket. Ankles. Have someone stand on your feet, from the arch downwards. Make sure you are in first position paralell, and that your toepoint is not sickled. Stay for one minute. Repeat after a minutes rest.

Answer 4

I do belly dance and at the beginning of term we all sit in a circle and introduce ourselves and say why we like to dance and why we are there, its a nice way to learn each others name.
We also do fun choregraphy's in groups to the same piece of music just 30 secs or so and its great to see how different groups interpret the music. Also the new students can see what the more experienced ones do and every one claps and cheers.

Answer 5

don't stress out about it. be a smiling, bright teacher (try), and try to explain to the kids what the routine will be like for the rest of the year, explaining that they'll start with it the next time. spend the first day just introducing each other, saying whether you've ever danced before, what other hobbies do you have, etc.
hope that helped!

Answer 6

For the younger ones call them buy a easier name
for example grand jete(leaps)
Just have fun with it.

Answer 7

you are doing are fine...your open-mindedness will be the key to your success and your students' success...never being satisfied but enjoying what you do is right on!

Answer 8

try some sashays and leeps