Beyond the Barre: 2017

For Teachers

I Will Never Buy Ballet Slippers Ever Again

11:08 AM

For Teachers

Why I Stopped Demonstrating In My Classes

9:13 AM

For Teachers

Stop Telling Your Students To Turn Out!

9:09 AM

"Turn Out!" is a correction you will not hear in my dance class. Do all my students have perfect rotation? No!! Do they turn out 100% of the time? No. And don't mistake my lack of use of the phrase to mean I don't correct them for this... but I use my words wisely, and the phrase "turn-out" isn't on my list of effective corrections.

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First we need to define our terms: I define "turn-out" as the legs rotating open from the hip. Simple enough definition, right? But it doesn't give you a how.

So instead I prefer these terms:

Range of Motion (ROM) - how much flexibility and movement you have in the hip
Rotation - how much you can activate the deep lateral rotators and make the hip turn.

This is important - ROM is something you have. Rotation is something you do. Turn-out is both at the same time - but when you tell a student to "turn out," you are telling them a where, not a how.

So when we tell students to "turn out," what are they hearing?

make your legs go opposite directions
make your feet in a straight line
open your legs more
get more ROM

Telling a student to "turn out" is ineffective because students will immediately think of a shape, a position, they are to make their body fit.

>>>>>You might like - Rotation Board for turn out improvement

: Photo credit: yaxchibonam via Visualhunt.com / CC BY-NC-SA

Dance isn't about shapes and positions... and if we teach students positions before we teach them to dance, we will forever be correcting those positions.

>>>>>You might like - effectively teaching children to dance with Eileen Juric!

Instead, try teaching a student to activate their muscles, stabilize themselves, control their body, and dance from the inside out. Give them exercises, visualization pictures, and draw bones on the whiteboard so they can understand. Teach them to "Rotate."

Where does turn-out come from? How can I get more of it? What are good stretches to give my students?

: Photo via via Visual hunt

All these questions are valuable and important. But before I address them (and it is on my to-do list!) let's talk about the real issue... you've already told your students to rotate, to spiral, to engage, to turn out... why aren't they doing it?

Now that is the real question, isn't it.

And that's a totally different blog post.

Make sure you register for The Healthy Dancer online conference! We will be discussing range of motion, stretching, flexibility, and more! And make sure to subscribe to my email list to be notified of special content and new releases in the store.

For Teachers

3 Most Common Dance Related Injuries - and how to avoid them

4:58 PM

For Parents

How To Behave In Dance Class

1:51 PM

I've written an etiquette guide, but a manual isn't always what a kid needs. Sometimes they need to see examples of what dance class is supposed to look like, particularly younger students.

This post is designed as a sort of "Homework assignment." Each video and image has questions and points out key information about behavior in class. Students should go through it themselves, or parents should watch the videos with the students and then ask them the questions.

If a student cannot answer the question, go back to the video and point out the answer.

#1 - Spacing

: Photo credit: Yellow Sky Photography via Visual hunt / CC BY-SA

Source

Used with permission

Questions:

How close do the dancers stand?
Why do they need that much space?
In the third picture, the students are standing still waiting for the music to begin.

>>>>>You might like: Custom Dancewear

#2 - Vaganova school

Questions:

When do the dancers stop doing the exercise?
What do they do if it is really hard?
What do they do if they get tired?
Do you see any students stop to scratch their legs, fix their hair, or adjust their clothes?
When do the students talk?
Does the teacher dance with the students?

#3 - Mistakes, and waiting in line

Questions

In the beginning, of the dancers makes a mistake. What does she do?
What do the dancers do when it isn't their turn to dance?
When the music ends, what do the dancers do?

# 4 - learning the combination

Questions

When the teacher shows them the combination, what do they do?
How do they line up in the corner?
What do they do while they're waiting?
What do they do when they are done with the combination? (you will see this about halfway through)

# 5 - These dancers are all waiting their turn in class. They sit in their "Ballet pose," or wait in 5th position until it is their turn to dance.

used with permission

these dancers are waiting for their names to be called for attendance. (photo used with permission)

photo used with permission

>>>>>You might like: Discounted dancewear

#6 - Dancers are all following dress code, and are looking at themselves in the mirror to make sure they are doing the exercise correctly.

used with permission

For older students, I recommend Dance Class Etiquette, a guide that lays out exactly how a student should act before, during, and after class!

Gift Ideas

15 Great Gift Ideas for you Little Ballerina

9:06 PM

For Parents

10+ Fundraising Ideas for Studios and Teams

12:05 PM

For Teachers

Props and Equipment for Dance Class

9:09 PM

Have I mentioned how useful Facebook is? Today I wasn't feeling like writing any of the gazillion drafts I've already started, and I get on Facebook and see a teacher asking a question, and I'm like "Oh. I got this."

Just saying.

Props are important in dance class for a few reasons - for the younger kids, having them move and do something with a prop takes a lot of coordination and focus. For older dancers, it's great conditioning. For pre-professional dancers, it's important to learn how to use props the right way.

I've also included equipment on this list, particularly for pre-professional and competitive dancers who have different needs from recreational dancers.

Here is a list of props, tools, and equipment, and ideas on how to use them properly and for what age group.

Littles, ages 1-6

Beanie Babies - these are my go-to prop (even for ages 6-9) because they're fun, super cheap, available at every thrift store on the planet, or in huge lots on ebay, you can spray them down with lysol after every class, and you can toss them in the washing machine once a semester and disinfect them.

balance "baby" on your head, shoulder, elbow, back, foot, knee, etc.
Rock-a-bye baby teaches temps lie
Place baby on the floor and jump over, back, side to side (great for learning pas de chat)
place multiple babies on the floor and teach run and leap over "both babies at the same time," then start placing more of them on the floor. Most 2-3 year olds can leap over 5 beanie babies. This teaches them to stretch their legs

Scarves (I've found most of mine at thrift stores)

Hold one in each hand, and make butterfly wings - great warm-up for upper body, strengthening, and stretching
hold one in one hand, and rock and paint a rainbow in the sky, draw criss-cross, making shapes, etc.

Ribbon Sticks (easy to make, or fairly inexpensive)

Again with painting rainbows
walk up to the mirror, put the ribbon in front of you. walk backwards while making snakes on the ground, dragons, large and small, while they look in the mirror and walk backwards. Great for mirror awareness and balance.
Freeze dance. 'nuff said.

Hula Hoops

jump "in" and "out" of the rabbit holes
Line up end to end to teach "dancing space" while waiting in line
Learning Shuffles (check out this video, or watch it below)

Rhythm Sticks (sticks wrapped in tape to prevent splinters)

playing the drums to the music
follow-along songs such as "Tap your Sticks" by Hap Palmer

Wands

Great for "follow the leader"
dress-up time
makes Reverance time even more fun.

Musical Instruments (noise shakers, bells, drums, triangles, tambourines, etc)

learning rhythm
taking turns (one person play their instrument at a time)
coordination of the body dancing and making sound at the same time!

Dots

recognizing their spot
jumping over
jumping on (or on and off)
obstacle course
Training directional movement (go from this dot to that dot, then to that dot)

Beginner Students (ages 6-9)

Tambourines

great for teaching character and folk dancing
coordination (as mentioned above)
not too "little kid-ish"

Beanie babies

teaching leaps, pas de chat, sissone, and ballet runs
Have students walk across the room toe-heel to help gain body awareness

Intermediate Students (ages 9-12)

Fans for character work
Therabands
Resistance loops
Foam Roller
Massage balls (NOT lacrosse or golf balls)
Tennis balls (an absolute must)

Use for massaging cramping feet and tight pelvic muscles
Squeeze together while laying on the stomach to activate the inner thighs
Understand the idea of "squeezing the heel down" by having the student releve, and then lower their heels and push a tennis ball into the ground.