Thread: teaching without mirrors

I just finished my first session for beginners and will be starting up again next week. The difficultly is that there are no mirrors, and I am not allowed to fix anything to the walls in this particular building. The community center will be making changes that will include a dance room with mirrors but this won't be happening in the near future. For the meantime, does anyone have any suggestions on how to create temporary, movable mirrors??? I've been brainstorming and thought that maybe someone else has struggled with this.

Also, any suggestions for working without mirrors? I've been having the dancers touch themselves a lot, putting hands on hips, butt, etc... I also spend equal time giving them back and front views as I teach.

Thanks!

I taught w/o mirrors for several years at an Adult School. They became quite good dancers, as I emphasized that the dance is 50% visual (using mirrors to help, how it "looks") + 50% feeling/physical sensation.

The advantage of teaching w/o mirrors is that dancers develop an intuition and sensitivity of how certain movements feel on their own bodies. Everyone is different. Then I encourage them to practice at home in front of a mirror to reinforce what they learned in their bodies.

You'll really have to keep your eyes open and observe each and everyone of your students and correct them if needed and emphasize how it should "feel" while you provide feedback on if they are executing the technique correctly, rather than it "looking" correct. Every body is different so naturally everyone's movements will look different. The technique and physical sensation is what's important.

Many dance classes do not normally use mirrors (modern, West African, Indian, etc.).

I think it's possible to teach without mirrors. In fact, sometimes I think mirrors can be a distraction. I have taught without mirrors, and it wasn't really a problem, though I prefer having them.

I soooo agree with Azhia. Some women feel awkward when looking in the mirror and (if I remember where I saw it I'll find it on the web somewhere) I remember a teacher writing about how her students learned to move better without the use of mirrors.

My teacher has no mirrors, which is strange for me, but I think most people really enjoy it that way-we use a circle formation most of the time, so she can see everyone easily, and so there is no back row to hide in!
Nikki

I think mirrors are important for students (especially beginners) so they can check their technique. It's difficult to "feel" whether you're doing a move correctly.

I think I have only ever had one class, which was a workshop in a dance studio rather than a community space, in a room with mirrors in the year I have been taking classes. That one time was very disconcerting! You also find yourself constantly shuffling round to try and get to a spot where you can see yourself in the mirror. I don't really think not having mirrors has hampered me too much as my teacher comes round and gives everyone individual feedback in the class.

I do however practice at home in front of a full length mirror, just to check I don't look too ridiculous!

Although I teach in studios with mirrors, I always teach beginners without them for several reasons.

Firstly, it means we work in a circle which creates a camaraderie within the class. They get to giggle at each other trying the moves and doing shimmies and stuff.

Also, I like the fact that everyone can see me and I can see all of them. There's no hiding at the back.

Finally I like the fact that they are learning the moves in their muscles and are feeling it in the body, rather than looking in the mirror.

It's only when they get to Level 2 when they are putting together combinations and having to think about moving right to left and using the correct feet that I have them in lines behind me and I go with the usual class layout with mirrors.

One of my old dance teachers was lucky enough to teach our class in a full be-mirrored dance studio with knobs on. Obviously this was an absolutely great opportunity for practicing with mirrors but my teacher was very disciplined and used to structure our lesson plans and drills quite cleverly so that some would use the mirror and others not.

When she wasn't using the mirror she used to close it off with a curtain (No peeking!) and she would then incorporate a lot of hands-on and partner work. She would also use the no-mirror periods to give detailed individual help and feedback.

She'd usually unveil the mirrors again toward the end of class so that we could see how/if we'd improved.

I've taught for years at a parks department with no mirrors. It's not an ideal situation, IMO, but I've made do.

I've learned to drill backwards -- to go 'left' while saying 'right' -- and I can dance all my beginner choreographies backwards as well.

So I usually start any new drills, movements, or choreo practice with my back to them so they can follow along and have a little time to get a feel for what we're doing. Then I turn around and lead in reverse (mirroring them) and check them out, giving nods & smiles of encouragement as we go, or corrections.

I have taught some of my classes without mirrors, but find it harder than teaching with them. I found it was fine up to a certain level, but then there were certain more advanced moves that students found hard to get without the visual feedback (like Sohair-Zaki down-hips - many students couldn't get the subtlety of emphasising the 'down' rather than the 'up' side). And students who don't naturally know their right from their left, or have little body awareness, find it harder to follow along.

I agree that teaching in a circle is one good technique for a mirrorless room, but some students just can't get it. I preferred standing students in straight lines with me facing and mirroring them (as Lauren said, you have to be able to do and say everything in reverse). I would also turn and face the same way as the students for a few run throughs when right and left were important (eg: adding arms; travelling moves).

General feedback may not work for those who don't have much body awareness (and don't realise that they're the one you're referring to when you say 'some of you don't have your right arm out straight'), so I concur with all who said individual feedback is important.

I also like to pair students up and get them to provide feedback to each other. For eg, if I'm teaching big hip circles and I don't want the students to bend at the waist, I will ask them to take turns executing the move while the other watches for that specific thing and provides feedback. This is good if the class is big and you don't have time to correct everybody.

Finally - if there are windows and it's dark outside, you can sometimes see your reflection in them. Every little bit counts!

Originally Posted by jewelbellydance

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I also like to pair students up and get them to provide feedback to each other.

Oh, YES!! I also have one lightly hold the other's forearm still while they practice shoulder shimmies and other partner exercises.

I also make use of all that available non-mirrored wall space. Vertical 8s and mayas against the wall to prevent twisting, undulations against the wall, etc.

I think it's fine to teach without mirrors, just can make it harder for students. I personally wouldn't want to teach a class without them.

Certainly hands-on can be helpful if students are ok with that, giving precise muscular/anatomical descriptions, checking alignment.

I'm not opposed to studios without mirrors, but I don't like taking classes without them...I'm a very visual person, and I feel like I just don't get the feedback I need without them. But I'm not sure what I would have thought when I was just starting.

In regards to buying portable mirrors for the studio, you could probably get some inexpensive mirrors at a Target, Wal-mart, or Home Depot. If the studio would let you leave them there, it would give students a chance for occasional visual feedback.

You can also buy portable mirrors made of mylar (so they won't shatter) for dance studios. They are somewhat pricey though--a few hundred bucks.

My teacher had to move her classes to a location without mirrors a few months ago and I think it's actually helped me. Now, I really find it easier to meditate on how the move feels, instead of just doing a visual approximation of what I'm supposed to be doing. With mirrors I'm more apt to look and say "Yep. I'm doing a maya," and pay less attention to the sensation of doing the move fully and completely. I feel like this translates to better performances (where there are no mirrors), because the feelings of the movement are more deeply ingrained into my head and I'm used to dancing without looking at myself.

It might be more challenging, but I learn from being challenged.

I think dancing in a circle has been really beneficial. Classes are more three dimensional now. I think this also makes students feel like they're less on display than if everyone's standing in front of a mirror together.

I like the method of drilling moves while traveling in a circle, going forward back, to the side, etc., that I've had in Suhaila-style classes.

That said, I do feel that mirrors have a value, but it all depends on the style and habits of the teacher and students.

Originally Posted by Mellilahbellydance

For the meantime, does anyone have any suggestions on how to create temporary, movable mirrors??? I've been brainstorming and thought that maybe someone else has struggled with this.

I taught at a yoga studio without mirrors, so I bought 6 dressing mirrors from Ikea. They were like $7 each. Basically each student gets their own mirror and they lean it against the wall at an angle that works for them.

I prefer mirrors for teaching, only because my students want me to face the same direction that they are facing. They don't like it when I face them and do mirror image. So when I face the wall, I can't see what they're doing. It drives me crazy! There are mirrors, but since they are all tilted toward the students, I can't see anything in them!,m::

I tried the in the circle thing and I had girls who were too self-concious to do that. In fact I had one student blame her slow learning on the fact that there weren't full mirrors. I told her politely that you need to be able to learn both with the mirror and without.

Luckily, I stopped teaching at that studio, not for the mirror reason, but for others.

As Azhia said, mirrors help the visual learner but students rely on how things look and not how they feel. As a student, I never really used the mirror. My teacher was of the bouncing butt sort, so if I watched myself I wouldn't pick up changes.

I currently teach in two locations without mirrors. One has a wall of windows that we use when it's dark. It doesn't help much with summer sessions, though. I've never mastered the art of facing students and saying left while I work my right. I usually face away from them to get them started and then turn around and go the same direction. Rather than call it left or right I just say "side" or "switch".

Originally Posted by rachelw

My teacher had to move her classes to a location without mirrors a few months ago and I think it's actually helped me. Now, I really find it easier to meditate on how the move feels, instead of just doing a visual approximation of what I'm supposed to be doing. With mirrors I'm more apt to look and say "Yep. I'm doing a maya," and pay less attention to the sensation of doing the move fully and completely. I feel like this translates to better performances (where there are no mirrors), because the feelings of the movement are more deeply ingrained into my head and I'm used to dancing without looking at myself.

Lightbulb moment! I've just realised why I feel like I'm not dancing well in many of my performances - because I can't see myself doing the moves! I'm so used to teaching in front of mirrors that when I perform it feels odd because I don't have that visual feedback - how do I know if I did the move correctly? I've had to learn to just trust that my dancing doesn't suck, but am not entirely convinced yet. I think it'd be good for me to video myself dancing (without mirrors) and then I can see what the dancing was like and connect it back to what I felt.

With this in mind, I think I'll keep using mirrors in class to drill moves while my students perfect their technique, but then get them to face the back and do it all again without the mirrors. I do try to stop the students looking at themselves when we do improvisation exercises, but that's been more because I want them to listen to and feel the music, not be driven by what they see. Now I have an added reason to keep their eyes off the mirrors.

I've taught in venues both with and without mirrors, and I have to say that the students in my Beginner classes with mirrors seem to "catch on" faster than the ones without. I also see a much higher rate of self-correction in the mirror classes, I think due to the fact that they can easily compare what they are doing to what they see me and the other students doing.

I would agree, though, that the problem with using mirrors is that when you take the mirror away (like Jewel mentioned), that progress can be temporarily stunted. The mirrors can very easily become a crutch or comfort zone. I know when I was in my first Beginning classes, I was able to do a fairly good bellyroll if I was looking in the mirror, but without it I couldn't even get one started without the visual feedback. It took a lot of mirror-less practice to be able to do it with no visual input.