Thread: Teaching a mixed level class

I'm hoping some of you out there can help me...

I currently teach only Beginner Level 1 & 2 classes. My current policy is that everyone has to take Level 1 at least twice before moving on to level 2. Even though I do still consider Level 2 a beginner level, I want to keep it more advanced and more geared toward serious students than Level 1. The problem I'm running into is a (loud) few that are not happy with this policy. They are afraid that they will get bored taking level 1 again and don't understand why they have to be held back. I have explained to them multiple times that I have this policy for their benefit. I've tried to put it into ballet terms by saying that a ballet class through a studio is usually a full 13-16 week semester, and that the only reason my sessions run for only 8 weeks is because of the way the Rec Departments want it to be. I've tried to explain that, like ballet, BD takes time to learn, and that it is vitually impossible to move on to more advanced moves unless one has fully mastered the basics. I've told them that I feel it would be doing THEM a disservice to allow them to move up to soon.

HOWEVER... I would like to be able to teach my level 1 class as a more mixed level class, allowing the fresh newbies to learn the very basics, and giving the continuing students a bit more to do without actually teaching them something new. Any ideas? How do some of you handle a mixed level class?

Also, any ideas on how I can better get my point about not moving up across to them would also be welcome...

Thank you!!..g.:

I think it is critical to be giving students *individual comments* that are tailored to where they are in their development. This will not only help them improve, but will make those repeating the level understand that one cannot, in fact, "master" material in 8 weeks.

Example: Lets say you are drilling hip drops. The new beginners will need basic postural help, reminders to not lock the knee of the weighted leg, help finding the right muscles to lift and drop the hip, etc.

The repeaters can be helped to polish the movement. Teach them how to control the sharpness of the drop with their glutes. Be more demanding of their upper body posture, and what their arms and hands are doing.

One thing to keep in mind though, it is often difficult to tell part of your students to do just a, and part to do b, or a+b. In other words, if you say "beginners, I want you to do hip circles; continuing students, I want you to do hip drops with a shimmy layered -- you will run into your newbies trying to do the more difficult movement and they won't be doing either component correctly or improving on the simple movements. If you are going to do this, I think you have to physically separate the students and explain from day one that you will be giving slightly different instructions to the two groups and each student should do the assigned group activity.

A ballet dancer does not dance the bar for 8 weeks and then start dancing pointe. It takes years to master this. You have a set rule. Students like this drive me nuts. That is one of the reasons why I refer to my beginner's class as a "Fundamentals" class. I think people get turned off by the term beginner. I would stick to your rules. Also calling it a fundamentals class opens the door for intermediate and advanced students to "drop in". hey - no matter how long we have been dancing - we all need to visit the basics.

That all being said - I think you can easily do this. For example, explain a movement and then you can add on "once you have that down then try this".

Students like this usually end up dropping out anyway. :-)

Agree w/ SSipes about giving individual feedback.

It's great your students want to be challenged. You can give them additional work -- though, as SSipes notes, it might get messy if all the beginners try to level up too soon. Be firm yet gentle. "If you are nailing A, then try adding B."

As a student, I sometimes get tired of the belly dance / ballet comparison. It starts to feel condescending. We're not talking about going on point here. We're talking about moving from the baby level class to the baby Plus 1 level class.

"I'm doing this for your own good" also sounds false. Really, you're doing it for *you*, not for them. I agree w/ Ravena: just be straight w/ your policy.

I'd also validate them and emphasize the positive ("So what I'm hearing is that you think you'll be bored, and you really want to move forward and learn more."). Encourage the enthusiasm. Tell them the 2d time is for polish and more individual feedback.

Maybe let them know that they are the students the beginners will be looking to -- they need to set a good example! That goes for movement, and attitude. I'm the very worst dancer in my jazz class -- I look at the other girls w/ such admiration and inspiration. They give me an example to shoot for.

Good luck! Have fun growing your dancers!

Great advice above.

It might also be worth the time to make a list of what skills you expect Level 2 students to have familiarity and/or proficiency with. I know when I have been a student it has been really nice when my teacher can tell me what skills he or she needs to see I have before I can move up; as a teacher, I have tried to emulate that example.

It might be a 'living list'...in other words, it might change and grow as your student base does. It can be informal (something you have in your teaching notebook). But it can be a great tool to make it clear to both you and your students when they are ready to move up, and being very specific can make the conversation easier for you (on an individual basis, as mentioned by Sedonia).

I teach my beginner classes as a combo of drop-in and sessions, and I do have two upper levels, so it can get a little complicated. But in my basics class the focus shifts a bit every five weeks, which helps students who are 'session' oriented stay interested and on point. Perhaps you can make each of your sessions a bit different so the students don't feel like they are getting a lot of repetition (not that I find anything inherently wrong with repetition).

Finally, I think it is okay to emphasize the 'at least' twice for Level 1. For some it might be longer, and that is just fine. Remind them it is not a race.



(Edited to add: Sorry if I did not focus on the 'mixed-level' advice enough! I approach every class as if it will be somewhat mixed level.)

Originally Posted by ZahraSagira

They are afraid that they will get bored taking level 1 again and don't understand why they have to be held back. I have explained to them multiple times that I have this policy for their benefit. Bellydance takes time to learn, and that it is vitually impossible to move on to more advanced moves unless one has fully mastered the basics. I've told them that I feel it would be doing THEM a disservice to allow them to move up to soon.

You've got enthusiastic students who obviously love belly dance and want to learn more. They're not happy when you tell them that they're not yet good enough to learn more, which is how they interpret what you have told them.

I handle this issue by teaching different material in the level 1 class each quarter. I have four different level 1 choreographies that I have created, and each quarter I teach a different one. So then I tell the eager students that if they stay in level 1, they'll learn a different choreography from the one taught last time - a choreography that uses different moves and combinations. They don't mind staying in level 1 since they see themselves as learning new moves even while they're reviewing posture and other basics.

Welcome, Zahra! You and I teach in similar necks of the woods, and I think we've even "shared" students for time to time (i.e., they've taken with both of us, either simultaneously or one after the other). It's so nice to see you on Bhuz!

I have the same rule as you, in that my beginning students have to take at least 2 sessions of that class before advancing to Level 2. I can hear you on the ones that complain that they need to take for "soooooo long!" before advancing to the next level. I have to chime in with bananarchy and ravenadesigns - you just have to state your policy firmly and let them know that a solid basis in the fundamentals is critical to the growth of a dancer. I think students just get so focused on the eventual goal, they don't pay attention to and enjoy the journey, which I feel is pretty sad. To be honest, I don't mind losing the students who are looking for immediate gratification, since my class environment isn't very condusive to someone looking for that. I have plenty of students who enjoy and continue to repeat sessions with me (50% of my students take at least 2 sessions, even though only 10-15% choose to advance to Level 2), so I'd really rather focus on serving the students who like my approach.

If someone is giving me a *really* hard time, I will sometimes just say, "Everyone else in Level 2 had to take Beginning at least twice. It wouldn't be fair to the people who put in the time if I started making exceptions." Although this is the least of my reasoning, it does tend to be somewhat unarguable to most of the complainers.

To agree again with ravenadesigns, usually the ones who are so concerned about getting to the next level are the ones who quit 2 or 3 weeks into their first session. I hate to be so cynical, but I find it to be very predictable in my experience. I've had so many students at their first class say how they can't wait until they can get into Level 2 and my student troupe, how they are going to practice EVERY DAY and get soooooo good...and then have them disappear after the very next lesson or so. It never ceases to boggle my mind!

Great idea to call it a "fundamentals" class. I am going to use that! I have seen that people get hung up on the word "beginner" too, and I understand why!

Thanks,
Eve

Most of anything I would have told you has already been said by these wonderful ladies, so I'll just add these couple of comments:

If you're not already doing something like this...one thing I do to help head off this potential issue is bring it up the very first day of class. Basically, I have a short "syllabus" type of document I give them with contact info, class description, makeup policies, learning tips, resources etc. We spend the first 15 min of the first class going through it, and one of the things in it (and I verbally highlight) is that most people will take at least 2 times to get through level 1--some may take 3 or 4 times. The first time through level 1, you get exposed to the movements and get the *gist* of them. The second time through, you really begin to internalize them and polish them." Then I reiterate this later toward the end of the session--pointing out that they need to be strong with what we do in level 1 (and able to do hip movements with nice arms, at least sort of be able to play basic zills with the basic moves, etc.) before moving up to level 2 because in level 2 we're going to ADD ON to what they've already learned. You can also reinforce the message throughout the session a little too--not only by giving individual feedback (which is critical), but occasionally by saying things like "now, concentrate first on getting this part of the movement down. For those of you who have that, start to notice and pay attention to this aspect as well (arms, a more fine tuned aspect of the movement, something extra in the posture, etc.) You may not want to *overdo* that, but by doing it outloud sometimes you get the word out to the two different levels and you start to clue in the "new" beginners that there's more to getting it right than just "stick that hip over there".

I also agree with what Shira said...if you do choreography (or if you don't do a choreo but you do some combinations) have a couple of different ones in your back pocket so that you can vary them session to session. Also maybe try having some different music to throw in too. That way, people taking Level 1 the 2nd or 3rd time through see some different content. :-)

If you focus more on the skills required for the next level, it might help with the impatient student syndrome. I tell my beginner students that when they can do an isolated shimmy, and a recognizable figure 8, I'll spring them from the beginner level to advanced beginner. There is no set number of sessions they must take before moving up -- it depends totally on their ability to acquire these skills. However, there are still students who want to move well before acquiring these moves -- and the occasional student who can do these moves beautifully but wants to stay at the beginner level.

Hi Bananarchy - I want to further explain the ballet/bellydance comparison. It is bothersome to me that people don't give bellydance the same respect they give ballet, tap, jazz, or ballroom. For some reason, people know that it takes years to master those forms but when it comes to bellydance, some people start teaching after 6 months of instruction! (I actually know someone who is doing this now).

I studied Ballet for almost 10 years and could never dream of being moved to the intermediate (not pointe yet - that was in the advanced group) group after an 8 week session. Why should bellydance be looked as less of a dance form?

Now - I believe that bellydance - like any other professional dance form - should have some form of structure. I use the ballet/bellydance comparison because I took a beginner's bellydance class for over 8 months straight before even entertaining the idea of moving to a higher level. Why - because I wanted to learn as much as I could before I moved to another level. Did I learn everything - no way. Did I benefit from it - more than anyone will ever know.

Maybe it is just me and my training. I just wish - with all my heart - that bellydance received the respect - like other dance forms - it deserves.

ok - stepping of my soapbox

Sometimes I think thie desire for respect is part of the reason some tribal teachers seem so obsessed with codifying their own dance in narrow and exclusionary terms, eg "in tribal we use the obliques to generate the move", which of course implies that other belly dancers don't, which is a massive overgeneralisation and misinterpretation (and a put down). Because it is so codified, and because the base movement vocab is much smaller, tribal teachers can get quite strict about what students need to be able to do/not do, while also giving them dances practically right away because of improv. Whereas for me personally, most students aren't doing a really *good* hip drop for years but you can't leave them drilling in level 1 forever, so you have to let them progress into choreo and solo improv and set yourself an acceptable range of proficiency. Not to mention that actually, there is NOT one sole holy grail of hip drop, there are limitless permutations, so I'm just trying to teach a base core variety akin to the one I learned.

For mixed level classes, you need to be able to extend and simplify. That's not as easy as it sounds sometimes, but that's what you can do. If the Oh So Skilled dancers are misbehaving, make them walk on the move or shimmy on the move, or walk and shimmy on the move. If the babies are struggling, take the arms off, or the walking off.

The hardest thing in a mixed level class is keeping the more skilled students busy while attending to the needs of the more challenged ones, IMO. Especially in a higher level class. I'm still working on it.

Hi Ravena,
I understand the comparison, and respect your perspective. I wish belly dancers trained as hard as ballet dancers. I wish there were companies and schools for belly dance on par w/ ballet. In the meantime, we'll continue to shudder whenever someone starts teaching after 6 months of classes. And we'll cringe when poorly trained dancers start passing out business cards and marketing themselves as professional. And we'll keep patiently explaining to the uninitiated why belly dance is not stripping.

Still, one of the great things about belly dance is that you *don't* have to do it for 10 years before going to the intermediate class. You don't have to be an athlete to be a belly dancer. It's such an accessible dance form. Each individual can write their own curriculum and make what they want out of the dance. I love the fact that a woman can take her first belly dance class at 40+ -- years after the ballerinas have retired. Even a 20 year old woman could start belly dance and have a long life w/ loads of opportunities in belly dance -- but could not start ballet at 20 w/ any professional aspirations.

I do think the ballet / belly dance comparison can be helpful, esp at providing some perspective to people new to dance. I heartily agree w/ you. Ballet is like real dance. It's a dancer's dance. (No one ever says, well, in my swing class it takes this much time, or in my hip hop class it takes this much time. . .) The dance bar is set at ballet, and it's set damn high. Great. I get it. Just don't beat me over the head w/ it b/c it starts to sound condescending. Really.

Gosh, and maybe belly dance *does* get the respect it deserves. It makes me sad to think it could be true. But I'm feeling cynical today.

No hard feelings, Ravena. I do respect where you're coming from and I love the soapbox you stand on. I wanted to share another viewpoint, that's all.

My instructor does basically the same thing with her beginning classes (I went through Level 1 at least 7 or 8 times, although I moved on to Level 2 after the second session). The big focus for the second-time-through beginners is 1. zilling while dancing and 2. isolations.

I would also say that if people come to you individually, you might give them specific things to focus on based on that dancer i.e. "You've done really well picking up the Egyptian basic and variations but I'd like to see you spend the next few weeks working on hand and arm placement."

I think the other thing that I would say is that I think it's important to not move people on to more advanced classes when they aren't ready. Speaking as another student here, it's frustrating when someone comes into a class and doesn't know the basics (Uh, what's beladi? ... arrrrrrrgggg) and the class slows down for one or two people.

Let me sum up: Stick to your guns, for the sake of all your students.

wish belly dancers trained as hard as ballet dancers. I wish there were companies and schools for belly dance on par w/ ballet. In the meantime, we'll continue to shudder whenever someone starts teaching after 6 months of classes. (snip)

Still, one of the great things about belly dance is that you *don't* have to do it for 10 years before going to the intermediate class. You don't have to be an athlete to be a belly dancer. It's such an accessible dance form. (snip)

Ballet is like real dance. It's a dancer's dance.

See, here are the problems right here. Ballet dancers train to be professional dancers from the word go. If they're not going to cut it by 12 or so, they're out. If they're not out at 12 or so and they're not going to cut it, they've got a lot of heartbreak ahead of them, unless they can sidestep into contemporary dance or jazz or another demanding form that perhaps has a little more fluidity around its criteria.

The vast majority of belly dancers start as adults and they are NOT training up to become professional dancers. They are doing it as a hobby and for FUN. Sure, you want people to do as well as they possibly can and to look as good as possible when they dance, but most are not and never will be professional level dancers.

This does not make it not a real dance. Real dance does not automatically equate to "a dancer's dance". The whole appeal of BD is that it's a dance that is available to people who are effectively barred from most professional dance forms.

So you have a choice. Either you make belly dance intensely prescriptive and narrow, culling the old, the fat, the ungainly, the tall, the people with limited strength and flexibility, the people with ****ty rhythm, etc etc, and you create formal dance companies for them to perform in and you devote your life to getting huge wads of funding to support your artistic vision. It's probably a good idea to distance yourself from the ME as much as possible, since they have this bizarre notion that dancing is something everyone can do, for one, and secondly they have one or two formal companies themselves whose standards might not be the same.

Or you accept that belly dance is at its root a folk dance, accessible to everyone at various levels, and that this is its appeal and that this is why people can and do make a living out of teaching it, and deal with the fact that some practitioners are not now nor ever going to be Jillina and that is OK.

Originally Posted by zumarrad

The vast majority of belly dancers start as adults and they are NOT training up to become professional dancers. They are doing it as a hobby and for FUN.

Hey Zumarrad, I hear you. That's why the ballet / belly dance comparisons can rub me the wrong way.

Originally Posted by zumarrad

So you have a choice. Either you make belly dance intensely prescriptive and narrow. . .

Or you accept that belly dance is at its root a folk dance, accessible to everyone at various levels. . .

I don't buy the choices you offer, but I feel your sentiment. As for me personally, I'm enjoying it for myself and for the other women I see who get so much out of it -- for fun, and because it's accessible. You're absolutely right. I still wish there were schools and companies, though. I don't expect to see it in my lifetime, if it ever does happen. How many dance forms have such things? I'm ok w/ that. Still, having high expectations of professionals -- that they are well trained -- doesn't mean rejecting the rest.

I don't think I said don't bother training people well. You just have to train to their LEVEL. A dancer who can't do turkish drops, or play zils and veil at the same time, or who doesn't know what her local permutation of the jewel is, isn't automatically badly trained. She's just not being given material that's beyond her ability.

From each according to her ability, to each according to her needs, say I. And Karl.

Hi everyone -

Wow - this is very interesting to see everyones views on this. I guess this is why the debate continues. :-)

Personally, I think it all comes down to your background. I - personally - look at all dance forms the same. I was raised in a strict ballerina format and was disciplined in that strict upbringing. Since then, it has been hard for me to look at any dance form as a leisure activity.

Please understand - I am not saying I am better or worse than someone who takes this for leisure. Just different :-).

Sometimes, I wish I could understand the "leisure" side. I think it would make this dance less stressful for me - at times. Just not my nature.

Bananarchy: My soapbox is big enough for all of us :-)

Thanks!!

Originally Posted by ravenadesigns

A ballet dancer does not dance the bar for 8 weeks and then start dancing pointe. It takes years to master this. You have a set rule. Students like this drive me nuts. That is one of the reasons why I refer to my beginner's class as a "Fundamentals" class. I think people get turned off by the term beginner. I would stick to your rules. Also calling it a fundamentals class opens the door for intermediate and advanced students to "drop in". hey - no matter how long we have been dancing - we all need to visit the basics.

Thanks for the idea! I think calling it a "Fundamentals" class is awesome. I'll definitely have to borrow that!

Originally Posted by bananarchy

"I'm doing this for your own good" also sounds false. Really, you're doing it for *you*, not for them.

I wouldn't say that. Maybe I do it for the community as a whole, to avoid more poorly trained dancers out and about calling themselves professionals, but even that's a stretch. I get nothing out of them staying in Level 1 other than the satisfaction of knowing that they won't get lost and frustrated in level 2. I think of it in terms of when I was in high school, and was put in Advanced Algebra right off the bat, despite having had very limited pre-alg in 8th grade. I was the only one in the class who hadn't had an actual Alg class in grade school. I was only in there becasue of a fluke on my placement testing (good guessing on a multiple choice test). If it hadn't been for my best friend at the time being in the same class, I would have failed out. I want to help my students avoid experiencing that same aweful feeling.

Thank you to all of you for your wonderful suggestions! I really do appreciate it and will get to try some out on Wednesday! Yeah!

I find teaching mixed level classes to be very hard work!

I currently have only one class that is truly mixed level and have but two students of the higher level in it, one of whom is much higher than the other.

As it turns out, however, both of the "upper level" gals are there more for fun and socialization than anything else, which makes it a bit easier.

When we do very basic stuff, I have the upper girls add something to it. Most of the time, the newer students are so busy trying to remember up from down and left from right that they don't pay attention to the other two gals at all. Other times, I have to call the newer students' attention back to me, but it usually isn't a problem.

I also demonstrate in class, only occasionally, what a particular move/combo might look like when done by somebody who has more training. I usually get a good response, but it doesn't seem to get most folks to continue learning -- as Zum posted, most folks are in our classes for fun!

I enjoy teaching "for fun" classes, introducing BD to a new crop of people who've never experienced it before, but I really enjoy working with those who want to do something with this dance, from performing a group number at a hafla to a first solo at a recital to dancing on a stage to (maybe) getting to pro level.

<sigh>

Deborah

Well, this thread is quite timely for me. I'm trying to figure out where to go with my bellydance class. This summer I am offering two levels, but during the academic year, one class a week is ALL I can do!,s:: (I require sleep. I'm funny that way.) I don't even know if I will have enough students for two levels to make. I don't know who is going to show up session to session. Even when people sign up and pay for a session, I don't know that they will actually show up.

This session, I've been flying by the seat of my pants. I have three dancers who've done the fundamentals twice and want to try new things. My plan is to have people take fundamentals twice and then have a rotating second level of different choreos/styles etc. I also have two brand new begginners. None of my students are going pro. If I ever did have a stuent wanting to go higher, I would send them off to another teacher. Most of my students don't even like the idea of performing at a hafla. I've been conducting class based on who shows up. I would like to be a little more systematic.

I'm liking Shira's approach.

Who else has run a single class for mixed levels? How do keep complete newbies and more experienced begginners happy?

My class is mixed level too and I use all of the above techniques to keep people on their toes. I also add some kind of 'attitude' practice so people have to work on something else then technique. Things like putting music on and picking four archetypes, explaining that each archetype would dance in a different way (say: girl, married woman, old crone), let them improvise to their hearts content and shouting a different archetype every thirty seconds.

When I have students that already mastered a basic moves, I give them instruction to try the move with a different feel. That usually keeps them busy enough so I can correct the newbies on posture and such.

It boggles my mind to see the way some people thing - as if being in a higher class sooner will make them a better dancer sooner. I think having a list of criteria makes the most sense, but also keeping the rule of "at least twice". You can never have too many fundamentals. Look at classical musicians: they keep playing scales. They never stop playing scales.

Personally, I would not want to start learning things without having really gotten the fundamentals (although those can always be improved, too) that those new things are based on. For example, I'm not about to try a real hip shimmy until I am comfortable with the way I'm doing hip lifts and drops.

There was a similar issue with a yoga class I attended once. Everyone (except me) wanted to move on to Beginner II right away. But I didn't want to move on until I felt I had gotten what I needed out of Beginner I. Maybe emphasize that the better they know the material in the first class, the better they will be overall, since everything is dependent those skills. If they move to level 2 too fast, they will actually not be as good as if they had stayed in level 1. And, as you mentioned, it could also cause problems for the students already in level 2.

The other thing you could do is offer another class. Instead of Beginner I and Beginner II, you could have Beginner Ia for pure beginners, and Beginner Ib (with pretty much the same material, just different focus, as others have said, such as artistry, depth, arm movements, etc.) for those impatient students. But I'd personally opt against that idea, since it would be encouraging the idea that sooner/faster is better.

love the fundamentals idea. right now i have just beginners but some have taken the series a few times with me and a few times with the previous instructor. i don't have enough to do a whole intermediate series yet so i just give them extra stuff to do. I also show them more intermediate moves at the end of class. I teach a choreagraphy for each series and I add more difficult moves for them as well.
I have had some students say they are ready to move up but i've found the same thing othes have said- they just end up leaving before the series is even over.

Just to go back to ballet/Belly dance for a bit. I do think the comparison is a good one. To many people become "pro" with little or no training in belly dance, not so in ballet.
I know many many women (and I would be one if I had not snapped my achilles tendon some years ago) who study ballet for FUN, not to be pro. they dance in their studios recital or performance group, some until their 70's. So you are not "done" at 12 in ballet (just done with the pro aspect). That said, these dancers move up in levels very slowly, even those who start in their 20's (and they do sart that late).
Letting students know that belly dance will be much more fun if you master the basics can help.
I try to change things up in my level 1 classes, doing different combos every session (that teach the same skill set) makes it more interesting for those who are repeating.
Just my two cents.....

I require students to take level 1 three times before they move to level 2.

I structure each 6-week session around a simple choreography, and I rotate between 4 or 5 different level 1 choreographies. So I'm able to reassure them that they 'won't be learning the same thing all over again' and that makes them happy.

Of course, it IS the same thing all over again. It's hip lifts & drops, ribcage movements, etc. It's just in a different order to different music. The basic movement vocabulary remain the same, but each choreo has a different 'feel,' and slight variations in the traveling steps used. I use a pop song, a veil song, a drum solo, a sloooooow chiftitelli, etc. so it all feels very different.

Personally, I don't consider people who've had 8 weeks of class to be on a much different 'level' than bare beginners, really, so I wouldn't worry too much about that part. If they balked, I might suggest that as we drill the basics, they could pay more attention to posture & arm carriage while the newbies are mastering the isolations.

Mixed level classes are hard work I think, and they take time to experiment with.
In a workhsop Azia taught, she did the choreo for mixed level. For quite a few movements she said for example: for beginner level, do an omi. For intermediate level do an omi with a shimmy layered, and for advanced level also turn around. (Or something like that.)
Tt was great, everyone could decide for themselves which group they belonged to, which one they felt comfortable doing or which one they liked most.

As far as your students: if you are teaching choreography you can definitely tell them that each choreo includes a certain number of movements, but they will not include all of them, so they will not learn all the movems in 2 months. There's a lot of basic movements that they need to learn first, before they can move on to add stylistic variations, or layers. Each term offers a different choreo will a lot of new / different moves. (I think Shira said the same thing).
If I was in your place I would stick to my guns. Your policy is a good policy, and you are doing it that way to benefit your students, so if a few of them are "special" I wouldn't give up my philisophy. There are students everywhere that are loud, not paying attention and then complain. And now they are giving you extra headache, to the point that you are starting to question yourself.
Starting a mixed level class is a good idea, but I would still tell them what you were telling them.

And I love the "fundementals" name - that's exactly what happens in beginner classes: laying down the fundementals.

I just wanted to add that Indian classical dance classes are traditionally mixed level. It is often a system where beginning students start in the back rows and work their way to the front as they progress. More advanced students often help the beginning ones.

It sounds great for people getting themselves into a technically and mathematically complex dance form, but I don't know how well the system would translate for people who take up belly dancing as a hobby. Then again, the social aspect of students helping each other might be encouraging.