Thread: New Class Concept

For those of you who don't know, I put on regular workshops with small student numbers. So I have been doing workshops for some time, and want to do something further for folk who feel they need "something extra" to improve their dance. For many of you American dancers, you achieve this partially by going to competitions (you find out about makeup/presentation/stage presence as well as comments on your technique) - I am left feeling this is half the picture - it would be great to get tuition based around your development needs.

I want to put together an assessment evening, followed by a bespoke day of classes designed around the development needs of the group. I thought I'd hire an evening venue and invite people to come in their full gear & perform (options for stage or resteraunt style dancing, or both). Then I would have a top teacher watch them, and design a set of classes around what people were in need of. I would also allow others who had not attended the assessment to attend the lessons on the understanding that lessons were designed around the dancers who did attend that session. I don't want to exclude anyone so hafla dancers/social dancers/performance platform dancers would all be welcome.

So my question is

1. I need a better name than assessment evening, something that relects the spirit of what I am trying to do.

2. Do you have any constructive comments about how to do this as well as possible.

Wow...good idea. I haven't any constructive alternative names to 'assessment evening' at the moment, but it might be worth getting in touch with Kharis (on BHuz) as she runs a similar event called HipKandi in Manchester with Michelle Pender. I *still* haven't made it to one of these (which is shameful, I know, and I blush accordingly ) but I understand that it offers an opportunity for teachers/performers to get feedback from tutees/audience. Kharis, please tell me if I've got the wrong end of the stick!

Anway...whilst I was typing all that I had a cheesy flash of inspiration...how about a 'hip-praisal evening'. Or is that too terrible ?

Hip Kandi is a fantastic event - however this is a bit different, as we're doing a whole day of training after the "hip-prasial" based on what the needs were...thanks for you comment. There is no such thing as too cheesy in my book :-)

Originally Posted by Bellydancingcaroline

There is no such thing as too cheesy in my book :-)

Hee hee - not in mine either!

OK - probably nothing you haven't already thought of here, but...
- you probably need to limit the size of the group, otherwise the hip-praisal will go on all night and/or your tutor will be overwhelmed with the number of people and recording what they need to work on/develop. I think 12-15 would be a reasonable number, but that might not be financially viable for you.

- I'm not sure about allowing other dancers to attend the workshops, as that sort of takes away a bit from the 'bespokeness' of it...

- I really don't know how you would manage this, but it might be a good idea if those involved were of a similar skill level, otherwise it's going to be a real challenge, even for a top tutor, to work on things like technique or musical interpretation across a wide ability range. Especially if you're going to advertise this as 'bespoke' or something like that, and limit the numbers, and therefore charge more than usual - some people are not going to be happy to go over e.g., basic technique, and others won't be happy to be flung in at the deep end with some advanced stuff. (Not sure those sentences made sense? Long day...)

- From a teacher's point of view, a follow-up session might be useful - sometime later, so the tutor can see how students have progressed based on the feedback/tuition given, and then give further pointers. This might not be as long as a full day, and students should benefit from knowing they are/aren't on the right track. However, this might logistically be a nightmare, but thought I'd put the suggestion out there anyway.

- You could do something like this as an intensive dance training weekend, organise a night out (separate from hip-praisal) and accommodation...see if you can get a discounted block booking at a local hotel...might appeal to those who can't manage week long summer schools, or are looking for *training* as opposed to *fun* (I mean that in a good way - most of the existing weekend events in the UK very definitely have an emphasis on fun?)

Ok - I'm very tired now, will stop blithering at you

I really like the idea of this and I know that I would pay a higher price for the individualistic idea of it. And hey, throw in a hotel and this is almost a vacation with a little pain.

Thank you for the comments, really helpful.

I sort of knew this one would never be entirely profit making, and I have other things up my sleeve to pay for it.

I thik this could be done ina less of a whole day / weekend type of set up and more as a seriens of workshops. A costuming workshop (Bring your favorite costume(s) and we'll talk about ways to improve it, adjust it, body shape issues) Make up & Hair for stage day, a workshop on stage presence. this might be less intimidating. Of course, you could do all of these in a day and then put on a hafla afterwards.

But, that may be a little in the reverse of what you are trying to acheive.

{{{HUGS}}}

I couldn't persuade my visiting teachers from Cairo to stay for a series, but I like the ideas you have for the day.