Thread: The other woman

Today I sub'd for a friend who could not teach her belly dance class. I realised I just love breezing in, sharing my full enthusiasm with the class and breezing out again without a weekly commitment. A couple of the students came up and asked me if I was teaching, and I am not, no plans to either, and I don't do privates (also - why would I poach my friends students even if I *was* teaching ! ?). Some of the other students beamed at me "we loved it!" after class.

So, it got me to thinking, I reckon I was only popular as I am like "The Mistress", I have sub'd for this friend in the past, so some of her students have been to maybe 3 other classes with me over the past 6 months or so. I bring a 'theme' to the classes that I do for her, as it keeps me entertained as well as the students.

Are there any other "other women" out there who would like to share their stories? Or perhaps you are the long suffering "wife"...

Subbing as a teacher, like subbing as a performer for someone else's regular gig, is fun and potentially fraught with peril. When subbing at a gig, I have been asked to dance again by the manager -- without consulting the house dancer -- and I have always said no because I, too, don't believe in poaching somebody else's gig; besides, I don't want to dance anywhere on a regular basis.

I have brought in a sub exactly once for teaching. Of course, everybody just loved her -- 'cuz she's different. I have been a teaching sub a couple of times: once it was great 'cuz I was different and once it was terrible because I was different . . . <shrug> . . . sometimes they love the "mistress" and sometimes they don't!

Deborah

Your analogy made me giggle. If your friend the regular teacher asked you to sub, she knew her regulars were getting you in her place. So no one was "cheating."

The analogy only works if the student "sees" another teacher on the sly right? Even that strikes me as funny!

Maybe you could casually mention "we worked on X and Y and they seemed to like it when we did this song" or whatever. So the "wife" can add a little of the same spice into the situation?

..l;, Cathy

OK - so maybe we subs are continental Mistresses - i.e. known about by "the wife"

On the other hand, there are cases where students will stay at home if their teacher announces to them that somebody else will teach the class next week....

I have been the sub several times, for various teachers and I like doing it.

I think one important thing for a substitute teacher is to be self assured. Nothing worse than a teacher who apologizes several times for not being the real thing (I have seen this happen in a non-dance course).

MEISSOUN

Originally Posted by meissoun

On the other hand, there are cases where students will stay at home if their teacher announces to them that somebody else will teach the class next week....

I've seen this happen first hand. One of my instructors had to take about 6 weeks off for a tummy tuck - and had a different sub each week to give her students some variety of styles/viewpoints. Attendance was abysmal - in fact, I actually got a PRIVATE with one of the top instructors in my area for the simple fact that I was the *only* one to show up for the class! Lucky me, I wasn't complaining - I ended up asking her to put me through my paces and give me an unbiased evaluation.

I love the analogy! I think it's particularly apt because mistresses are so attractive because:
- they're new and novel
- you never see the mistress with her mud mask on, fight over who is doing the dishes, etc.

Teaching a regular class requires a lot of commitment to planning, working through problems, etc. - i.e, like husbands and wives.

If you like being the mistress, maybe you should start giving workshops. It doesn't have to be anything big - just an hour or two here and there. Then you can still have that teaching mistress experience without poaching anyone or having to deal with the wife stuff.

You could do them on your own, or offer them to your teacher friends for their classes. My teacher occasionally brings in someone else to give a mini workshop at regularly scheduled class time (even when she doesn't need a sub) and it's a nice change of pace and a good way to bring in outside expertise. Sometimes she takes the workshop with us, and sometimes she co-teaches it. It's a nice way to kick off or end a class session.

Hi Caroline- I know exactly what you are talking about - teaching 1-offs is great, there's no need to make a long term plan for the class - think about individuals strength's and weakness - cope with interpersonal tensions - how to balance the class for different abilities - the list goes on and on .
One-offs give you the opportunity to breeze in with something new (cos you are new) have lots of fun!

I think the best thing for both teacher and student - is to have the stability of a regular teacher who gets to know exactly what each student needs, to develop, and the inspiration that only comes from seeing something new.

In saying that - I desperatley need some inspiration myself - roll on Khaled's workshops!

Hmmmm, perhaps I'm peculiar in my fondness for my regular class and my dislike of being "the mistress".

I had never had a regular class before last year, and had only done a few subs and a couple of workshops. Both make me very nervous - you never know what crowd to expect, what the level is, what the interest and motivations behind being in class are. You worry about making the organiser happy as well as the class. You worry about this being your "one shot" with this particular audience, and can you get across everything you need to/would like to in the time alloted while balancing dance time and "talk" time. For me, my personality is a bit huge and I think that can be offputting in a single session class, whereas my classes are used to (and dare I say perhaps a little fond of) my eccentricities.

I find the regular classes more rewarding, because I get to see the development and improvements of the students. Our relationship develops from their chins being velcro'd to their chests if I try to talk to them, to where they openly ask questions and show interest (and often get a bit bolshy with their banter!). I can explore themes, can alter the pace depending on how things are going down, all without worrying about only having this one/two hours to really give them what they paid for.

Hm. Interesting - I always thought I'd prefer workshops because I could teach at a higher level and not have to tolerate that awful "funster" attrition rate that will just make you utterly despondent. I guess because my classes have had very stable attendance perhaps I'm getting a little rosy-spectacled about the whole thing. ..l;,

Woot-Woot to being the mistress! Especially as I only sub for one teacher... I get to share my passion and see the longer term students progress without having to make a commitment! It's great, especially as most of her students have seen me perform and I get to glean a bit of feed-back from a general audience perspective during pre-class introductions. I'm with you Caroline! Continental Mistresses of Dance Classes Unite !!!