Thread: teaching 12 year old boys??? what to teach...

I've been booked to help out my daughter's teacher with a phys ed unit next week - this month's theme is dance and every week they try a different style.

The boys were to go with one guest instructor while I had the girls.
I'd planned to cover the basic moves / a little veil / and teach them a 2 min choreo to one of the songs from Disney's Aladdin.

Yesterday I found out the other teacher has bailed so now I get all the kids.
ACK!!

What to do??

I'd teach Saidi (I wouldn't even MENTION sticks, though) or, even better, Debke!!!!

You could do Sai'idi or Debke...or you could do Oriental. Boys do respond to it, and I don't think it's fair not to give them the chance to be exposed to it as something boys can do (did that sentence make sense??).

I would leave the veils out (in fact I wouldn't recommend props when teaching kids at all) because of the high 'distraction' factor, not to mention the fact that the minute you turn your back they will be throttling each other with said veils.

Definately Debke!!! And also look into Greek or Turkish folk dances as well.

Originally Posted by deelybopper

...or you could do Oriental. Boys do respond to it, and I don't think it's fair not to give them the chance to be exposed to it as something boys can do

I KNOW this is what Zorba would say!

For 12 year olds it should be something peppy and lively. Saidi or Shaabi would be good, as would Turkish. Sounds like fun!

Lauren/Caasious-

I tend to agree with Zorba most of the time as it is; start 'em young, give them the idea it's a cultural dance and boys are allowed to do it. Maybe that will start to turn the view of the dance around, who knows?

My three year old nephew has more interest and a better shimmy then my four year old niece. He steals her little hip scarf on a regular basis. If the boys are not told that this is a "womens dance" then they will get a kick out of it. They know/learn what they are taught so why not start them off with a postitive view on it! After all.....it is an "everybody dance"!

Originally Posted by Lauren_

I KNOW this is what Zorba would say!

Yea, that's what Zorba would say - but Zorba also agrees that props aren't necessarily a good idea. I've taught kids this age Greek Folk Dance - expect short attention spans and keep it lively. Most of 'em (either gender) won't have the patience to try a slow, sultry Maia! Think hip drops and shoulder shimmies.

I've had a close eye on this thread because next week I'm teaching two mixed-sex classes of 12-year-olds...with over 40 kids in each class! Gulp! There will be other teachers there, but I expect it will probably be an 'interesting' morning.

In defence of prop usage - I actually find they can be used to get the classes attention after they go off the rails. However, the trick is not to hand them out to everyone, and to use the privelage of being allowed a go as an incentive for good behaviour. I've had success in rowdy high school classes in sitting the class down in a circle and demonstrating cane (or better, sword!) then bringing one or two students up at a time to have a go. If I pretend it's really scary and difficult they usually pay even more attention.

I hope this works for me next week, because I'm not sure what else will keep 40+ kids quiet!

(I'm also planning on handing around some pictures of dancer at the start - including pictures of male bellydancers, folkloric, etc)

I'd really like to see a report on how these 12 yo classes actually work out! Should be interesting reading...

Yeah it will be interesting for sure...
we've got 3 classes lined up - I think we'll do some basic oriental movements for the first, a mini choreo dance with boy and girl sections for the 2nd, and some debke line dancing for the third.
(I'd better get busy this weekend and work it all out!)

My biggest worry is making sure nothing is taken in the wrong vein a younger co-ed group. Some of those kids are soo into the boy-girl thing already and I don't want to let them think this is any type of approved "flirting". The principal and the parents would REALLY not approve.

Tomorrow is my own troupe rehearsal. Everyone is bringing their extra hip scarves, added to my rather large collection... I should have enough for the whole class... At least we'll look good!

Teach them a simple line dance.
Keep it folk based. No need for Sharki.

Why not? (Sharki, that is)

I'm not the original author of this thread, but here's how my classes went...

Pretty good! All up, I'm happy. The boys were, unsurprisingly, rowdy (the girls were mostly well behaved), but pretty much everyone joined in, and none of the boys refused to do this 'girls dance', even if some of them were a little sceptical at first. The classes were at an 'alternative' school and I think they are more used to giving different things a go.

I started by getting everyone to tie on a fabric hip scarf. Many of the boys tried to wear them on their head/over their face/anywhere but where they were told, but we soon got past that. I handed round some photos of different bellydance styles/costumes, including one sheet of male bellydancers, while I talked about the dance. I stressed that it was based on social dance for both men and women, and talked a little about cane dancing, and how the men and women dance this with a different nuance (the boys liked the idea of it being a bit martial-arts-like).

I then taught some basic moves and put them into a short routine to a saiidi song. I taught hip flicks, drops, hip and shoulder shimmies (focusing on shoulders rather than chest), saiidi hops, hip circles (Egyptian flat circles, rather than bendy pelvic circles, because at that age they get all thingy about it) and shoulder circles. What was funny was every time we did a step-2-3-hop combo in the routine, the boys whooped loudly on the hop. I just had to laugh. At least they were getting into it.

So phew! It's over, and it wasn't half as bad as some of the horrid 14-yr-old girl classes I've had to face!

Originally Posted by jewelbellydance

Many of the boys tried to wear them on their head/over their face/anywhere but where they were told

Yea, that's about typical! ..l;, ..l;,

I know this is digressing somewhat but I performed at a Bar Mitzvah last week. What an odd experience. Loads of 10 to 13 year old boys flooding the dance floor vying to balance my cabaret stick on their heads. They loved it.