Thread: Class organization

I'm moving from Italy to Florida in a month and I would like to keep dancing. I noticed a big difference in how classes are organized. As I said in another post, classes in Italy start in september end end in june and for us that is just one level. Some of my students (and, when I started belly dacing, I did the same) stay at level 1 for almost two years.
i've seen that in the united states you divide classes in a number of week sessions... is it common everywhere?
just curious!

Hi, Lori. Class organization varies widely here. I haven't seen any full-year terms, the longest I've seen are 16-week semesters. That's uncommon though.

6 week or 8 week sessions are more usual. Many classes don't have sessions at all, they're ongoing and people can start any time and pay for just one class at a time.

In my area (San Francisco Bay Area) most teachers go year round, not in sessions or seasons.

Originally Posted by loribelly

I'm moving from Italy to Florida in a month and I would like to keep dancing. I noticed a big difference in how classes are organized. As I said in another post, classes in Italy start in september end end in june and for us that is just one level. Some of my students (and, when I started belly dacing, I did the same) stay at level 1 for almost two years.
i've seen that in the united states you divide classes in a number of week sessions... is it common everywhere?
just curious!

I wrote this big, long dissertation and discovered Lauren's and Monica's by the time I hit the "submit" button! Both Lauren and Monica wrote what I wrote, but in a much more succinct way . . . I did decide to keep the following part of the post:

The classes I teach are mostly "mixed beginners" who take classes in sessions; there are folks who have never even heard ME music before, let alone done a hip drop, and others who have been with me for a very long time who continue to attend for the fun of it.

My curriculum is such that within about four to five 5- or 6-week sessions, students have been exposed to and drilled most of what I consider the basics. Most students could benefit from another 4 or 5 sessions at this level before moving along so that they have a good grasp of both technique and terminology. All together, it's about a year at this level; I consider students who complete the year to be "beginners," although of a more advanced variety.

Oh, and welcome to Florida!

Deborah

Originally Posted by casbahdance

By-the-session classes are very common here, but there are plenty of what one could call "on-going" classes, too. On-going classes have students entering and leaving at any time; this is very common at traditional dance studios. I once attempted to join an adult ballet class in this on-going format and I couldn't stand it because there was no "beginning" . . . I just had to try to catch up with people who might have been in that class for two years!

I'll expand on what I do. :)

Anything above my new beginners class is ongoing. I have a larger lesson plan, obviously, but students can start at anytime and I prep for that. There are drop-in prices, and there are affordable class cards.

Only my most advanced class is by instructor approval.

My basics/new beginners class is also ongoing--as in students can start anytime--but within that I have a five week cycle. Each five weeks I shift the focus, though the basics are always there. This cycle--again, along with always concentrating on the basics like shimmies--we are focusing more on slow movements, 8s, and arms. Last month the focus was traveling steps.

Most of my students have been ready for the next level after 3 or 4 cycles of the basics class (15 to 20 weeks). Some stay in the basics level for much longer, very few for less time. The next level is ongoing and a place for folks with exposure to the basics to really start to expand, improve and focus on music and rhythms along with movement, and folks stay there for at least a year, some much longer.

More breakdown of how I currently run things: Monica~~San Francisco Belly Dance~~Weekly Classes and Instructional Workshops

In my area, classes generally run in 6, 8 or 12 week incremental sessions. I personally teach in 6 week sessions myself.

Most of my students are 30's - 40's, with day jobs, husbands, kids and other commitments. I'd say 80% are just looking for a fun activity/hobby/workout. For these people, long sessions are just too much to commit to; even in a single 6-week session, I have people who are delighted with the class but about halfway through things get crazy at home or with their jobs and poof! They're gone. I have several students who will take a few sessions, drop out for a while, and them come back a couple of sessions later, depending on what's going on in their lives.

I once taught at a dance school where the session was September through June. We lost tons of potential students when they were told they had to commit to nearly a year of lessons up front. Of the 10 students we did get to commit, we still only wound up with 7 making it all the way to the end of the year.

Originally Posted by laura 2

I once taught at a dance school where the session was September through June. We lost tons of potential students when they were told they had to commit to nearly a year of lessons up front. Of the 10 students we did get to commit, we still only wound up with 7 making it all the way to the end of the year.

that's exactly the problem that i have over here... it's rare to have more than 10-15 students making it to the end of the year.
it seems that sessions make class more interesting and fun... i like it!

Originally Posted by loribelly

I'm moving from Italy to Florida in a month and I would like to keep dancing. I noticed a big difference in how classes are organized. As I said in another post, classes in Italy start in september end end in june and for us that is just one level. Some of my students (and, when I started belly dacing, I did the same) stay at level 1 for almost two years.
i've seen that in the united states you divide classes in a number of week sessions... is it common everywhere?
just curious!

I think it is typical for American dancers to take in 4->12 week sessions, just because it is a big deal to commit to (and pay for) a whole year's worth of classes at once! And students will stay in each level for varying amounts of time, depending on their own skill, the difficulty of the class, and how the teacher likes students to progress.

So it is very typical here for students to spend more than one session at level 1, several sessions in level 2, even more sessions in level 3, and so forth. The short session length is for ease in scheduling, and payment.

Sessions are fun and flexible.

For example, I teach 3 different beginner choreos. They all use the same basic movement vocubulary, but one is a drum solo, one is pop, one uses veils.

So students can take 3 sessions and be learning different material each time. But they'll be reinforcing the basic moves I want them to learn for the entire 18 weeks. And during each session they'll also be adding a few new moves, and learning different ways of interacting with the music.