Thread: teaching bellydance to youth (co-ed)

Hey Bhuzzers,

Just wanting some suggestions from other instructors... I may be starting a beginner bellydance class for youth ( I think they might be middle-schoolers) at a neighbourhood performing arts charter school. She wanted me to teach both boys and girls, which I have no problem with. I am pretty used to teaching dance ( mostly hip-hop lite) to young people and have been doing that for years. I see this possibility as a good challenge for me and great opportunity to reach out to my neighbourhood kiddos.

However, I have never taught bellydance to boys ( barring one sweet 18 year old hip-hop dancer this summer) let alone in a co-ed situation. Do you guys have some suggestions about approach and syllabus?

You can check out my treatise on teaching males:

Male Student, Now What?

however, its geared for adults and not particularly useful for your situation. Boys are going to be very 'different' - esp. depending on their age. I'd guess - and that's all it is is a guess - that the younger they are, the more likely they'll be open to the experience. Keeping even interested boys focused in our sound bite era, is a challenge. I've taught Greek Folk dancing to kids on occasion - it really helps to let them cut loose frequently to burn off some of that youthful energy! Other than that, I'm pretty useless on this topic.

Teach the same syllabus you would teach women. Honestly, I don't think this is really about "how to teach guys" but rather it's about "how to teach kids of this age group" and "how to teach people who have already been trained in other dance forms such as ballet".

Because of the age group, I'd recommend that you purge any female-specific comments you may be accustomed to making. Anything that could make someone feel excluded or "odd" could trigger insecurities in an age group that's already feeling insecure about life in general. So, for example, when I have classes of all women I tell them to sway their hips like a "bad girl", but I wouldn't do that in a mixed class, because it could make the guys feel excluded. An adult man who is secure in his own skin would be comfortable with such comments, but middle school kids often have enough insecurities as it is, without making comments that make the boys feel excluded.

I've noticed that male students often have more difficulty than female in achieving range of motion, and therefore be prepared to offer them the same kind of encouragement you would offer a female with a stiff torso. Don't blame it on their maleness, just offer appropriate encouragement. Also, if any of these students (of either gender) have a lot of ballet in their backgrounds, they may have stiff torsos simply due to how ballet encourages them to carry themselves. And you'll want to make sure to correct anybody who might be doing ballet-style turnout, because that inhibits hip freedom of movement.

You might want to make a youtube list of videos featuring professional dancers that you respect, and include both male (Tito) and female dancers. Distribute that youtube list the first day of class, and just describe it as a list of "high-quality" dancers that you recommend them watching." This does two things - it steers them away from the poor-quality videos that they might otherwise stumble upon if they do their own searches, and it also subtly sends the message that this is a dance that both men and women can do without having to come out and say it in so many words.

That's a great idea, Shira! I'll take suggestions for folks to put on that youtube list, especially quality male bellydancer links.

Yes, I feel like the challenge is the youth aspect, although the fact that I tend to have the mouth of a sailor in my adult classes will also be a challenge! Young people have fantastic muscle memory but tend to have attention span and conserving energy issues in dance classes. But then again I am kind of a hard-ass.

Keep the suggestions coming, Bhuzzers, I have at least a week to get it together :)

This sounds like a wonderful class! It's exactly the kind of thing I would love to do if I ever get to the point where I am ready to teach.

Middle school aged kids are, in my experience, one of the best age groups to teach. Challenging sometimes, but tons of fun. If you have a sense of humor and are excited about what you are teaching I always found that age group to respond well.

Actually, the best belly roll I have EVER seen was on one of my 13 year old boy students. Not related to my curriculum...I taught biology...he was just goofing around.