Thread: How does becoming a teacher impact on personal dance development?

So last night after my performance class I was chatting with some of my fellow students who teach at beginners level themselves (they have all passed one of the JWAAD accreditations). I was interested in all of their comments about how this has impacted on the development of their own dance, especially because there was pretty much a 50:50 split in terms of those who said that teacher training and then teaching had helped them to work on their own dance and those who said that it had had the opposite effect.

The thing that seemed to make a significant difference one way or the other was the amount of time that they had to devote to both their own dancing and to class preparation (those with a full-time regular job and young family were the least positive about the experience and benefits of teaching).

The other key factor seemed to be the extent to which people felt that they had already established themselves withing the local scene: those who had been performing the most regularly and had developed a local 'presence' seemed happier with teaching and the new challenges it was bringing them.

I just wondered about what the Bhuz experience had been. For those of you who teach, how has (and does) this impact on your personal dance development?

I've recently started teaching again after a break of 3 years. I had never planned to teach again, and instead was concentrating on my own performance career. I got an offer from Scotlands National Centre for Dance and am now teaching 3 classes a week for them in great studios. I realise now, I didn't enjoy all the admin and promotion around running my own class, so I feel a lot happier I can concentrate on the class and not worry about all the other 'extras'. Having had such a long break, I fit into your category of having established a presence in my home city, I'm happy performing, and now the teaching is *forcing* me to do extra practice and other things such as more choreographic composition more often. I really feel stretched in a good way.

It works both ways for me. Teaching gives me the basic practice and drills I need while I often don't get to work on my own dance development the way I really should - in between class preparations, advertising and admin stuff.

I put off teaching for years because I was afraid it would impact my performing, and I love to perform. My teacher was very clear that I should be teaching, but I still resisted. I also felt like I wasn't really ready to teach because I had so much to learn. So, once I finished grad school, I ran out of excuses, and I started to teach. I discovered that everything I had feared was true. I don't have time to develop my own dance, and I always feel as if I need to learn more, or try other ways of presenting material -- it takes a lot of time! But I LOVE teaching! If I had to choose between teaching and performing, I would give up performing in a heartbeat.

Latifa

When I got serious about teaching, and took on multiple classes, I became a teacher. It definitely took the place of being a performer for me.

With limited time and resources for marketing, will you seek gigs or students?

With limited time available, will you choreograph for your students or for yourself? Seek out music suitable for them or you? Work on your own personal development or spend time thinking/learning how to help them overcome their challenges?

It's possible to split your time between the two, of course. Certainly easier if you're not also working a full-time job AND raising kids. There is a limit to how many things you can do WELL....

I still work on my own development. I attend workshops, take classes and occasionally privates, rehearse (sometimes) and perform usually a couple of times a month. But my priorities are really clear, teaching gets loads more of my attention.

Does teaching help me drill my basics? Sure. But without focus on my own dancing, I could be drilling in bad posture, weak arms, poor habits -- and passing them on to my students.

oh, but... my students do chase me along. I've got students who've been dancing for 4, 5 years, and in order to have new things to teach them, I have to keep learning! And once in a while I feel like their skills are surpassing mine (maybe because they have time to practice their own stuff?) and that always pushes me.

I'd love to have students who dance better than me, but not because I got lazy!

Teaching the "basics" had helped me revisit the "core" movements which has improved my dance. It has also helped me with my posture.

That being said - I do find it challenging to teach and perform. I find that I perform less than I did but..

The benefits of teaching outweigh the performing. teaching has helped me become a better performer.

I've found teaching to be the best motivator in the world for developing my own skills. Without it, I'd probably be too lazy to keep trying as much as I do. Teaching really forces me to analyse dance movement/structure/music and work out how to improve as a dancer, so I can codify this for my students. Perhaps I am lucky, as I (a) have some kick-ass advanced students and (b) dance/teach full time(-ish), so do make the time to develop my skills as part of my job.

My advanced students keep me on my toes, because I always feel motivated to choreograph or develop a deeper understanding of some particular element of the dance, in order to teach it. And a few of my classes' students are good enough that I can teach them performance level stuff, which means I can also use it for gigs. So class prep and class time can double as my performance practice time.

When I attend workshops, my usual modus operandi is to take lots of notes, then not look at them again. However, if I decide to pass on what I've learned to my classes, I have to really internalise and get comfortable with the material, so it benefits me.

Even with beginner classes, I have a much better understanding and ability for basic moves, and that makes me a better dancer. Plus, I'm motivated to understand more about anatomy and dance safety, in order to help my students.

And having to do a solo at my annual showcase is one hell of a motivator to come up with something new and impressive!

Plus: I also think I get more gigs for having a dance school and a website - I think that bigger presence helps people feel confident in hiring you.

I have found teaching to be immensely beneficial for my personal dance development. I think the major benefit has come from choreographing; if I was only a performer, I would never choreograph anything, simply improvise. I just never had the drive to choreograph. However, through the process of teaching, I have had to force myself to choreograph for my students in class and in the process, taa-daa! I've become more inclined to choreograph.

Also, what others have said: It keeps your basic (essential!) technique constantly strong.

But for me, I'm definitely more interested in teaching than in performing, so I guess that makes a difference too.

Originally Posted by jewelbellydance

I've found teaching to be the best motivator in the world for developing my own skills. Without it, I'd probably be too lazy to keep trying as much as I do...

My advanced students keep me on my toes, because I always feel motivated to choreograph or develop a deeper understanding of some particular element of the dance, in order to teach it. And a few of my classes' students are good enough that I can teach them performance level stuff, which means I can also use it for gigs. So class prep and class time can double as my performance practice time.

When I attend workshops, my usual modus operandi is to take lots of notes, then not look at them again. However, if I decide to pass on what I've learned to my classes, I have to really internalise and get comfortable with the material, so it benefits me.

Even with beginner classes, I have a much better understanding and ability for basic moves, and that makes me a better dancer. Plus, I'm motivated to understand more about anatomy and dance safety, in order to help my students.

Ditto all these points! I would add that teaching has made me much more self-aware and intentional in my dancing. I *think* more about what I'm doing. Also, I find myself hearing *more* in my music (even music that I've used already for performance) and trying different things with it as I work with my students on combinations and musical interpretation.

Nisaa

Teaching for me has brought me greater self-awareness as a dancer. When a student asks a question (what muscles are you using? What are you hearing in the music? Why do you do xxx when you do xxx?) they are often things I'd never thought about before. It has really illustrated to me how narrow-focused we can get about our own skills and performance. Seeing the dance through other peoples eyes has really opened up my perspective on my own skills.

I also find students very inspiring. When I get bored or tired or feel like I'm ready to just pack it in, teaching a class always boots my energy and renews my passion for the dance. Seeing the students progress, get excited, even when they get frustrated, its all very energizing for me. It reminds me why I do it.

The down side is that I'm teaching a lot, so I miss out on opportunities to actually TAKE classes. I really miss taking weekly classes.

Originally Posted by jewelbellydance

I've found teaching to be the best motivator in the world for developing my own skills. Without it, I'd probably be too lazy to keep trying as much as I do. Teaching really forces me to analyse dance movement/structure/music and work out how to improve as a dancer, so I can codify this for my students.

My advanced students keep me on my toes, because I always feel motivated to choreograph or develop a deeper understanding of some particular element of the dance, in order to teach it. And a few of my classes' students are good enough that I can teach them performance level stuff, which means I can also use it for gigs. So class prep and class time can double as my performance practice time.

When I attend workshops, my usual modus operandi is to take lots of notes, then not look at them again. However, if I decide to pass on what I've learned to my classes, I have to really internalise and get comfortable with the material, so it benefits me.

Even with beginner classes, I have a much better understanding and ability for basic moves, and that makes me a better dancer. Plus, I'm motivated to understand more about anatomy and dance safety, in order to help my students.

Plus: I also think I get more gigs for having a dance school and a website - I think that bigger presence helps people feel confident in hiring you.

Pretty much what she said!

Deborah

Stronger base movements, developing choreographic skills, developing ability to break down and describe movement. A lot less dance for myself.

I have only been teaching for a little less than 3 years and I am still going through transformations (I teach improvisation, so not having seen a model for that I had (and still have) to find mind own structure, lesson plans, objectives, etc.

It defenitely helps me in dancing - teaching is also practice for me, but one of the most important thing is that I am forced to come up with different combinations (since I don't teach choreos, we deal with combos and impro), a lot of different variations of movements, and these are very helpful for me, it helps me to slow down and keep it simple.

Most importantly it keeps me inspired and motivated - you, as a teacher, pass on knowldege, your students look up to you, so you certainly have a responsibility, and while you're fulfilling your role as a teacher, it automatically has a positive effect on you as a dancer - I think so, at least.

I was literally just handed the opportunity to teach four classes a week and I have to decide TODAY if I'm going to accept. This is the direction I eventually wanted to go in, but it comes with a bit of a commute and two nights away from the family. I'm worried I'll get burned out and not want to perform...but it makes me happy to see all of these encouraging posts!

Originally Posted by nasila

I was literally just handed the opportunity to teach four classes a week and I have to decide TODAY if I'm going to accept. This is the direction I eventually wanted to go in, but it comes with a bit of a commute and two nights away from the family. I'm worried I'll get burned out and not want to perform...but it makes me happy to see all of these encouraging posts!

Congrats on the opportunity, Nasila!

If you get burned out on anything, it'll probably be teaching. You might find yourself just itching to perform, since you end up doing so much repetition/drilling while teaching!

Deb

Originally Posted by casbahdance

Congrats on the opportunity, Nasila!

If you get burned out on anything, it'll probably be teaching. You might find yourself just itching to perform, since you end up doing so much repetition/drilling while teaching!

Deb

Thanks! This is four classes on top of the two classes a week I'm covering for Jenna while she's out on maternity leave this winter. That is a lot of teaching for a newbie! I can't decide if I should commit. Argh!

Originally Posted by nasila

Thanks! This is four classes on top of the two classes a week I'm covering for Jenna while she's out on maternity leave this winter. That is a lot of teaching for a newbie! I can't decide if I should commit. Argh!

ACK!

Deb

ETA: the most I ever taught in one week was 8 hours, which lasted about 16 weeks; I had one class that was 3 hours all by itself!

It just about killed me the first couple of weeks, then I got used to it; teaching that much actually helped with my fitness level, which improved noticeably.

Do you have to come up with different lesson plans for each class, or do you have some duplicates? For example, a couple of beginning classes that can use the same lesson plan, etc.

Originally Posted by casbahdance

Do you have to come up with different lesson plans for each class, or do you have some duplicates? For example, a couple of beginning classes that can use the same lesson plan, etc.

One is a beg/int choreography class, and one is general Intermediate level. The rest are all beginning classes, but 3 of those will be in 12-week sessions and will have overlapping students. Sorry for the threadjack, Khadiya!

Helps me big time. Forces me to dance and have fun, shucks. However I notice when I teach a lot of baby beginner classes my performances start enabling more of the basic movements...

I don't teach regularly but have been seriously considering taking it up. When I do teach, I find that it helps me with my own skills considerably, though it does take time away from rehearsing. One of the things I really find helps me is that when I am thinking of ways to break down movements or critically watching a student, I realize a brand new way of thinking about a movement that makes it even crisper in my own muscle memory.

In other dance forms, dancers don't teach until the end of their performing careers. That makes perfect sense to me. It's very difficult to do both well because they require different skill sets. I advise my students to reach their dance goals before they consider teaching so that they can be all they can be as performers first.

Taaj

A while ago I had a moment of 'I'm going to stop teaching' for several reasons. A big issue for me was the amount of time it can take away from your own development. After some thought and input from my teacher I chose to carry on.

Positives can be many, it encourages you to plan, to think on the hoof, to practice, to listen & watch more BD & attend workshops than you may have done previously and so on. It is also rewarding to see people improve.

I love the teaching part. It really helps me do my drilling which often gets put off when I am not teaching. I was teaching 2 classes a week and taking one a week and my performances really improved. I was learning and teaching and really just in the zone with my dance. The part I have a hard time with is when I am trying to arrange classes and gain students myself and teach (and I am a college professor with 3 very active kids) and then try to put workshops and performances in there too. It got to be too much so this winter I am not teaching but organizing my workshop event and going to every workshop that I can convince my hubby to let me go to. I bill them as mini vacations for us so he is more apt to say Yes:) I also found that I choreographed more when I had students to use as guinea pigs. I was much more diligent about drilling and choreographing all week when I taught. I miss it but I don't miss the admin stuff. It got to be too hectic. If I was teaching for someone else, I would jump at it in a heartbeat.