Thread: What do you expect from a workshop

as a beginner dancer? My first workshop that I took was great because she broke down moves that she thought we may not be familiar with or just were her "signature" moves. I had my first teaching job as a substitute for 2months and now I want to start my own weekly class. However I would like to teach workshops for now tailored for beginners. I have a few questions..
A 4 hour workshop with a 30 min or 1hr break?
What do you expect from a workshop?
What did you not like about a workshop?
Thanks for your help ladies,r:;

If you're really thinking of teaching beginners, I'd suggest something shorter than 4 hours - probably no more than 3 hours total time, with a 15-minute break in there. Even 3 hours seems like a lot for beginners, though you could try it and see what you think.

People learn by building on what they already know. A beginner will have less of that foundation knowledge than a more experienced dancer. Things that would be review for a more experienced dancer will be new to a beginner. Therefore, a beginner will saturate more quickly than a more experienced dancer.

I think you're right. When I mentioned it to my nondancer friends they were like"wow 4hrs".

I put on quite a lot of workshops and I always used make them 3 hours (because I love doing long workshops) but recently I've been getting feedback from quite a few people who say they prefer 2 hours. So I think that for beginners 2 hours is probably enough unless you were going very gently.

There again, you could do two 2 hour sessions with an hour's break in between and give them the option of doing just the first half or doing both sessions (thus making it either 2 hours or 4 hours in total) but you'd have to devise a workshop in which the first half would work on its own.

Mmmm, I agree that 3 hours is too long for beginners. I think if you were having two hour sessions with an break in between, as Sunshine says people would be expecting to be able to take only one if they wished to - so that might be something you want to think about in terms of content.

For absolute raw beginners, to be honest I think an hour is enough. If they've never been to a class or perhaps never seen a dance before, they're going to get a *serious* case of sensory overload any longer than that. And besides, weird as it may seem to us - they might not like it. ..c::

I never did workshops as a beginner, so I can't really imagine what they would contain. I was too intimidate by workshops, felt they were for "serious" or "advanced" dancers. You say you want to start teaching you own weekly class and I assume that'll be for beginners - so how do you envisage the workshops as being different?

Maybe you could offer an "introductory workshop" for people interested in taking your ongoing classes. Make it short (one hour or one hour fifteen minutes), very basic, and fun. Maybe touch briefly on things you will cover in the ongoing classes. Do an excellent warm-up and some drills on technique. Play with veils. Whatever you can fit into the time slot.

You could make it a bit longer by watching a brief video or doing a performance for the class yourself. You could show some sort of costume history with pictures or slides, that's always fun and interesting. You could have a short lecture about the history and origins of the dance (it was started by goddess worshipping sacred prostitue priestesses -- NOT..l;, )

There are quite a few teachers in my area and I am "unknown" to the general public so the idea is to have workshops for a while to wet their appetites. You would learn a short chore. at the workshop and if you were interested in continuing you would be able to sign up for my weekly class. Kinda like a introducing myself to the community.

I also like long workshops but have had feedback saying people prefer 2 hours.

Originally Posted by wigglewhiz

For absolute raw beginners, to be honest I think an hour is enough. If they've never been to a class or perhaps never seen a dance before, they're going to get a *serious* case of sensory overload any longer than that. And besides, weird as it may seem to us - they might not like it. ..c::

I absolutely agree with this, especially if your intent is just to introduce yourself and the dance to them, in the interest of getting them to take regular weekly classes. For those situations, I use a similar format to the taster/mini-lessons often taught at bachelorette parties, bridal showers and the like.

Originally Posted by teakpeek

There are quite a few teachers in my area and I am "unknown" to the general public so the idea is to have workshops for a while to wet their appetites. You would learn a short chore. at the workshop and if you were interested in continuing you would be able to sign up for my weekly class. Kinda like a introducing myself to the community.

If this is your aim, why not a short and cheap "Have a Go" class - and forget the choreo!! If you are tapping into raw beginners an hour is more than enough (last year I ran 30 minute workshops for people walking off the street and many found THAT too intense)

Oooooh, if it's total newbie beginners I'd forget the idea of choreo. Learning choreo is in itself a skill that can take time to acquire - so if you're new to the dance form and movement repertoire AND have never had reason to learn choreo before? That could be *very* frustrating and overwhelming.

Mind you, people DO like to feel that they're "dancing" rather than just learning moves. Still, I feel that's something to build on in class. Use the taster session as a hook - have the music upbeat, use Arabic pop that won't sound so strange to the Western ear, and teach fun moves. THEN, suggest that if they'd like to learn to put moves together to form a dance, you're teaching an X week course at Y gym/college where they'll build on these to form a short choreo, blah blah blah....

I agree that a long workshop would be overwhelming to beginners. Even first & second year students often worry that they won't have the stamina to dance for several hours at a workshop -- and even the majority of regular weekly students aren't willing to give up a whole afternoon or pay what it costs to attend a long workshop.

A free trial class is a great marketing tool. I don't try to do more than introduce 5-6 basic movements in a taster class. Remember that the main purpose of a taster isn't teaching or learning dance moves. For the teacher, the purpose is marketing. For the student, the purpose is to evaluate the teacher & material.

So a taster can be just 30-45 minutes long. I focus on just a few isolations and my goal is to reassure people that yes, you really can do this and no, we don't do any weird sex stuff in class. And show them that it's FUN.

It's hard to reassure people that they can do it and the class will be fun if they're exhausted & overloaded. Ribcage slides, hip lifts and shimmies is almost enough for a taster. I might have them also make a giggly attempt at snake arms , making VERY clear that I wouldn't expect them to master snake arms in just one class. I might put three moves together into a combo & let them do it to music and then show them a beginner choreo that they might expect to learn during a session.

It's a participation infomercial!

Both of my first teachers offered similarly-structured workshops for their student base: once a month, four hours long with two 15-minute breaks. Workshops from September through December were for beginners, thereafter for all levels. Content usually focused on sagat, veil and cane - these were not taught during weekly classes. I liked the idea that I was getting something different that was not offered during "regular" class.