Thread: What to teach 10 year olds?

So, my niece is taking jazz right now at a dance studio, and she told her teacher that her Aunt is a bellydancer. The teacher got all excited and said "maybe your aunt can come teach a class"... I will be visiting my niece in November and need suggestions on what to teach 10 year olds... I've subbed for a few teachers, and have done some private lessons, but what would you teach if you only had one class to teach? Thanks for any suggestions!

Attitude....
Things that keep them moving so they don't get bored (its not that they're not interested, they just have short attention spans!)...
Travelling steps....
Let them get into little groups and have them make up their own dance with a few moves...
Shimmies...

My 8 & 3 year old love veils!! If you have enough for the class to use, you can teach them a few simple things. And you can never go wrong with a shimmy & snake arms!!!!

Yes, veils are fabulous with young kids! And just about anything you do with a veil will look (more or less) fancy, so they'll feel accomplished. I like the idea to break them up and have them make up some simple choreos too. Maybe bring in a few of your props (cane, zils) to let them play with and talk a little bit about them if you have some downtime.

What level of dance experience are the kids in this class? Ie, are they all brand-new to jazz dance and still figuring out how to find the beat in the music, or are they kids who have had several years of dance lessons and feel quite comfortable with the skill of learning dance? That'll have some effect on what kind of class structure they'll respond well to.

Originally Posted by *Shira*

What level of dance experience are the kids in this class? Ie, are they all brand-new to jazz dance and still figuring out how to find the beat in the music, or are they kids who have had several years of dance lessons and feel quite comfortable with the skill of learning dance? That'll have some effect on what kind of class structure they'll respond well to.

Good point, Shira... I am assuming most of them are experienced in dance, I know my niece has taken hip-hop, jazz, ballet and such..

Also, would a regular 3 yard veil not be too much for a 10 year old to handle?

Also, would a regular 3 yard veil not be too much for a 10 year old to handle?


My 8 year old doesn't seen to have any problem. And it is not like you are asking them to perform. Now if you were to get some inexpensive material for veils for them, you could easily make 1 1/2 to 2 yard veils and be ok.

They have short attention spans and lots of shimmies!! But if they are dance students, they will pick things up quickly.

I taught a workshop this summer for a dance day camp. The girls were all about that age and had dance experience. I taught a small (around 1 minute) choreography so they had something to show for it at the end of the workshop. It was heavy on footwork and shimmies (so they could hear their coin scarves jingle).

Originally Posted by jewelsdances

Good point, Shira... I am assuming most of them are experienced in dance, I know my niece has taken hip-hop, jazz, ballet and such..

I've never taught an entire class of kids, but occasionally I'll have a couple enroll. My experience is that the ones (such as your niece) with previous dance experience tend to come to class well focused, and apply themselves just as well as the adults. The 8-10 year olds that I've had demonstrate an attention span that's every bit as good as the adults.

I'd approach a girl scout troupe (ie, students who aren't accustomed to dance classes and brought in the belly dance lesson just for a fun activity) quite differently from the way I'd approach a classroom full of students who are there to learn dance. Although I'd still try to make the lesson fun, I think you can expect more discipline and desire to "learn" (as opposed to "play") from the dance students than you would from some other collection of kids that age.

If it were me, I'd probably teach them a bit of fun choreography to some bouncy Arabic pop music.

Oh gosh when I was this age, I loved the veils! And thats something completely different than that Jazz stuff they're doing now. I like the veil, shimmy and traveling ideas, and a chance for them to perform something of their own for a moment.