Thread: A student who does her own thing in class.

I have a very nice enthusiastic new student who has never studied belly dancing before. She seems to be very interested in the dance but in class she does her own thing, she doesn't follow along and do the same movements everyone else is doing. One student has already spoken to me about how distracting it is.

I spoke to the individualist and she apologized and said she would follow along but soon she was back to doing her thing. I suspect that perhaps she doesn't want to try because she thinks she can't do the moves. I have gently, with a warm smile, encouraged her to try, saying that you have to try it or you won't learn it.

We are doing a choreography in this class, which I usually don't do for Beginners, and she does try to do that along with everyone else.

I can't tell if she has a learning disability, a lack of confidence, or what? She doesn't seem to be hostile at all, she is very sweet and I would love to keep her as a student. But it's pretty distracting for all of us.

Wise Bhuzzers, how would you handle this?

Is she able to replicate the movement when you ask her to? For example, if you ask her to lift her hip is she able to? I've had students who seemed to be completely disconnected with what else they were doing, thinking they were replicating the movement that I was asking them to, when they were doing something completely different.

That is very distracting! Perhaps if you introduced a little 'free dance' time into every class she might be more willing to toe the line during other times? Another idea would be to get everyone practicing a particular skill/combo then go round one by one and offer individual feedback. This would give you time to help her individually, plus test her ability to follow instructions, without singling her out.

As you've already been brave enough to talk to her once about this, perhaps you might talk to her again and say that, "While it's wonderful she is able to improvise and enjoy the dance, it's visually distracting for some of the other students, so I'd appreciate it if you could follow along with everyone else for most of the time/ move to the back of the space to help them."

I was in a non dance class very recently and a student came in when we had been a solid group and gone through a few semesters, she did similar to this - didn't want to follow the format and dominated a class....eventually our class FOLDED as it was driving us all to distraction.

Cut her loose for the sake of your other students.

Year ago..we had a student in our class who used to go off into a corner and do her own thing whatever teacher was doing. She told us she didn't need instruction as she was an Egyptian princess in another life. She was perfectly pleasant and stayed happily in her corner and we ignored her. Can you put her out of harm's way?
I very much approve of people who talk over your teacher,counter what teacher say,barge into people being and hog the front row and teacher's time warmed off but nice people..give em some slack.

Originally Posted by lplmuk

.... She told us she didn't need instruction as she was an Egyptian princess in another life....

Wow. Just wow.

Originally Posted by lplmuk

She told us she didn't need instruction as she was an Egyptian princess in another life.

Weren't we all??

Originally Posted by lplmuk

She told us she didn't need instruction as she was an Egyptian princess in another life.

Hee! Did she have some explanation as to why she was in a class then?

Originally Posted by dunyah

I have a very nice enthusiastic new student who has never studied belly dancing before. She seems to be very interested in the dance but in class she does her own thing, she doesn't follow along and do the same movements everyone else is doing. One student has already spoken to me about how distracting it is.

I spoke to the individualist and she apologized and said she would follow along but soon she was back to doing her thing. I suspect that perhaps she doesn't want to try because she thinks she can't do the moves. I have gently, with a warm smile, encouraged her to try, saying that you have to try it or you won't learn it.

We are doing a choreography in this class, which I usually don't do for Beginners, and she does try to do that along with everyone else.

I can't tell if she has a learning disability, a lack of confidence, or what? She doesn't seem to be hostile at all, she is very sweet and I would love to keep her as a student. But it's pretty distracting for all of us.

Wise Bhuzzers, how would you handle this?

i e mail , or speak after all have left, " lets arrange a private. i see in class there atre some steps we need to formalize".
i also tell those who are shy with zills, 9/8, ..."at least know it, you can do your own dance, but if someone asks you, at least know the proper way".....ah, the traditional way.
this comes from a guild i watched once who did cane to 9/8

Originally Posted by aziyade

Weren't we all??

no, i was da prince!

I would speak to her a couple of times and really see if you can work with her (Kina's suggestion is interesting and definitely worth following up on).

After giving her a fair chance, if she is still disrupting class I think I would have to explain to her that I don't think my class is the right environment for her, and I can't have her there if she is going to distract the other students.

I had a student just like this! She would make painful faces at me when I turned on the stereo cause she said the music was too loud. And she'd dance anything she wanted right in the middle of class. We'd go right and she'd go left and collide with people and then yell at us. She complained constantly. I think I started a thread on this last year because I was so worried she'd show up to our recital and ruin it. Since I really didn't have the authority to remove her and didn't want to make it obvious I asked the studio boss to observe class from a hidden location through the window. That way he could make suggestions about things I could do to help her and/or watch the drama. He concluded she was nuts and promptly asked her to leave. Hope this helps!

Wow, what a difficult situation!

I find it hard enough to teach when students decide on their own to doubletime the drill! When everyone is moving at the same tempo it's easy to sweep the group with my eyes and see if they're all on track. If they're moving at different speeds it creates visual chaos for me as the instructor.

I'll lock my eyes right on the offenders in the mirror and say "Everyone together now, so I can see what's going on." If that doesn't work, I'll call them out by name "Lucy, watch your speed here... thank you!"

I think if I had someone doing their own thing entirely I'd do something similar. "Everyone together now, right... left... right... Lucy, we're doing horizontal 8s front to back now, right... left... right... good job..."

If that didn't work I might call her out "Lucy, honey, I can't track the group while you're doing a different move, can you either join the class or step to the side of the studio? Thank you"

I'd do it quick & in a kind tone of voice. I'd try to make it a simple instruction rather than a Big Deal, but I'd do it as often as necessary.

I have a student that is very similar. When we do drills she does the move, sometimes differently but she thinks she is doing it right, and I correct and she improves.
When we do follow along or combos or even choreography it is like she is watching someone else and doing something totally different. Her friend who comes to class with her has corrected her and she doesn't care. She loves class and is having a lot of fun but it is just out there. Luckily, she isn't distracting anyone yet so I tend to let it go. When we drill, learn and go slow I give her correction but I never call her out afterwards. I think this would be different if she was distracting. I also think she would try very hard not to be if I told her that she was distracting.

Originally Posted by Aslahan

Hee! Did she have some explanation as to why she was in a class then?

Maybe she hoped to share the spirit of the dance.
I've also been told.."I don't need workshops..I dance from within.." Within what I am not quite sure

I was similar as a student of both dance and physics. I am a slow learner who used to have really bad self confidence and self esteem problems. It would take me time to get a move (or a bit of math or a physics concept), so I'd be embarrassed to do anything in class or in front of anyone till I got it right. In class I'd kinda do my own thing, because I was afraid of looking stupid, but still wanted so badly to participate and get it and not be bored. Any remarks or yelling came from my own frustration, and I'd immediately feel bad about it. I was lucky that my first teachers saw this and paid a little more attention to me during class similar to what Lauren said. They'd also walk around the room during drilling and correct each student individually and always gave really encouraging remarks even for little accomplishments... that time really helped me. I practiced at home a lot too for hours and hours a day, because I really enjoyed dancing and didn't want to look like a fool in class. I thought that I was being out of the way doing my own thing. I never realized till after that first year, how annoying and disruptive I was.

I really hope that you are able to accommodate her in your class without too much trouble. It was because of belly dance that I regained my confidence and self esteem and started to love myself again. I don't know where I'd be now if it weren't for my dance peers and teachers.

ETA: I LOVE workshops, but still feel like a tard sometimes in the combo type workshops. I stand near the front but waaaay off to the side, so that I can be out of the way when I'm going left and everyone else is going right. lol

Whenever I’ve seen this with classmates, they usually never come back for a second class. Sometimes they go just to show of how “awesome” they are. One time there was a young woman who came to one lesson only, stood in the front center, did nothing the teacher did, tied up her hair with a veil like I Dream of Jeannie, and then she asked the teacher to do a solo for us at the end of class because her family was from the Middle East. Oh boy, that was entertaining! She never returned to class again.

Most of the other times I’ve seen this, the students who don’t follow along look more like they can’t follow along. They usually drop into the intermediate class because they’re “natural dancers” or they were cheerleaders and “will pick up easily.” I don’t think any of them bother going to the beginner level like the teacher suggests; they just disappear.

I don’t mind it if the classmate is struggling and just doesn’t get it, but it is annoying when the person is just doing their own thing to show off.

Originally Posted by lplmuk

She told us she didn't need instruction as she was an Egyptian princess in another life.

I believe that I am the reincarnation of someone who thought she was the reincarnation of Cleopatra!

Originally Posted by Karnak

I believe that I am the reincarnation of someone who thought she was the reincarnation of Cleopatra!

That's because I'm really Cleopatra!