Thread: WWBD - prepping a class for a show

The students at my studio are all preparing for our annual recital, which takes place in just over a month.

I have one class that I'm struggling with a little bit. We've been working on our choreography for about 8 weeks already, and it's a choreo that many of the students already knew before we started. I started the session thinking repetition can't hurt, and we'll work on cleaning up technique. But even I'm bored stiff with doing it over and over now!

Most of the class could do the choreo in their sleep at this point, with grace energy, musicality & emotion. If it were just them in class, I'd start spending some classtime on other things and just run through the choreo 3 or 4 times to keep it fresh until the show.

But a couple of the students who are newer to this level are still struggling. About two of them simply don't know what step comes next yet. One student is still struggling massively with the technique and is actually executing most of the steps incorrectly.

How do I work with these few students and get them ready for the show without driving the rest of the class bonkers? I can't stand for 7 or 8 students to be paying for a class where they either sit and watch me work with a few others, or have to do this choreography over and over for an hour each week for 5 more hours.

Private lessons. Tell them, "I really want you to be in the recital with all the other students, but I can see you're still not ready, and I can't devote any more class time to going through the choreo. So it's up to you: either you agree to take x number of private lessons in order to get you up to scratch, or I can't let you take part in the show."

Another option would be to ask the rest of the class if they're willing to help these new students with some extra-curricular practice sessions. That would mean leaving them to their own devices, which, if you're a control freak about your classes, would be difficult!

Can you provide materials such as video footage that the 'struggling' students can use to practice outside of class? I had a similar issue before my last concert, and I gave the students a DVD of me doing the choreo, filmed from the back, that they could practice along to at home. I also provided notes. I was pleasantly surprised to find that those who needed to catch up could see that for themselves and all put in that extra work. Perhaps spelling out this expectation in class wouldn't hurt! And cutting back on the drilling one week might provide them with extra incentive.

Otherwise, I'd try to fit in some different activity to class practice that's geared towards the more advanced students, if only for 10 mins. Something like improv or a fun dancing game that's very much non-choreography focused.

Perhaps also, you could change the focus of your choreo run-throughs. For eg, get half the class performing at a time, and give their audience instructions to take note of a particular thing someone did well, then use this to discuss elements like facial expression and dynamics. Or perhaps get the group to practice dancing closer together, or in different positions, or facing another direction in the room.

Perhaps, while drilling the choreo with half the group, you could get the others to come up with a choreographed bow and exit.

Originally Posted by beafarhana

Another option would be to ask the rest of the class if they're willing to help these new students with some extra-curricular practice sessions. That would mean leaving them to their own devices, which, if you're a control freak about your classes, would be difficult!

This is a great idea. A number of my students have organised their own practice sessions in the past, but it wouldn't hurt to suggest it if it doesn't spontaneously happen. I think it's also good to set a general expectation for *everyone* that performing requires practice outside of class, so this becomes the norm rather than the exception.

Can you ask the struggling students to come early or stay late for a half hour or so? If they've been learning the piece for a while, they should be to the point where they're working on questions ("I still don't understand the transition between A and B") and doing the bulk of their practicing on their own, not needing to drill for hours in class with your supervision. Video is a great tool for facilitating independent practice. Unless you're calling a separate class and opening up the studio just for them, I'd be tempted not to charge for this extra rehearsal. You're helping them catch up so they can be part of the group, not punishing them for not being psychic enough to start classes sooner.

Having been in this situation as a beginner, even if the teacher and other students are being nice about it, it's still overwhelming to learn that first choreography, and when everybody else "gets" it and you feel like you're slowing them down, there can be a tendency to want to drop out and leave them to their fun. If you don't feel these beginners are sufficiently committed or if you worry they're unusually hopeless, it may not be a problem to cut them loose. OTOH, if the possibility of letting them skip this show and do the routine at a later date is an option, let them know, so they don't have to feel you rushed them onstage before they were ready, just because everybody else was. I don't know how important retention of these students is in this situation. Of course, if these students are not serious about learning the piece, then they need to know that you're not serious about letting them perform it. There's "being accommodating" and then there's "lowering your standards."

And as for the experienced students who are bored, well, that's too bad. Welcome to show business. Mick Jagger has been singing "Satisfaction" for two thirds of his life, and I'm sure he has nights where he doesn't feel like singing it again, either. The show goes on whether you're sick of it or not, and you're still responsible for doing a good job.

I like the idea of dividing the class where some people watch and some dance. My teacher does this, and it really makes us prove if we know what we’re doing or not. It also gives us a chance to see what the dances looks like from a different perspective.

I also like it when we record ourselves before a show so we can work on fine-tuning.

Thanks so much for the advice so far! A lot here to mull on and chew over.

Just to clarify, these aren't beginners. This is my advanced class. Even the newcomers to class have been dancing for 2+ years. They're just new to this particular choreography. (and many of the other students have been dancing 6-8 years, so there's a huge range in the class).

Last night I had them do the choreo in pairs and gave each pair a different 'feeling' to act out as they danced (joy, longing, sorrow, etc). We're working on figuring out the 'feelings' in each musical passage and getting into expressing those onstage. This is keeping the advanced dancers engaged & challenged for now -- and REALLY helping the dance to pop for the viewer!

During the pair dancing it became obvious that two of the newer dancers don't know the choreo, and a third knows 'what comes next' but isn't executing most of the moves correctly.

I like the idea of offering to give them some extra time outside of class and letting the rest of the group move on.

It is a student class performance, not a troupe performance, so I can do a 'front row, back row' arrangement for them if necessary. I don't really want to take them out unless I decide they're not really trying.

Sorry I misunderstood the level of the students. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that negates all of the sentiment. Sometimes the higher levels of classes/troupes are less generous in spirit than the lower ones, and when a student has been dancing long enough to reach the advanced level, there may be more incentive to walk if you feel the group isn't as accommodating of you as you'd like. If you've only invested a few months in this, it's easier to change and take up Zumba or whatever. If you've got years invested, you're probably not going to quit. You'll look for greener pastures or strike out on your own. As a teacher, if a student is going to feel unwelcome enough to drop your class, you secretly hope it's the difficult diva or the unreliable flake, not the one you've just promoted and have high hopes for (...not that you would ever intentionally cultivate an environment where students feel bullied, excluded, or unwanted, but sometimes it's hard to control group dynamics).

I agree, Tourbeau, it doesn't negate the sentiment at all and in many ways only makes it more complicated.

It's almost a relief for an unprepared beginner to hear 'you know what? Why don't you come watch this time around and be in the next show when you've had more time to prepare?'

But telling experienced students that they aren't ready for a show is much more likely to produce anger, resentment, and negative feelings.

I think the idea of filming them is a good one.. and perhaps you executing the technique so they can practice at home?

This way you can ask them to work on it at individually or collectively.

I am sure you must have stressed the importance of knowing the choreography and being able to execute the moves.

You could also take the soft/hard line of 'if you dont feel ready then I wont push you to do it on this occasion', this places the ball in their court to either work at and be ready or maybe have the option skip this particular performance?

One thing that isn't clear to me - have the struggling dancers been in this class long enough to have reasonably learned the choreography and technique? Ie, did you ask an unreasonable task of them, or did they fall short of your expectations in terms of how much practice they did on their own?

If you think they've tried very hard to pull it together through rehearsing on their own, being very committed to coming to class, etc., then maybe you made an error in judgment when you believed they would be able to learn and polish the choreo in time for this show. In that case, I'd recommend that you shoulder the consequences by spending extra time with them, at no charge, to help them close the gap.

But if it really should have been achievable for them, and if the issue is that they didn't make the needed outside-of-class commitment to pull it together, then I think charging them for the extra mentoring would be appropriate. You could do it at a "class" rate rather than a "private lesson" rate if you want to meet them halfway.

I once had a teacher who divided her performance-ready students into two groups - the "established" troupe, and the "up-and-coming" new members. She rehearsed the two groups separately. The "established" group already knew the repertoire, so their rehearsal focus was on preparations for specific shows (figuring out formations based on who was available for each show, working out entrances, exits, and transitions based on which choreos were going to be used in that show, etc.) There was also some polishing of dance technique, stage presence, keeping lines straight, etc. The "up and coming" group learned one choreography at a time, polishing it until it was stageworthy. They could buy a video from the director that showed the entire troupe repertoire so that they could use it to jog their memories in home practice when they forgot what came next.

Once the up-and-coming group had something stageworthy, troupe shows would incorporate that choreography into the song lineup so that the new members could have their time on stage. Depending on the show, we'd sometimes have everyone perform that piece together, and other times showcase just the up-and-coming dancers.

This proved effective as a way to phase in new members without driving those who already knew the choreos nuts. It's obviously too late to do this for the current show, but it's an idea to consider for the future.

Here's a thought: could the not so well-prepared dancers be 'background' chorus line? Ie. do some simple, easytoremember supportive steps to the side of the ones doing the choreography? Or could they be the advance guard and kind of lead-open-for the others for a few bars of the music? Something along the lines of leading the charge with waving veils or....?

Originally Posted by Lauren_

I agree, Tourbeau, it doesn't negate the sentiment at all and in many ways only makes it more complicated.

It's almost a relief for an unprepared beginner to hear 'you know what? Why don't you come watch this time around and be in the next show when you've had more time to prepare?'

But telling experienced students that they aren't ready for a show is much more likely to produce anger, resentment, and negative feelings.

Though it's the experienced/advanced students that should be prepared to deal with that sort of feedback. In an ideal world.

Perhaps keep in mind that those students that have are putting in the effort to learn and practice choreos can also feel angry, resentful and negative when those they perceive as not making the grade are provided with the same opportunities.

If I was confident that they had been provided enough opportunities for them to get the material (personal practice is always insisted upon) then I would have a conversation with them about how they think they are going, what sort of practicing they are doing and what I think they need to improve on. I would possibly offer additional classes, at a time convenient to me and charged accordingly. But most prefer to either increase their own personal practice or ignore the advice completely (not deliberately, they just don't seem to take it on board). Engaging them in this way has had a surprisingly good response from students.

I have also had to cut students from a group performance on a number of occasions (though rarely for haflas as those usually self-select out). They are never really happy about it. Some understand that they weren't up to scratch and some are surprised, but all have returned and/or maintained a good relationship. People appreciate being treated with honesty and respect, that goes for both the students getting it and those struggling.

So many excellent ideas here that hadn't occurred to me!

Shira, great questions. They've had plenty of time to learn the choreo. I believe one of them isn't practicing outside of class at all, one may be practicing a little but not enough, and the one who struggles with technique... well, she somehow slipped into the advanced class without mastering the intermediate technique and I didn't realize how serious the problem was until just now, weeks before the show!

This class is sandwiched between two other classes with no time in between, and I teach all three. It's very difficult to take students aside during class when there's no before/after classtime to grab them.

My options are to have these conversations with them in front of everyone, to contact them outside of class by e-mail, or -- probably my best option -- to separate the class into little groups according to what I want them to work on and address these 3-4 students as a group, letting them know I'm concerned they may not be ready in time for the show and offering to work with them over the weekend if they're available.

I think I can do that.

Originally Posted by NandaDncer

I have also had to cut students from a group performance on a number of occasions (though rarely for haflas as those usually self-select out). They are never really happy about it. Some understand that they weren't up to scratch and some are surprised, but all have returned and/or maintained a good relationship. People appreciate being treated with honesty and respect, that goes for both the students getting it and those struggling.

Getting back to the video, if you're getting the camera out to tape the routine for them, you might find it useful to tape them performing it. Without singling anyone out, you can say you wanted to try it as an experiment to see what needs last-minute touches before the show. It's possible the students who aren't up to par are in denial about how far out they are, and seeing yourself floundering on video compared to the others may be an enlightening reality check. It probably isn't the case if these students have been with you the whole time, but I've worked with teachers who sell false security in the idea that "Everything always comes together at the last minute!" before performances. Sometimes it does, and sometimes when the curtain goes up, students who haven't been adequately prepared DON'T magically tap into some subconscious mastery of the choreography that they've had all along.

Originally Posted by Lauren_

and the one who struggles with technique... well, she somehow slipped into the advanced class without mastering the intermediate technique and I didn't realize how serious the problem was until just now, weeks before the show!

This is more problematic. If you do the video experiment, you could hope she realizes this on her own, but you're likely to see some resistance or hurt feelings if you try to demote her. I'm not sure what face-saving option is out there beyond offering remedial help outside of class. Normally I'd expect to see this charged at the regular private-lesson rate, but if you were feeling generous, you could reduce the PL cost by saying it was partially your fault for promoting her before she was ready, or offering her a cost break to "audit" the lower-level classes.

I don't see anything wrong with letting the dancers in question know they may not be able to perform in this show- you can put it gently (the other dancers really have had more time to polish this choreography) and still offer them options like the video or extra rehearsal time and still be firm in your expectations. I would call/email them outside of class, if you can't pull them aside during or right before/after class and offer them those assists, but it might also be the time to ask if the one student with shaky technique might be interested in going back to the lower level technique class- maybe as well as the advanced class- to polish up her technique, because you are concerned that she needs a little more work in that area.

Here's a big thing for me- I have made a commitment to my students that I will not put them on stage if I don't think they are performance ready. Now, for my beginning students at a student recital, I do have slightly different expectations, because I can outline that in the program and folks are *expecting* different levels of abilities, but it is still a polished performance. For my int/adv class? no way. It is MY responsibility to make sure they only go on stage if they are going to look like advanced dancers!

Having said that, there are a couple in my adv. class right now that I struggle with. They are perfectly capable of doing the choreo well, but they have to be reminded of certain things (energy level, arm extension) all the time, and I was gone for 3 weeks, so even with regular rehearsals led by a trusted student, our performance last week was not up to *their* standards. They had it down spot on before I left, and I was disappointed, but I know it was my fault, and we've talked about it. I think I might pull that piece from our summer performance repertoire. It can be really stunning when everyone hits it, but it's just not coming together. I'm a little sad because one of those dancers is moving in August- we've got another choreography we will still be doing with that class, but he won't perform *that* choreography with us again.

Originally Posted by Lara L

I don't see anything wrong with letting the dancers in question know they may not be able to perform in this show

This is a necessary part of being a conscientious teacher, and there isn't anything wrong with it. What's wrong is that we as a community have to keep having these conversations over and over, because we struggle to find a consistent way to bridge the quantum leap between beginner classes that have little pressure and low expectations, and advanced classes where slopping around just doesn't cut it anymore. Students aren't always well conditioned to be receptive to teacher feedback about needing to work harder or not being ready to perform. Some have personality issues that make their egos more challenging to accommodate than others. Mostly, I think teachers don't always do a good job of laying the mental groundwork for earning the privilege of having an audience watch you dance. We have one set of relaxed standards for beginners and hobbyists, and we often tolerate relaxed standards from our fellow dancers who are perhaps not as deserving of the title of "pro" as they wish, so it's not surprising students have a difficult time trying to navigate when you can get by with not being great and when you can't.

It's true, these situations are a tremendous struggle for us as teachers, even if we know exactly where we stand on the issues involved.

In this situation, for instance, I know perfectly well what needs to be done. But how to do it... that's the hard part. And how open/transparent that process should be is another tricky bit. I think it's weird for the rest of the class if suddenly Suzie isn't going to be in the show and they don't know what's going on. They can probably guess -- and they will -- and they will gossip and share their guesses with each other. I generally prefer to be as open and transparent about my processes and decisions as possible, but I don't want to publicly humiliate anyone.

I also feel like student performers in a student show shouldn't be held to a professional standard -- this is their hobby, they just want to have fun! (and that should be true even if they've had this hobby for years). But it's NOT fun to go onstage unprepared, to dance badly, to make an ass of yourself.

These can be fine lines to walk.

I've been doing this for years now, but every situation feels new, and every time I hope I can find a better way to handle the situation. In an ideal world I can press each student for her best, provide a wonderful audience experience, AND help each woman in my class accept herself warts and all and have a positive esteem-building experience at my studio. But it's not an ideal world and those things have to be juggled.

I appreciate your help.

Tourbeau- I totally agree with you. It has been driven home to me by the number of times I have told beginning students "I will not let you go on stage if you don't look good" (as a means of reassurance, not a threat!) That it IS my responsibility to hold that line. At this point, I literally use those words in my beginning classes because I think it helps me set the stage emotionally- it gives students confidence that they *are* doing it well if I even let them on the stage, and also lets them know they will be held to particular standards if they want to perform.

& as Lauren said- it's important to give all levels an opportunity in an appropriate environment to show off what they can do. It's hard to tell students they won't, or even might not perform, but the very few times I've had to do it, they've generally been relieved and eager to improve before the NEXT show. Yeah, there are hard cases who are so full of themselves they don't get it, but I think most folks know when they are not doing well.

Lauren-
I know what you mean- and considering I teach 1-3 classes a week depending on season & demand & I know you teach a LOT more than I, and therefore have much more experience!

And yes, it is different with every student you have to deal with. I'd still approach it from that angle of letting the students know you are looking out for them by not letting them perform when they are not ready. Even when I first joined a troupe- I'm not sure I should have danced in the first performance that I did & I do wish the director had been more firm and just asked me to wait for the next round. I'm sure the 3 ladies you mentioned are quite aware that they are not up to par with the others in the class. You probably can have this conversation at the beginning of class- about not being able to perform *this time* if you don't have the choreography ready- maybe even see if the class has suggestions. Ask the more experienced dancers if they would be willing to take some one on one time with the newer dancers and really break it down for them even- but I'd still try to make time to talk to the dancers in question individually- make sure they know you are aware they haven't spent as much time with this as the others, that you want them to succeed and are there to help them figure out what works best for them.

& yeah, I know it's just emotionally hard to have to do this at all- often more painful in anticipation than in execution. So hugs! I totally feel for you!

Thanks, Lara. I appreciate the empathy, I think I need that as much as the advice right now.

I also think I might spend a minute with the class before I take any action and get THEIR feedback. Remind them (as I have in the past) that many of them have *asked* me not to let them go onstage and make fools of themselves, and ask them what their thoughts are on how I should handle that responsibility!

[QUOTE]

Originally Posted by Tourbeau

Getting back to the video, if you're getting the camera out to tape the routine for them, you might find it useful to tape them performing it. Without singling anyone out, you can say you wanted to try it as an experiment to see what needs last-minute touches before the show.

When I was in Wendy Buonaventura's dance company, this was the method she used.. we worked to get it right for the video (let alone the performance!) but she was not the gentle sort of person and we got a verbal kick up the a** if we stood out for all of the wrong reasons. Admittedly this was a more professional situation and not a weekly class.

In a class, it can work on a similar level but without the shouty teacher. It is a useful tool as people can see for themselves that they are not quite as hidden as they might believe. It is a useful tool for self assessment too.

I try to always videotape a couple of weeks before the show so there's time to fix whatever issues arise. In the past I haven't found it necessary to point much out, my dancers have proven pretty self-aware for the most part when presented with that visual evidence.


We'll see how self-aware this new group is! There are so many of them, I think I'll video in small groups so they can plainly see themselves.