Thread: Teacher question

How much is too much?

Do you ever feel as if you cannot devote enough time to your own development as a dancer?

I was pondering my dance and what is my next step.

I know what i want to do with my dance (which is a big change, since I've never really been able to focus on any one thing, ADD in action). I think the only way to get there is to devote time and energy to my own growth.

How do I reconcile this with working full time, teaching 6 - 8 classes a week, performing etc?

Giving up the full time job ain't happenin', while I'm not 100% happy with my bod, I do like to eat.

I know that I need to add individual practice time to my schedule, but it's been very difficult to make dedicated time for it, although when I am motivated, i do have the discipline to do so.

Has anyone managed to figure out how to do this? if so, help!

Individual practice time is so great in theory but in reality it's a hard thing to pull off on a regular basis ( watching my at-home work-out time expand by 20-30 minutes just from "dog petting breaks" is proof).

Just wondering if there are other classes/workshops you can take, even if it means you cut back on your classes and performances.. To make the time, something has to go.

Probably not want you want to hear but... I had to stop teaching to focus on my own development. Only for a couple of years, though I did do the odd teaching project during that.

I was expending so much energy on my students and preparing my classes that there was just no inspiration left for furthering my own dance. I was also self teaching as there was no-one available within a thousand kms that taught modern Egyptian dance. So I really had to buckle down and develop study strategies, plan my research and schedule workshops and trips.

I made the choice to stop teaching because what I really wanted to teach was Egyptian style dance and while I *was*, I also knew I could take it so much further.

6-8 classes a week is a lot. I have to agree with Nanda. There are only so many hours in a day, and you can't be "on" every minute either. You might need to downsize the other things in your schedule before getting in regular personal practice can be an attainable goal. Is there any way you could consolidate any of these classes rather than just cancelling them outright?

To make room for some things in your life, you must get rid of other things. Think of it as decluttering :-)

balancing has always been my problem as well, I have no advice, just sympathy.

I went through the SAME thing. I gave up most of my weekly classes (just 3, not nearly as crazy as your schedule) and am now only teaching 6-week special sessions.

You don't realize until you're doing it how much WORK teaching is. And yeah, my dancing and personal practice suffered. I think teaching has made me a better dancer, and I love my students, but frankly I think there are other, better, teachers in my cornfield, and I'd rather focus on dancing right now.

Declutter. You'll thank yourself for it later.

Originally Posted by kina

How do I reconcile this with working full time, teaching 6 - 8 classes a week, performing etc?

Giving up the full time job ain't happenin', while I'm not 100% happy with my bod, I do like to eat.

My personal solution is to teach just one night a week. I realize that in doing so, I lose the opportunity to teach students who are not available on that particular night, but it leaves me the time I need the rest of the week for other priorities.

I would also suggest cutting back on your classes; as sarakat said, 6-8 is a lot! When I was working full time, 2-3 classes was my max and even that was terribly difficult to manage. I perform and teach full time now, and my classload including privates fluctuates from 7 - 12 classes per week. It is much, much easier to fit in regular practices in a week where I only teach 7 or 8.

I stopped teaching when I moved to Boston. I had been teaching so much before, I was kind of burned out, and I wanted to be selfish and focus on myself for a while. While I miss the income from teaching, I'm actually much happier. Don't get me wrong--I love to teach. But it can be so draining some of the time.

I know exactly where you're coming from, having taught between 5-8 classes per week plus preparing troupe choreos, rehearsals, shows, etc., on top of working in my beautiful and very demanding retail boutique six days a week. This has been my pattern for years, especially the last three, where I've put my personal dance development and performances on hold while promoting my very talented and deserving students in those too few solo spots around here :)

In August I contracted a severe case of shingles, a little message from the universe perhaps that is was time to slow down. I wasn't feeling burned out; I was loving every minute of it, but my body was telling me otherwise.

Now my focus has shifted. I am training my top dancers to teach at my studio (Oasis Dance Studio in Kingston, Ontario) and am reducing my teaching hours as of the new year. I've been coaching them weekly and I know already that each one will be fantastic so I'll be able to focus on achieving other goals (dance and non-dance related) while ensuring that my studio continues to be an authentic resource of Middle Eastern Dance styles in our growing dance community.

I am now planning to travel to Cairo several times over the next two years for advanced dancer and teacher training. I can think of nothing better than living in Egypt and studying Raqs Sharqi and various folkloric styles with the master instructors in the land. This will take my own dancing and teaching to much greater heights (do we have a zaghareet emoticon??)

My energy levels have soared considerably since making this decision. I'm dancing more for myself these days, hours every day!, am learning Arabic, etc., and preparing to solo on center stage again in the new year. I may be approaching 50, but there's a lotta shimmy in this bedlah yet ..g.:

As many others have said already, Kina, you might consider releasing some teaching hours and shifting your schedule around to allow for more "you" dance time. Don't wait for shingles, or any other affliction, to PM you first

wow. I really really really want to continue to improve as a dancer.

All of my breakthroughs from plateaus have been spontaneous, but I think the next one needs to be planned.

All I really want to do is dance and teach. I love them both, each one is complete in it's own. I don't need anything else to feed them, they stand on their own.

i could live without the day job, but can't live without the other 2.

Maybe I'll hit the lottery and won't need the day job and can just dance!

Oh yeah. have to play it in order to win it...cr.:

Sigh, I think I'm going to try just reducing the number of hours I sleep and cut other things out, like TV.

Oh

and the internet.

The crunch will be over in February, I think and then I'll re-evaluate how many classes I'm teaching.

I feel for you as well. I teach 6 classes per week and work with autistic children as my day job. Some days I ome home feeling like I can't get the energy to teach but I do anyway. (my day job is a work out!) I have always felt as if I am a better teacher than performer though.
I do have breaks (on one now, thank heavens!) in between Community Ed. sessions, so I only teach 3 classes per week.
I do find that even though I get worn out with the teaching schedule, I LOVE to teach and come home feeling really good!
I do need both jobs though.

Originally Posted by Bellydancingcaroline

To make room for some things in your life, you must get rid of other things. Think of it as decluttering :-)

Word! I had to finally admit that I cannot, just cannot figure out how to be a drummer in the troupe band and also dance..........no matter how hard the director tried to work me into troupe routines, it isn't possible. After six months, everything suffered. I love percussion but I had to drop out of troupe band because I cannot rehearse and dance with troupe simultaneously and when I tried to be clever and reduce number of troupe numbers I was in, that caused complications for concert. Well, duh, so I gave it up and am taking other private classes in Melaya technique from my Egyptian teacher, Hala.

I work full-time and that's not going away any time soon (hello, mortgage) and I love so many aspects of belly dance it is hard to resist trying to do it all. But therin lies madness, and I can't grow as a dancer unless I have time to do it, and it's impossible to be "on" all the time!!!..c:: ..c::

Well (shrugs) I picked up some drumming skills, tar and doumbek, and that's a good thing, but I've determined that it is better for me to be more focussed, hmmmmmm I see a spin-off: "Dance goals in 2008" (runs off to start new thread, trying hard not to bring doumbek to play fancy Saidi entrance.....)

there are SOOO many of us who work full time (or almost) and/or go to school (parttime) and/or have kids and/or teach tooo many classes on top of that...
happy though! sometimes i feel really alone with this and so many friends dont understand... so, well, sometimes it sucks, sometimes i feel really blessed to have such a full life.

Originally Posted by artemisia_danst

there are SOOO many of us who work full time (or almost) and/or go to school (parttime) and/or have kids and/or teach tooo many classes on top of that...
happy though! sometimes i feel really alone with this and so many friends dont understand... so, well, sometimes it sucks, sometimes i feel really blessed to have such a full life.

I do too. I also had an epiphany when I was trying to justify why I had so many things going on and why I consistently do this to myself.

For me it's acutally seasonal. If I don't have 5 million things going on, then in the winter I sit at home, eat, hibernate and get depressed. if I have obligations, then I don't do that.

So, it's therapeutic! ..g.:

Or so I'm telling myself.

It is a blessing to have something that you love so much in your life that your willing to make a committment to and to sacrifice for.