Thread: Turn turn turns!

Okay, for someone who was a skater as a kid and learned how to spot in dance classes well before puberty...I can turn no problemo....most students that come into classes can turn usually having some history of dance in their childhood. What I'm stuck with is teaching adults to turn and spin who have had no previous experience....I have a great method I learned from Anahid Sofian here in NYC where you take the turn slowly in half turns down the floor with a rocking step in between to stop from going too fast - great method... but I'm finding it difficult if like 15 people can turn and one or two really get stuck....it moves too slow for the turners :-) and we'd have to spend a ton of time for the non-turners to catch up....and this is a group of girls who have been dancing for at least 2 years with other teachers, so the rest of their dancing is up to speed...

Any suggestions? Other than showing the method, doing a short drill and telling them to practice at home? I've gone over spotting and over-spotting all the usual verbal explanations...just wondering who's had this as an issue and what you did to resolve it :-)
cheers!
Mimi

I think this is your best bet if it's only a few people out of the group. Speaking as a non-turner who had to learn in my mid-30's, it's taken me a while to get my body used to it & be able to *think* about what i'm doing while turning.

You might make a brief turning drill part of your weekly routine. That will convey the notion that this isn't going away and encourage people to practice, and it will also let them know that you're not dumping this on them to teach themselves, you're there to help, to praise their progress, etc.

I've finally decided that the best way to get the students who really *need* to practice something at home to really do so is to put the moves into a choreography. (my teaching is very choreo-based, though). That says 'I expect you to be able to do this' in a way that nothing else does. (besides making it a requirement to move to the next level, of course).

I'm a slow turn-learner as well. My turns are good now, but spinning and spotting still doesn't feel natural to me.

My only suggestion, as someone who gets motion sick very easily, is not to do too much spin drilling at a time. I went to a Kami Liddle workshop where she taught a choreography that included two quick spins, and I wound up having to wait that part out after we had run through it the first two times because I was getting sick. Slower turns probably wouldn't be a problem -- three-step turns and the like don't bother me at all. Just a cautionary thought. Nausea can really ruin a dance class.

It depends on what your goals are for the class, and what their goals are as well. If turns are something you do a lot in your choreo, and you are teaching it to them to perform, and they are expecting to grow with you and grow in their performance capabilities, I would suggest a basic beginner ballet class. It will help in every way, and since not everyone needs it, you cannot turn your class into turning drills.

If they are only in it for fun, don't expect to perform with you or continue forward, then for those who can't do a certain move, replace the turn with something else.

Can you do an optional turning drill session of say 10 or 15 minutes before or after class for a few weeks? That might get them up to speed without making the turners feel like they are moving too slowly.

Give the already-turning some hard drills to work on while the non-turners go slow. Can they do two turns in a row and stop? Three in a row and stop? Can they turn with one arm overhead? Can they do a three step turn/two step turn/three step turn variation? Can they spot to the front or to the side?

You could get the non-turners started, then spend time with the whirling bunch, then return to the non-turners.

Just a thought!

Getting them interested in veilwork sometimes helps in that, if nothing else, it makes them *want* to practice and improve their turns/spins. Sometimes it can be a little challenging to coordinate I've found it to be helpful.

Strong turning requires good core strength and ability to engage the lowest abs, so if the students haven't developed the core strength to, say, execute good internalized lower body undulations, they are likely going to have trouble turning and spinning.

A few tips I could suggest are:

with turns such as 3-point turns, or half turns across the room, have the students start out traveling a minimal amount through space for each step. In other words turn with baby steps. This helps them maintain their center of balance.

As an alternative strategy to spotting on a wall, suggest they try holding their hand out and fixing their gaze in their hand as they spin.

After a series of spins that results in dizziness, have them stop and spin once or twice in the opposite direction. This stabilizes the inner ear mechanism and gets rid of most dizziness.

Most of all it is something like everything else that they have to practice inbetween classes or they are never going to progress.

Sedonia

If this will help, have the students mark their feet as they turn. For example, when doing a two-point turn, have them say to themselves and step to themselves-"Right, Left, Right, Left," because that is what the feet are actually doing in a two-point turn. If you want to teach them the arm position, you can have them do and recite to themselves-"open, close, Open" because that is what the arms are doing in the turn. Or, they can count to four instead of saying R/L/R/L. Its the same for the spin, they can say to themselves R/L/R or 1,2,3.

ohhh great tips!
I myself do not spot. I offer the technique to my students and let them decide.
I also create a mantra for them
3 point turn - ie: R L R touch L - L R L touch R.
chaine turn - ie:RLRLRLRLRLRLRLRL etc...
spin - ie:R LLLLLLLLLL etc...
I also show them what centrifugal force can do by having them engage the arms (and upper torso pillar) ie:open side, step side turn, bring arms in to hold say a beach ball then open again to hit the brakes.
I often use ice skaters as an example when they wan't to really get spinning fast they start the turn and bring the arms in to help.
Happiy shimmies,Shah