During dance class, a teacher’s verbal praise and recognition can reinforce students’ skills and boosts their confidence. A simple “That was a beautiful pirouette!” can mean the world to a student. But while the recognition of talented dancers and their hard work is necessary, it is just as important to recognize the other strengths that […]
Nearly all the movement a dancer does comes from the spine. And yet, “a lot of dance training can prioritize legs, or port de bras, without addressing where those things stem from,” says Bret Easterling, who teaches Gaga and contemporary at the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance. Not only is the spine “the trunk […]
The dance world is often viewed as something beyond the toils of day-to-day living. When dancers walk into the studio, they are expected to be totally focused, exercise self-discipline and work hard towards perfecting their craft—and leave whatever occurrences happened outside the studio behind. “Leave your problems at the door” is a phrase that most […]
By the end of June this year, there were already more than 300 mass shootings in the U.S., according to the Gun Violence Archive—an average of well over one per day. On May 24, 2022, 19 children and 2 teachers were killed in their elementary school in the predominantly Hispanic town of Uvalde, Texas. Just […]
For many of your students, taking dance classes is an outlet for expression. For others, the dance home you’ve helped to build is a step towards a professional performance career. But for a few, the years spent in the studio might have cultivated a passion for a different profession: teaching. But how exactly do you mentor these […]
Updated 9/29/22 This April, Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Ashton Edwards made headlines for a rare company casting: a nonbinary dancer, assigned male at birth, performing on pointe in the Swan Lake corps de ballet. More significant, perhaps, is that Edwards is not alone. Earlier this month, an article in The New York Times analyzed a new Centers for Disease Control report […]
Working with young people can be incredibly stressful. As a dance teacher, you might often take on a lot of the emotional burdens of your students, so it’s extremely hard to proactively take a step back and consider how you’re feeling on a day-to-day basis. But practicing self-care is essential. Because when you make your mental […]
On the surface, stillness is a simple concept. To be still, you just have to stop moving. In reality, though, stillness is much more than the absence of motion—it can have a range of qualities and compositional purposes, just as movement can. And to fully tap in to the power of stillness, dancers need to […]
Dance training has long promoted a learning environment with authoritarian leadership. Just the other day, my friend and I we were trading horror stories of the many times we needed to use the restroom during dance class but were too afraid to ask. The expectation was that you would wait until the quick break between […]
Dear Dance Colleagues, Are you seeking new ways to develop your students’ technical skills and artistic range? Do you need professional advice on supporting their mental health and physical well-being? Would you like on-the-go musical inspiration for your classes? If you answered yes to any of the above, then it’s time to join DanceTeacher+! As a DT+ […]