“Shoulders down!” “Eyes Up.”“Don’t Sickle!” Sound familiar? Well, you’re not alone. As a dance educator, giving corrections is a part of your job. Yet, at times, giving feedback can feel pointless when you’re talking to an entire room of students mentally out to lunch. Cue a collective deep breath.
Recently, DT asked the Facebook hivemind to share the corrections that seem to pop up in every class. Here are the gems we know you know all too well.
“If I give a correction to one student, it doesn’t mean it’s not also for you: Pay attention!” Or lately, “core!”
—Leigh Brockman Horowitz, teacher at Dimensions Dance Center
“My saying is ‘for the love of everything good and holy, please point your feet.‘”
—Tiffany Prout-Leitao, owner of Center Stage Dance Academy
“Close your rib cage, and put weight in your arms.“
—Kay Kissick, substitute teacher at Bluegrass Youth Ballet
“You don’t need to lift your shoulders to jump.”
—Nela Nilemann, founder and director at The Blue Ridge Studio for the Performing Arts
“Don’t even go there. For just half of one Primary class I said ‘Where should your feet be (or similar)?’ 37 times. They have their exam in eight weeks.”
—Elizabeth Stagg, owner of A1 Dance
Some see giving corrections differently…
“Your teacher should only have to give you a correction once. Only ONCE? You gotta be kidding.🙄 I’m not a teacher, but in the past 27 years I’ve learned that it takes more than one correction to build correct muscle memory and proper understanding of alignment and movement dynamic. Maybe I am a slow learner, but I sure am grateful for all my teachers who were patient and interested enough to keep working with me. Without their heads exploding, nonetheless.”
—Johanna Elina Aurava, ballet blogger
“What on earth? Corrections are given as many times as a student needs it. No student in the world wants to look bad. It takes a while sometimes to figure it out.” ❤️
—Marianella Desanti, teacher at Body Motion Dance Studio