How to make dance class fun (3 simple hacks you can do right now).

Why is fun so important? Dance artist Monica Caldwell taught more than 50 dance genres—she was incredibly versatile. You always learned a lot and felt accomplished in her classes. AND they were loads of fun.

Monica figured out something really important—people come to dance class to have fun. So fun is the best way to have class. Besides, people learn so much about how the dance works in their own bodies through self-expression, a sense of accomplishment, and free social dance.

Most of us teach class as though our lives depend on it, either terrified of boring the students or determined to cram in as much hard info as possible. I have been to many beginner classes where all we did was drill or learn choreography. These classes were not fun, and my body hurt after the drilling.

So how do we make class fun?

1. Encourage the students’ self expression.

This may seem like a horrible idea, since the students have no clue what they are doing, and our job is to teach them. But it’s easier than it seems. You can have any group, even if they have never danced before, dancing happily in 5-10 minutes.

• Let the warmup be silly and fun.
• Avoid stylization and let the dance be folky and easy. Even people who have never taken a class can shimmy and do step touches.
• Strut around in a circle, and have the the students echo your actions. Just dance around.
• Keep it simple, yes, but have fun. If you have fun, they can have fun.

This happy opening sets the tone for the rest of the class.

2. Ensure that the students feel successful

A lot of teachers want their students to feel needy, so they will come back. But you will have better return rates when your students feel accomplished and happy in your classes. You do this by facilitating their success.

• Focus on the music, listening and responding.
• Value student interpretations. Allow variation from the norm.
• Get student input on which steps to use in a choreography. The resulting dance will be at their level, and they will feel more ownership.
• Rather than showing a complicated combination and then breaking it down, build it up, instead. Show them something easy. Then another easy thing. Then a third. Start combining the easy things, but not all at once. Sahra Saeeda uses this method to great effect.

3. Include lots of open floor dancing

Many teachers assume their students dance at home. But most students do not. So take the last 10 minutes for open floor. Putting the new learning in context right away empowers students, and combining moves in a relaxed environment helps them feel comfortable expressing themselves, which, after all, is the basic idea.

• Put on some fun music and make a circle.
• Everyone dances, all around the circle.
• You take the first turn in the circle. Feel free to clown around and have fun. Then choose one of the students to dance in the circle.
• They may pick a friend to dance with them.
• When they are done, they pick the next center dancer.
• Everyone gets to dance.

Students can also dance in small groups, pairs, etc, regrouping or switching partners every couple of minutes. You can circulate through the groups, joining and moving on so that you dance with everyone.

Art is about communication

Dance is art. When students feel the value of what they do, when they dance with others and feel the joy of it, they nurture themselves and spread light out into the world. Social dance is the backbone of our art form, people enjoying themselves together, feeling good about themselves and each other.

Joy.

Isn’t that what we all want? 

I sure do.

Want to know more?

Check out bellydance soul.

Love,
Alia