Interesting question

I have been catching up on what went on at the last campus session and when I watched the BAPP u tube video one of the questions posed in a task you were doing really got me thinking…

I am very sorry but I am not sure whose question it was but the question asked:  “Why do most dancers make the transition and become dance teachers?”, and when prompted to give reasons for the questions it was said “…because I don’t think all dancers can be dance teachers”

As someone who has made the transition between dancer and dance teacher I began to wonder if I would agree or disagree with this statement.

There are many reasons why dancers make this transition, for me it felt like a natural progression. Having said that I never set out to be a dancer teacher. As a dancer we possess many of the specialized skills needed to teach dance (eg. knowledge of dance technique, different styles of dance) and as most dancers have been dancing since their early years for a lot of people dance is what they know best.

The experiences and knowledge i gained as a dancer have been very useful for when it comes to teaching also….performance experience, choreography, partner work, variety of styles music, theatre etiquette, discipline.

These are all skills that have helped me but do not necessarily make me a good teacher. Since starting to teach I have been constantly learning new things, adapting to new circumstances and changing the way I do things to suit different people and abilities. I don’t think I could have been taught a lot of the things I now know; I have just had to learn them through experience and through trial and error.

What works for one group of students may not work for another and so you have to constantly be ready to adapt and try new things. It is not just about having the skills and dance knowledge, it’s about being able to work with other people in a way to get the best out of them.

You could be the most wonderful dancer but if you have got good communication skills then you will not be able to pass your knowledge on.

Can these kinds of skills be taught?

Going back to my thoughts on dance in education I discovered there could be a link between these two questions

Dance is in the curriculum and so should be taught in every school, some schools do get dance practitioners in to deliver these lessons but a lot of schools don’t have this privilege. Therefor it is left up to the academic teachers there to deliver dance lessons…are they up to the job? Are these children getting a good dance experience?