Why is it important to get to know your dance students?
Over nearly two decades of teaching dance, I’ve realized that one of the most important things you can do at the beginning of a new class session is get to know your students. Getting to know your dance students can help you make connections with your dance students and foster a strong, positive dance class culture that will last the entire year. When you get to know your dance students, you can create lesson plans, assessments, creative experiences, and choreography that are engaging and impactful to them. This level of connection and care builds a learning environment that students not only respond to, but thrive in!
How get-to-know-you games for dance class help you make connections with your dance studios
During the first six weeks of a new dance class session, I try to include a fun get to know you dance game in most of the dance classes I teach. (What’s so special about the first six weeks of a new session? Check out this blog post and learn more!) Get to know you dance games allow me to find out basic information about my dance students like their names, ages, and some of the things they like outside of the studio. They also help me to see how the dancers respond to new situations and deal with challenges, giving me insight into how I can help them throughout the session. Get to know you dance games are also a great way to facilitate team bonding, by giving the dancers a chance to get to know one another and connect over shared interests. You can learn more about team bonding in this blog post: Strategies & Activities for Dance Team Bonding
A note on play as an educational tool in the dance studio
These team-building games for dance class are based in the philosophy that play can be an important educational tool in the dance studio. Research indicates that students of all ages learn through play, and play can help children can develop important physical, social, cognitive, and emotional skills. Using play as an educational tool in the dance studio can help dancers gain self-confidence, engage in new experiences, learn new dance skills and concepts, refine their dance technique, cope with stress and anxiety, and meet new physical and mental challenges. Incorporating play in the dance studio with students of all ages can have many benefits, from helping students learn new skills and refine their technique to helping them Read more about play in the dance studio in this blog post: The Holistic Approach to Using Play in the Dance Studio.
Two get-to-know-you games for dance class
Road Trip
How to Play
1.) Divide the space into 4 quadrants.
- You can use painter’s tape on the floor to physically mark the quadrants, or just ask the dancers to imagine lines dividing the space.
2.) Have all of the dancers sit or stand in the middle of the room, in between the 4 quadrants.
3.) Choose a category that might apply to the interests of the class.
- For example: music genres, colors, dance styles, vacation spots, school subjects, movie genres, types of books, animals, ice cream flavors, pasta dishes, or kinds of food in general
4.) Choose 4 options that fall under the category.
- For example: paghetti, ramen, dumplings, and macaroni and cheese for types of pasta; or rock, Kpop, R&B, or alternative for music genres
5.) Assign an option to each quadrant of the room.
- For example: spaghetti is upper right, ramen is lower right, dumplings is lower left, and macaroni and cheese is upper left
6.) Count to 3, then ask the dancers to move to the quadrant that represents their favorite of the 4 options.
- If a dancers’ favorite is not listed, they will still choose one option that they like best of the available choices
- If a dancer likes more than 1 option, they will choose the one they like best
7.) Once the dancers have moved to their quadrants, ask them to make a group shape or short dance with the other dancers in their quadrant.
8.) Share the shapes or dances with the class.
9.) Have the dancers return to the center and start again with another category.
Syllable Name Game
How to Play
1.)To begin, ask the dancers to figure out how many syllables are in their full name. Direct them to say their names while clapping to the beat of the syllables.
- For example: for my name (Shannon Dooling-Cain), I would clap 5 times total (Shan/non/Dool/ing/Cain).
2.) Each dancer will create a movement phrase to match the rhythm of their name.
- For example: my name’s movement phrase would have 5 beats total, with each movement taking 1 beat
3.) Ask the dancers to share their name dances with the class by:
- Saying and clapping their name
- Saying their name while performing their movement phrase
- Doing the movement phrase in rhythm without saying their name
4.) Direct the rest of the class repeat each dancer’s name and movement phrase, to help each dancer feel seen and validated as they learn one another’s names.
5.) Arrange the dancers in pairs or groups of 3-4.
6.) Direct the dancers to use some or all of the letters in their names to make a new word or phrase.
7.) Have the dancers work together to create a movement phrase that matches the syllables of this word or phrase.
8.) Share in the same process as step #3.
If you like the team-building dance games in this blog post, check out The Holistic Dance Teacher Team-Building and Team Bonding Dance Games and Activities – 10 unique, educational dance games and activities for team-building and team bonding that you can easily use in your dance classes, rehearsals, and team events.
Let’s connect!
- What are some of the ways that you connect with your dance students? I’d love to learn from you … share your thoughts and ideas in the comments!
- Visit my Resource Shop for tools that support a holistic – and playful! – teaching and creative practice.
- Keep in touch by signing up for my newsletter, or join me on Facebook at The Holistic Dance Teacher.
- If you enjoyed this blog post, you can support my work by Buying Me A Coffee.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks