What is meaningful self-care for dance teachers? Okay, I’ll admit it: the term “self-care” kind of makes me cringe these days. So often, I find it gets applied to practices that aren’t really that meaningful, or don’t have a long...
Refresh your dance pedagogy and teaching methods We all get stuck in a rut with our dance teaching methods from time to time, right? It can be easy to fall into habits as a dance teacher: our favorite exercises, our go-to corrections, our usual metaphors and...
The challenge of giving students feedback on their dancing During my conversation with Joe Nickel and Michelle Tolson as a guest on JAM: Joe and Michelle’s Dance Podcast, the topic turned to how to give feedback to our dance students. Many dance teachers...
Do your dancers struggle with social skills – or are they overly social? Time and time again, I read posts from dance teachers in Facebook groups asking for tips on managing overly chatty and talkative students in their dance classes. The responses from...
Why is improvisation important for advanced dancers? It is increasingly important for dancers of all levels and dance styles to be skilled in dance improvisation, as it has exploded in popularity throughout the dance industry in recent years. Dancers –...
Why is improvisation important for beginning dancers? One of my biggest regrets as a dancer is not becoming comfortable with improvisation at a younger age. Early in my dance training and career, I shied away from improv as I found it intimidating. I was...