choreography week 2

Today was my second time working with those public high school kids that I'm choreographing on...and it went much better than last week.

First of all, this time I was actually prepared to teach a class first rather than go right into teaching my choreography as I had expected last week. So I gave them a warm up barre and some things in the center. Again, most of them are not trained dancers, but they certainly do pick up quickly! I was impressed by the fact that they all remembered most of the choreography from last week, even though they hadn't done it at all since then.

After doing some center combinations to get them turning a bit, we went over the stuff I taught last week. It was nice that they kept it all in their bodies because we could add on some finer details and clean up the movements a bit before moving on. I then taught them about 16 more counts of the phrase and we put it all together with what we did before. I find that repetition is really the key with this group. They all seem to be trying really hard and they appear eager to get it right, so I try to give them the opportunity to really feel comfortable with the steps before moving on.

The tough part as a teacher is to do this for the less experienced ones while still keeping the advanced ones interested. Having been in both kinds of experiences (the worst in the class and the more advanced side), I hope I can use how I've felt in those situations to translate it effectively as I teach. Obviously I'm still just starting to find my "teaching tone" -as I referred to it last week- but that's my goal anyway. I find myself unconciously mimicking those teachers I've had in the past who have been most impressionable on me personally (a select few).

Anyways. The rehearsal went quite well and I like that they are already progressing. Next week they have school vacation, but after that it's time to crack down and choreograph more to put together so it starts to really look like a dance. I only get them 2 hours per week until their show in May, so it will come up quick. Will post performance details as they become available.

Speaking of performance details, reminder of the small studio showcase performance thing I'm in on Feb. 24th at 5:30. I've been working a LOT on my variation (Gamzatti from La Bayadere) the past few days with my teacher, which I really enjoy because, again, we get to go into great detail and find what works for me. Should be a fun little performance.