So, you walk into the room to teach your dance class…or maybe you’re conducting rehearsal. In a perfect world, the dancers are sitting on the floor warming up - but more than likely, they are chatting it up with friends or on their phones scrolling through Instagram.
This is a common scenario for most dance teachers, especially if you are that dance teacher who tends to show up right on time. Okay, I’ll say it... The teacher that shows up LATE.
Well, I’m going to tell you how you can “activate” the brains of your dancers instantly and eliminate the lag time where they slowly put their phones away and drag their bodies to the dance floor.
This is what you do…
You must walk into the room with what I call a dance directive!
If it’s a dance class, you’ll walk in (with a strong voice) and speak the first eight counts of any movement. It can even be the first eight counts of your warmup, but the directive becomes less effective if the dancers are already familiar with your warmup.
Essentially, it can be any type of movement. It even works when walking into a rehearsal. But for the sake of things, let's say you are walking in to teach a class, and warming up is the first thing on the agenda. Speak the first few counts of your movement.
So for example:
BODY RELEASE –1, PLIE –2, RIGHT SHOULDER ROLL –3, LEFT SHOULDER ROLL –4, ROLL UP –5 & 6, HEAD BACK –7, HEAD FRONT –8
Now, I said SPEAK the movement, not DEMONSTRATE it. Why? Hearing the direction (and not seeing it) engages the brain in a different way than if you were to demonstrate it. It makes your dancers more curious and determined to want to replicate the movement.
If the dancers look bewildered at first, wondering what in the heck you are talking about, don’t worry. Just repeat the direction. And by the second time you will have everyone’s attention.
Meanwhile, you are setting up your music or organizing your things, and the dancers have lost interest in their phones or their conversations and their brains are working on trying to replicate the movement.
Now, does it matter if they can exactly replicate what you had in your mind? Not at all. The point is to draw their focus and get their brains working fast.
Once you are ready, you can demonstrate what the movement actually is. Or better yet, you can call on a few of the dancers to see who was able to get it or who came close.
CAUTION - Do not use this method on dancers younger than 12 or dancers that are beginners. This method will only frustrate them or make them feel awkward. Save this method for dancers ages 12 to adult (intermediate level and above).
I have used this method when I’ve entered my regular classes, my master classes, and even my rehearsals…and it works every time!
I also have a method that is guaranteed to work with the little ones, too (ages 5-11). But you will need to follow me on Instagram to get that secret (@jasonwarley). :-)
Are my methods scientific? Heck no! Have they worked for me? Yes! Will they work for you? Well, give it a try and leave me a comment.
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