Student Blog: Learning to Teach

I am a member of my high school’s Dance Ensemble and completing an Independent Study course with a lower    level dance class. In my Independent Study, I assist the teachers by demonstrating movement, choreographing, and taking on extra responsibilities when a teacher is absent and there is a substitute teacher. Our school’s dance program is fortunate to work with numerous guest artists throughout the year, and one of my favorite activities is assisting them! 

Recently, I was tasked with choreographing part of the song “I Got Rhythm” for my Independent Study class. I was given the opportunity to choreograph a forty-five second section of my choosing from the song, using hats as a prop for the jazz piece. 

As I made my musical cut and began to choreograph, I became aware of the challenges that I would be encountering. Chiefly, I was very nervous that my teachers would not like my choreography. Apart from that, I felt the need to make the choreography visually interesting without making it too difficult for the dancers. 

I decided to do a partner section in the choreography, which then presented another challenge. I had to choreograph the partner section without another person to help me ensure that the choreography would function properly. When teaching, I had to pivot a few times when I realized that the movement I had conceptualized in my head would not actually work on stage. 

Midway through teaching the section, I was notified that the dancers would no longer be wearing hats - which I had incorporated into my choreography! Although this change presented a real-time challenge to my teaching plan, I created a new partner movement on-the-spot that still resembled my original choreography, but did not incorporate the use of hats. This on-the-spot pivot gave me a lot of anxiety about the movement I was creating - I did not want the movement to look thrown together. After watching the updated choreography, I ended up really feeling proud of my work, my flexibility and the final presentation of the section. 

Another obstacle I encountered is that the choreography was a bit challenging for the dancers because it started fast. After drilling it a few times, the dancers really stepped up  and were able to execute the choreography. My teacher watched and told me that she loved what I had done!

Once the choreography was set, I was asked to clean my section of the piece. As a very meticulous worker, I knew that I would not be able to fix every crooked hand or movement that was not exactly how I envisioned it. I experimented with different ways of giving productive feedback and re-teaching choreography to ensure the piece would look as good as possible. As we cleaned the piece, I learned that the class was most receptive to walking through the choreography slowly with words, then with counts, and finally with music. 

While I am new to choreographing and teaching, I am learning to trust myself and my abilities - I am gaining confidence knowing that others approve of my work and will not be afraid to make big choices! I am also learning how to direct individual dancers, lead a classroom and teach choreography in a more comprehensive way - being direct but constructive with corrections. 

Soon, I will be choreographing a song of my choice for a school showcase. I am determined to use this experience to guide me as I create movement and teach it to other dancers!