Teaching beginner classes certainly requires a definite mindset and use of personality. As teachers, we all enjoy teaching the most advanced students and trying out our choreography on them. It is immensely satisfying to see students that you have trained for years interpreting your creative thoughts. But the reality is that everyone has to start somewhere and beginner students need encouragement in order to progress.
When teaching beginner classes, the number one trait that is needed is patience and next on the list is a sense of humor! It is difficult to teach older students, especially teens who have no previous training but the key, as always, is to really prepare your classes so that the content has a natural progression and is challenging to the students each and every time that they step in to the studio. Younger children are generally easier to teach as beginners because they are more open to the learning process, but it is just as important for them to feel that they are progressing and able to look good. The overriding factor for these classes is to make them FUN! If the students are having fun, it will be much easier for you to enjoy teaching them and the end result will be good.
Ballet. Ballet has to be the hardest subject to teach to beginners, who find it so difficult to understand how to hold themselves and execute even relatively simple exercises at the barre. However, I have found that by starting really slowly and doing all the exercises facing the barre, it helps the newcomer to ballet feel more supported and therefore more secure. It is also very important to teach beginner ballet students at a level that is developmentally appropriate for them. If a teen is taught the same syllabus as an eight year old, they are not going to find it appealing, so although the actual content may be the same, the manner in which it is taught needs to be suitable for the older age group.
Stretching. Stretching for beginner students is difficult and can be a real turn-off to them because they are generally not very flexible and, as we all know, there is no magic wand that we can wave over a student to make them instantly flexible and able to get into a split. Encouraging your beginner students to increase their flexibility is important because it is going to make them enable them to move up to higher levels, but helping them to understand the 'no pain, no gain' theory can sometimes be difficult. Making a time in every class for them to find ways to stretch is helpful and showing them different ways to stretch the hip flexors and hamstring before they attempt the splits will make the whole experience less torturous to all concerned. One of the exercises that I use is to have the students face the barre and hold it with both hands, keeping both feet parallel. Have them take one foot back into a lunge position, placing the back foot face down to the floor, then gently push the hips forward. This gives the hip flexors an easy stretch and will help the student get into a better split. Once they have done that stretch, I have them go immediately into a split, starting with one knee on the floor and gently lowering the body onto the legs. I generally work with beginners to get the front leg stretched first and then once that is established I work on stretching that back leg. By the way, because with beginners you have to work slowly, I often start the class by getting the students to run around the room to get their heart rate up. Then, if you feel they are not warm enough before they start to stretch simply because of the pace of the class, have them do jumping jacks or something similar that will get them ready. This will also break up the strain of them trying to concentrate and will help them to relax. In each class, I recommend that once you have taught some center technique you try to get them moving. Balance de cote is a good step to teach combined with soutenu turns—anything that has a basic structure but moves the dancers around the room. Jumps are also a great way to help the beginner dancer feel the exhilaration of moving.
Jazz. Beginner jazz classes can be a challenge to a teacher because very often the students have little or no ballet training and do not have much idea of what to do with their bodies. Teaching them some basic isolation moves of the head, shoulders, ribcage and hips will give them the sensation of moving and grooving to the beat and at the same time gaining control of their bodies.
Tap. Beginner tap classes can be fun to teach as the students start to understand how to make the sounds and rhythms happen with their feet. They can also be extremely noisy so it’s important to set ground rules right from the start to keep all of that under control!
Personality is top of the list for a teacher of beginner classes. Students who come to your classes with little or no idea of how to dance can very often feel extremely intimidated and so it is really helpful to them if the teacher is happy and outgoing and encouraging of even the slightest accomplishment. If you are an experienced teacher you may not want to teach beginner students because you may feel that it is unrewarding—I know, I have sometimes felt that way too. But by changing my approach and starting to see results, I have managed to reenergize myself to enjoy those classes. The biggest reward is when, at the end of the year, these students get out onstage to perform their number and you can say to yourself, 'Wow! I made them look like they can do a whole lot more than they really are capable of doing at this stage of their training!' The other reward is to see them growing not just as dancers, but also as people.
If you are a young teacher with little experience, you will very often be offered these beginner classes by the studio owner, who will be watching you to see how you handle these classes before you are offered more advanced classes to teach. So the more interesting and exciting you can make your beginner classes look and the longer you are able to retain these students, the more impressed your studio owner will be and the more willing to promote you to higher levels within the studio. It takes real talent and perseverance to be able to attract and keep beginner students and, if you are successful, it not only shows what type of character you have, but also demonstrates your ability as a teacher.
