We all know those days…. The gaggle of teenage dancers who come dragging into the classroom with years of teenage angst on their faces. They enter the room with the obvious vibe of 'Don’t ask us to do anything difficult today' and they immediately make you question your sanity for entering the world of teaching.
It is days like this I often begin to feel a bit insecure myself. I find myself wondering if I did something to create the 'bad vibe' in the room? Was I too hard on them the day before or had something I had said in the privacy of the back office slipped its way into the sweet young ears in the lobby?
No, it is truly just the torment of the teenage, hormonal, easily irritated dancer. We all have them. They are often challenging, psychologically exhausting, and sometimes your greatest triumph all in the same breath! I have been fortunate enough to go through almost 20 years of teenage fun and have found a few 'rainy day' tactics for those days where a regular technique class just won’t cut it.
Try one or a few of these ideas to break up the mundane and expected:
*Directed Improvisation- My dancers love to improv and tend to really express themselves more if the lights are low. If you don’t have the ability to dim your lights, bring in a lamp or a few strands of Christmas lights. I have found that mood lighting truly helps those who might not otherwise participate as freely. In directed improv I often bring out every prop I can find from barres, benches, chairs, fabric, hats, etc. I ask the dancers to start wherever and however they want and as the music plays I have them begin to improv to the music. Along the way I give out directions such as 'All dancers to the benches', 'Direct the focus to Jane', 'Make contact with another dancers', 'All dancers stay low' etc. This gives the dancers some direction and often creates some really beautiful moments!
*Massage and Relaxation Class- My students beg for this class year-round, but I typically 'gift' this class on a random day once-a-year! This class mixes massage with stretch. Have the dancers pair up and spread out around the room with a partner. I typically play a relaxation play list with nature sounds and classical music.
Dancer 1 begins sitting in a butterfly stretch as Dancer 2 begins a slow back and shoulder massage as Dancer 1 stretches forward as far as possible. After 2 minutes with massage and stretch, I ask Dancer 1 to inhale slowly through the nose and then slowly exhale as Dancer 2 'walks' with their hands from the lower back to the upper back with gentle pressure. Repeat the breathing and 'walk' 2 times and then gently roll the dancer back to an upright position. Repeat this same process in a straddle position and with both legs stretched forward with relaxed feet. At the conclusion of this massage and stretch, you will find that your most inflexible students will have highly improved their stretch positions. I like to finish up the class with a mental relaxation exercise where you tense up and release different muscle regions of the body and I often incorporate a mental imagery exercise as well.
*Instructed Choreography Exercise- For those days where you need a little 'quiet time' and you want the dancers to create, I like to type up a choreography list. I will have dancers work in groups of 2-4 dancers and I will hand them a list with directions listing 5-8 concepts that must be attained during their choreography piece such as:
*Dancers must perform 4-8 counts of choreography in a ripple
*Dancers must make contact with the other dancers at last 2 times
*Insert a turn combination in place or traveling with different arm and leg positions for each turn
*Choreography must contain a grand pas de chat, a middle leap, and a double pirouette with 'inventive' arm positions
*Dancers must show one example of usage of levels (low, medium, and high) somewhere within their piece
At the end of class, each group will showcase their choreographed piece to the class. I often have them go through their list to breakdown their use of ideas. I love to use this for my ballet classes as well!
The Ipod Mix-Up- If you are anything like me, your Ipod is a virtual wonderland of music genres. To start the progression section of my class, I often have my dancers improv across the floor but they are not allowed to do any pirouettes, battements, or leaps. I will begin with one song and then I will stop the music and jump to another style of music randomly on my Ipod. As the music is paused, the dancers have to freeze in whatever their last position was until the next song begins. It is a fun way to explore the crazy music you have that you might have otherwise forgotten and it stretches the kids to be able to dance to all forms of music!
These are just a few ideas that might help you get through those days where you just can’t do 'the norm'! I hope that you can use these thoughts to make your sometimes difficult classes much easier! Happy teaching!