Dance – Mrs. Mullan will videotape dances at next sessions

Dear 25th Year Dance Students,
We are in that crunch time of year where you NEED to be practicing at home. You cannot learn & polish a dance if you only dance 1 hour per week. You wouldn’t expect a sports team to improve their skills if they only met for their games, so *you shouldn’t expect your choreographed dance to improve in quality if you only work on it during class time.*
I will be coming into the next session of every class to video-tape whatever is completed of your dances (some classes do not meet next week because they have not missed a class). *We will get those videos up on youtube (private) and send out the links*. Please *use the videos* to *learn the dance* and to *polish – so that you are in sync with the other dancers. *
Finally, *I want to address the issue of FOCUS during dance classes*. We are thrilled that our students enjoy taking classes with their friends. However, *class is not time to be social* – it is time to *LISTEN* and *APPLY* whatever instructions/coaching your teachers give.
There is a *super valuable life-lesson here*, that *I hope all parents will explain and reinforce* (or just read my comments to your child).
*Improvement is anything* (academics, sports, musical instrument, singing, dance, etc.) *is GREATLY enhanced when you have the help of a teacher, coach, director.* There are young athletes and musicians who move away from their family just to be able to train under a particular person. *Without the wisdom and instruction of a knowledgeable instructor*, *bad habits are learned, technique is not mastered, finesse/polish is absent and **progress is slow and limited. * That has always been the struggle of self-taught people competing against well-trained people. Fortunately for you, *you have great teachers who can (and do) give you instructions, critiques, and pointers for how to use correct technique and improve your skills*. The problem is, many of you do not choose to* LISTEN* carefully, *REMEMBER* what was said, and *APPLY* it *every week *when you are in class.
Examples:
– A teacher says, “Point your toes!” This is something that *everyone* in the class should then think, “I need to remember to point my toes – every time.” Eventually, pointing toes becomes instinctive to dancers but it takes many repetitions with conscious effort before that happens. – A teacher says, “Stand up straight!” * Everyone* should regularly use the mirror to check their posture. Notice what a difference it makes. – A teacher corrects your technique or gives a pointer to improve a step/move. You then consciously apply that correction *every* time you do that step/move because if you aren’t thinking about it, you automatically fall back into the bad technique/mistake that you naturally tend to do. With time, the good habit replaces the bad, but *only* if you consistently use the correct technique.
Believe it or not, *a teacher can easily tell if a student is focused and trying to apply the instructions they are given*. So, *when it comes to assessments, a student who only gives their best effort on that one day, is not guaranteed to be passed up. * Why? Because the teacher has likely had to tell that student the same things over and over all year. There is no reason for them to feel confident that one day of doing something correctly will translate to consistently being correct in the regular class.
So, my suggestion to everyone is to work on *listening*, *remembering*, and* applying* *whatever your instructors tell you*. *These 3 skills will serve you well in anything and everything you want to learn in life. * Blessings, Mrs. Mullan
SO – dance, like everything else in life, takes EFFORT to learn. You wouldn’t expect “hanging out” in the gym with NBA players to improve your basketball skills, so you shouldn’t expect “hanging out” with your friends in dance class to improve your dance skills. You have to focus on what the teacher is saying and work to apply that information.