maylynn
New member
I've been having a little problem with one of my students and would love your advice.
I've been teaching this lovely lady private lessons for a little while now. She picks up things relatively well and is particularly good at grasping fast/sharp movements such as any kind of shimmy. She has basic knowledge of some of the basic movements now and I've started introducing variations and movements that are slightly more difficult.
My problem is that I cannot, for the life of me, get her to do proper undulations! Any smooth slow movements really, but this is most noticeable with undulations. I've never had a problem quite like this in 9 years of teaching.
I suspect the main issue is lack of focus on her part. She is often flustered or distracted and while she can whip off some fast moves pretty well due to general coordination and muscle memory, things that need more control and subtlety are very difficult for her to do. I've tried breaking the movements down to the atomic level, tried describing them many different ways, tried demonstrating different ways, tried physical adjustments to try and help her understand the movement, tried to drill it in, tried to be casual about it, tried to slip it into combinations to see if this would help it flow better - but all to no avail.
So what do I do? I can't really think of anything else to try with her so that she gets undulations right. She likes the movements and says she wants to get them right, but when the time comes to learn/practice her mind is in 387 different places and things just do not come together. At the moment for example, with chest undulations for example she's leading with her neck and shoulders and the undulation is not undulating.
For the moment I keep trying to go through them with her in the hopes that it will all fall into place one day, whether through consistent attempts at it or a variety of angles of approach. She is making some progress on them, albeit pretty slow. She obviously enjoys the lessons and is gaining confidence, but I can't help thinking if she focused a bit more it would be a lot easier for her!
Anyone been in similar situations or have any suggestions on how I could make this work for her?
I've been teaching this lovely lady private lessons for a little while now. She picks up things relatively well and is particularly good at grasping fast/sharp movements such as any kind of shimmy. She has basic knowledge of some of the basic movements now and I've started introducing variations and movements that are slightly more difficult.
My problem is that I cannot, for the life of me, get her to do proper undulations! Any smooth slow movements really, but this is most noticeable with undulations. I've never had a problem quite like this in 9 years of teaching.
I suspect the main issue is lack of focus on her part. She is often flustered or distracted and while she can whip off some fast moves pretty well due to general coordination and muscle memory, things that need more control and subtlety are very difficult for her to do. I've tried breaking the movements down to the atomic level, tried describing them many different ways, tried demonstrating different ways, tried physical adjustments to try and help her understand the movement, tried to drill it in, tried to be casual about it, tried to slip it into combinations to see if this would help it flow better - but all to no avail.
So what do I do? I can't really think of anything else to try with her so that she gets undulations right. She likes the movements and says she wants to get them right, but when the time comes to learn/practice her mind is in 387 different places and things just do not come together. At the moment for example, with chest undulations for example she's leading with her neck and shoulders and the undulation is not undulating.
For the moment I keep trying to go through them with her in the hopes that it will all fall into place one day, whether through consistent attempts at it or a variety of angles of approach. She is making some progress on them, albeit pretty slow. She obviously enjoys the lessons and is gaining confidence, but I can't help thinking if she focused a bit more it would be a lot easier for her!
Anyone been in similar situations or have any suggestions on how I could make this work for her?