Does this teaching philosophy sound shady?

Amanda (was Aziyade)

Well-known member
Thanks for taking the time to get this book and let us know.

Yes, I attended a workshop with a "more experienced" teacher when I was first starting and she was sharing her great new discovery - you can make up 8 and 16 count phrases and use them in class and in choreographies!!! Umm, and if she wasn't doing that for the previous 7 years?????

Seriously.

I don't mean to lambast this book, and I admitted that I had my suspicions about the author going into it, but I just can't believe how UNhelpful this book is.
 

PracticalDancer

New member
Disclaimer: I don't know Taaj. Never met her. But her course material is the most thorough and covers the stuff that good teachers actually teach in class. I'm happy with most of the stuff I have, but I think Taaj's material is the gold standard for teacher training.

I have had the privilege of meeting Taaj, since I live (somewhat) near her and have taken a workshop she sponsored. I passed along your comments to her, and it made her day! :D I also recently bought the book; but, I haven't started reading it yet. (I am determined to finish "A trade like any other" first, which is not an easy task, as it is so academic in style.) But, I now have another incentive to read Taaj's book!

Regards,

Anala
 

Shara

New member
Now I want to read the books!
Does the philosophy sound shady? Maybe, maybe not. I would hope that a teacher is more than a few steps ahead in experience and know how.
After reading the comments here, I want to put out some food for thought:
there have been ballet teachers that continued to be sought after instructors even after they could no longer walk. Of course only advanced students studied with them, because they could no longer demonstrate for beginners the concepts that beginners need demonstrated, but and advanced student could improve by leaps and bounds under her training
(no pun intended).:lol:
We, as teachers, need to be honest about our strengths and weaknesses.
We need to push our students to grow as people and as dancers.
Some things that I have seen in classes that I did not like: waiting too long to introduce expression, choreographing for yourself, improv, energy, and how to get stage presence. These things are part of dance philosophy, if you ask me.
 

XelaHayam

New member
I'm echoing what others have said I'm sure,
But I've known GREAT dancers who are wonderful because it comes so naturally to them, but that makes them "bad" teachers because they don't know how to vocalize or break it down to others who it doesnt come naturally to.

An example unrelated to dance, would be professors at a university, or even highschool teachers; some are so very smart in their field, but that is what they should be doing (writing books and researching, in the feild) they have the hardest time communicating all their knowledge to students; sometimes it's so easy for them, they assume its easy for others. Any one have a math or science teacher like this? I know I have.

There is definitely a ballance. To be a good instructor you have to communitcate well but I also think it is imensly important to be WELL ROUNDED. If your a teacher (or even a student) take workshops and classes with as many different teachers and styles as you can - Even dancers in the same style, all do it differently. If you've learned it different ways your self, you will better communicate it to a student who might not understand one way, but understand another.

So in sum - Less talent; more experience. And communication skills, are a must :)
 

Amanda (was Aziyade)

Well-known member
Now I want to read the books!

Definitely get Taj's. The other one is basically useless.

I want to put out some food for thought:
there have been ballet teachers that continued to be sought after instructors even after they could no longer walk. Of course only advanced students studied with them, because they could no longer demonstrate for beginners the concepts that beginners need demonstrated, but and advanced student could improve by leaps and bounds under her training

Of course. I had one of those, sort of, as a coach for performance skills and she shared her knowledge of performance problems and fixes with us without any physical demonstration. But you don't see a person taking a couple of years of ballet classes and then presenting themselves as a teacher.


We have two concepts here, but the one that stuck in my craw is the idea that you don't need to know much more than your students to teach a beginning bellydance class. As I said, I feel it is exactly this kind of thinking that has lowered the bar so badly for our dance.

Xela - a better analogy for your university setting would be a Sophomore teaching Freshman math. Again, I see a big problem with this, both in being able to understand higher math CONCEPTS and in placing what the freshman is studying in the context of a 4-year math degree.
 
... I've known GREAT dancers who are wonderful because it comes so naturally to them, but that makes them "bad" teachers because they don't know how to vocalize or break it down to others who it doesnt come naturally to.

An example unrelated to dance, would be professors at a university, or even highschool teachers; some are so very smart in their field,... sometimes it's so easy for them, they assume its easy for others. Any one have a math or science teacher like this?

Boy, did I! Actually, he was my Dad :)

We all knew never to ask Dad to help us with our Maths homework, because we'd end up more bamboozled than when we started! He only taught advanced students, so I'm sure he was just right for them - but he just couldn't get down to a schoolgirl's level.
 

Shanazel

Moderator
Asking my husband about music or math is dangerous. I always preface my questions with "In twenty-five words or less, please tell me..."
 

Cyriine

New member
Asking my husband about music or math is dangerous. I always preface my questions with "In twenty-five words or less, please tell me..."

LOL, Is he that bad?

My Mother is a tailor and whenever I needed some help with textiles coursework she'd make me write a bunch of stuff even the teacher had no clue about. Super embarrassing
 

goddessyasaman

New member
Thanks for letting us know about this book.

I have taught Belly dance for three years straight and then took a break which I'm still on, I did'nt start teaching till I was dancing for about 6 or 7 years into it, but that was me, I felt that I was ready to teach other women about this art form, that included my History of belly dance, the different styles, costuming, dancing on stage, flexibilty (I used Yoga in warm ups), Music.
I even had classes on what you feel about belly dance/ I would give them a random song to dance to, for improve and so on telling them to feel the music letting your body come alive, so I do think you should have a good experiance in belly dancing as a whole to teach.

we want to pass this art on the right way, but with that said not every teacher will have gone through all this so sometimes having more then one teacher is good, and as others here have said just because you dance great will not always mean you teach well and vice versa.
 
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