How to make the first lesson interesting?

[Genmies]

Hi, I was approached to teach a beginner's belly dance class in my local village hall. I have been belly dancing for 8 years and did several years of jazz before that.

I have been making preparations such as lessons plan, health and safety, music, warm up, cool down and choreograph ( finger crossed I've got everything covered ). The problem I am facing is ' how can I make the first lesson interesting?'

:think:

 

[goddessyasaman]

Hi, I was approached to teach a beginner's belly dance class in my local village hall. I have been belly dancing for 8 years and did several years of jazz before that.

I have been making preparations such as lessons plan, health and safety, music, warm up, cool down and choreograph ( finger crossed I've got everything covered ). The problem I am facing is ' how can I make the first lesson interesting?'

:think:

Very good question, When I taught my first beginner's class I had made everyone Ankle bracelets, they loved that. You could tell them something about Middle eastern dance history, this is great for them to know and it is very interesting as well. Also you yourself could do a dance for them at the begining of class to show them How belly dance moves come together with music. My students loved all of this.

Hope this gives you an Idea, And Good luck:dance:

 

[Shanazel]

To break the ice, I have students choose slips of paper with middle eastern "dance names" written on them. When they are done trying to pronounce the names, we return to kindergarten, sit in a circle on the floor, and get to know each other. Each person states her name and a wish or something she has a special affection for. The QUIZ follows, in which we try to recall not only names but the wishes. It sounds silly and it is silly but by the time we're done, everyone is laughing together and we're ready to dance. Wouldn't work in a really big class, but has worked well for me for a couple of decades now.

 

[Mosaic]

To break the ice, I have students choose slips of paper with middle eastern "dance names" written on them. When they are done trying to pronounce the names, we return to kindergarten, sit in a circle on the floor, and get to know each other. Each person states her name and a wish or something she has a special affection for. The QUIZ follows, in which we try to recall not only names but the wishes. It sounds silly and it is silly but by the time we're done, everyone is laughing together and we're ready to dance. Wouldn't work in a really big class, but has worked well for me for a couple of decades now.

Sounds like great fun - Must remember that for my next beginners class I'll add your name to the list and see if they can pick the non-ME name
~Mosaic

 

[Kashmir]

A hard one - as one person's interesting is another person's puke making. What is interesting will depend on the students. If you have a good idea of what the mix will be you can tailor something for a particular slant. If you have a chance to pre-enrol you could ask what they what to get out of class. If they want to play dress-ups maybe ankle bracelets would do it. If they are interested in culture and authentic costumes you could start with some appropriate video clips (bringing costumes along would destroy the class for the group I have in mind). If they are fitness orientated slant your spiel to muscles and physical benefits. If they are into performance either dance yourself (in costume) or again show video clips - but of high end performers.

As a rule of thumb, I show (belly dance) clips and make a point of speaking to each new student. We do movements with names and try and recall each person's name and movement.

 

[Amulya]

Dance for them, to show what they are going to learn. Always works

 

[Starmouth]

Being lively, knowledgeable and friendly is the best way to make the class interesting.

I remember that in my first lesson the teacher gave us a quick 5 or ten minute 'introduction' to belly dance, quickly explaining the various styles, what style her class would focus on and the origins. She also gave us a hand-out to read at home (just a bit of belly dance history), then made sure the class was comfortable by explaining that you do not need to be a certain size of level of fitness to belly dance! This certainly relaxed me and made for an atmosphere more conducive to enjoyment.

She then showed us correct posture and took us through a gentle warm-up to a beautiful piece of music (which we have used every week since and I still don't know the name of!) and lent us each a coin scarf. Much excitement ensued!

For me, the best thing about that class was that we learned a very basic routine at the end It really made me feel that I was learning to dance, not just go through the motions. Just a simple routine to Kiss Kiss by Tarkan, a few hip drops and piston hips, little shoulder shimmy, but I was delighted with myself and hooked from then on!

 

[Genmies]

@goddessyasaman: Thanks, giving everyone an ankle bracelet sounds like a good idea and as making jewellery is another part of what I do, it shouldn't be too difficult.

@Shanazel: I do like the idea of getting the students to pronounce different middle eastern dance names. I am going start searching for the names. Thanks!

@Kashmir:There's truth in what you said, different people would have different needs. So what happened if there is a mixture of needs, should I try to remember what each student wants and encourage them accordingly?

@Amulya: Yes, I did thought of doing that, show them what they will be learning. Do you think it's a good idea to also teach them a simple and fun dance combination during the first lesson?

@Starmouth: Thanks for giving the perspective of a student. It was so long ago since I attended my first lesson, I forgot how it is like to learn something new.

 

[Elfie]

So. As I have never taken an actual class before, I wanted to chime in here. If I were starting a beginner class, this is what I would expect from my teacher, as well as a few things that could be fun and informative at the same time. Some of it may not be reasonable, I don't know. I've never taken a class. But this is what I expect out of the very first lesson - a sort of orientation type deal, with some fun elements.

I'd expect:

*to see my teacher dance for a short bit - maybe a two minute number
*introductions between the teacher and the students (any fun things like gifts or games could be worked in with this like the one Shanazel suggested - the ME dance name thing sounds awesome!)
*show and tell of dance items from the teacher - simple stuff at first - showing zills, drums, veil, hip scarves (maybe even have a costume or two on mannequins to show them and talk a bit about - the sparkles always make it interesting!)
*a bit of background on ME dance and music (video clips, music clips etc.)
*safety and health stuff - the importance of proper stretching etc.
*warmup
*proper posture and "dance" pose; then on to basic isolations and the "twist" shimmy
*simple weight changing and single "step-together-step-together" moves
*framing arms
*combine twist, single step and framing arms; after a few repetitions to the left, right, front and back, introduce arm paths - free movement to get used to moving the arms during dance
*a few minutes of "free belly dance" (improv) so the teacher can assess the students in a casual fashion
*cool down
*class conclusion

I don't know how plausible that would be for a first lesson. But I would absolutely expect to see my teacher dance and to be assessed by the teacher from the very start. That way he or she could better know where potential problem areas are right from the start. And if you're a "hands-on" type of teacher, this bit could help you introduce that aspect of your teaching method. Walk through the students and do small corrections such as lifting their arms up higher, nudging the shoulders back - it's all about the students being comfortable with you and you with them, so it's better to establish this kind of thing right off, I think. And, it gives you a more casual setting as a teacher to walk among the students and chit chat, offer encouragements, and with the small "hands-on" approach, you can establish if any of your students have an issue with touching without them feeling "singled out". Some people do.

This is what just one classroom newbie (meaning I have never taken a class) expects to see when she does finally get a class together. I don't know if it's even a doable lesson, per se, but something very like that is what I would expect from my teacher. Granted, I've been self studying and know a bit more about the dance than most true beginners do (though not much more, I admit LOL!), but I've never had the benifit of a classroom setting or a live teacher. So maybe I expect more from a live teacher than I should. But maybe it will be helpful to you. Good luck!

Luckily for you that you're teaching belly dance. After a few lessons, you should have no trouble keeping them interested. Belly dance is so much fun in itself that you won't have to try quite so hard to keep it interesting!

 

[Genmies]

Thanks Elfie, you've just confirmed on a few points I have thought about; do a short dance, move around the students and make small corrections. The points on what you would expect is also very useful, might incorporate some into the lesson plan.

As this is my first time, there is always the worry of not doing it well and not being able to keep everyone interested. So, I am going to be making lots of preparation.

 

[MariaAZ]

I've taken classes with two different teachers in two very different venues. The first time was an open entrance-open exit beginners class at a dance studio. There was no "first day" per se; on MY first day, I was the only new student as everyone else had been taking classes for varying times. This was mostly a drill-type lesson plan teaching basic moves and how to thread them together, and it was pretty much a "sink or swim" situation where I had to try and keep up with other beginners who were ahead of me on the learning curve.

The second class (which I'm now attending) is at a community college and has a first day and last day of class. On our first day, the teacher introduced herself, danced a demonstration and then we took turns introducing ourselves and telling why we wanted to learn to belly dance. Some students want to be professionals, others are taking belly dance to round out their dance training, and a few were taking it strictly for "fun and fitness." The teacher went over class rules, then we did some stretches and learned a few moves (like hip and rib cage slides.)

 

[jenc]

Just had to chime in and say that I would hate to be given an ankle bracelet -too hippy

 

[Aniseteph]

I'm liking the intro's and why you're here (including the teacher - don't want your full belly dance biog or any spiritual opinions on BD though, thanks). Anything that helps break the ice a little helps you feel better about klutzing your way through those first steps.

Definitely a demo - some students won't ever have seen belly dance so it's nice to see what you are aiming for.

I like a sense of progress, so starting with 2 or 3 basic moves, drill 'em a bit, then maybe start using them in a simple routine that builds over the weeks so you start to get a sense of dancing and how they can fit with each other and the music.

We always had the same warmup to the same music (proper belly dance music) so starting to get familiar with that helps your confidence as well.

I don't know if it's because I'm a reserved uptight Brit, but giving out jewellery is a bit weird to me. You might become exchanging-gifts type friends later, but to start with her role is teacher, not buddy. It's a bit pushy. But I appreciate that there are cultural differences on this so it might not have the same vibes elsewhere.

 

[Amulya]

@Amulya: Yes, I did thought of doing that, show them what they will be learning. Do you think it's a good idea to also teach them a simple and fun dance combination during the first lesson?

Absolutely, you can do either way: little choreography or some improvisation. I let them stand in a circle, start out with doing some dancing they have to copy (very simple of course) and then point out one of the students to chose the next move, and go on till everybody has done one. It's a fun and simple way to start early with teaching them improvisation. Personally I am very pro improvisation as this will teach students how to dance on their own, not all students are able to keep choreographies in their mind and sometimes they like to try out dancing on their own choice of music, which is hard if you only learned to use the choreographies of your teacher.
But of course there is nothing wrong with a choreography, it will help them to get inspired and how to use music. Both improv and choreo is a good idea, but that is more for the following lessons.

 

[goddessyasaman]

Just had to chime in and say that I would hate to be given an ankle bracelet -too hippy

Too Hippy, I have not heard that before:lol: at least not in the Belly dance world but I can see why some may feel that way.

 

[goddessyasaman]

Yes there are many things you could do to make it more interesting, Like I have said A short performance as a opening at the start of class and have a cute give away item the ankel bracelet, Something like Shanazel had said but I had this system to help them pick there own Belly dance name even the people who were not becoming Pro's loved to have a belly dance name. What I would do was have a 4 question thing for them like...

Example
What is your fav color? Red
What is your Fav Animal? Hawk
What is your Fav time of day? evening
What is your fav Season? Spring

from this I would make your name: Gul Yuzen ,which means "Floating rose" in Turkish I use translators plus I am always learning some new language .

So it would not take long I had names picked out already to the answers that they would give. So this would be there Belly dance name when they were in class or until they picked there own or they could stick with the one I gave them. I would pick names by going through words that fit the answers from question list The words would come from different langues like Arabic, Turkish, Hindi. But also your class could be shorter then mine was so you could just pick names based on a pretty phrase or words like "Beautiful" in Arabic is "gamila" you say it like "gam-ee-la". My students loved it

They just loved having a belly dance name:dance:

 

[Genmies]

Something like Shanazel had said but I had this system to help them pick there own Belly dance name even the people who were not becoming Pro's loved to have a belly dance name. What I would do was have a 4 question thing for them like...

Example
What is your fav color? Red
What is your Fav Animal? Hawk
What is your Fav time of day? evening
What is your fav Season? Spring

from this I would make your name: Gul Yuzen ,which means "Floating rose" in Turkish I use translators plus I am always learning some new language .

So it would not take long I had names picked out already to the answers that they would give. So this would be there Belly dance name when they were in class or until they picked there own or they could stick with the one I gave them. I would pick names by going through words that fit the answers from question list The words would come from different langues like Arabic, Turkish, Hindi. But also your class could be shorter then mine was so you could just pick names based on a pretty phrase or words like "Beautiful" in Arabic is "gamila" you say it like "gam-ee-la". My students loved it

They just loved having a belly dance name:dance:

Thanks, I like the idea of helping students find a belly dance name. I don't have one so I should start with myself.

 

[rsps]

I can only speak to how my own teacher has taught me to do it. I have student taught with her a few times and am starting to learn how to teach her class.
Because her class is at a yoga studio and is a cross between genre's of belly dance and her aim is to make women of all fitness levels comfortable with belly dance and their bodies etc...she starts with warm up and an 'incantation'. Mind you, this is NOt the mind set of 'I'm going to be the next Belly Dance Super Star' by taking this class. This is a class that is bread and butter of most belly dance teachers; women who want to do something different and may or may not have a dance background. In order to nurture such a broad range of skill levels she does it in a methodical way.

After the 'incantation' and warm up we start with form and then work to how to move the hips by way of the movement of the legs and knees. After this we teach basic moves; Maya, Omi, figure eights...and weave those into a song so there is a feeling of accomplishment that one has done some choreo.

When you have a class that is all over the spectrum in skill level it is harder to judge how difficult of technique to use. But, I find she teaches somewhere in the middle of skill level so that those who have danced for a while do get a few new things and the beginners feel challenged enough to keep coming.

 

[Kashmir]

Too Hippy, I have not heard that before:lol: at least not in the Belly dance world but I can see why some may feel that way.

Have to agree - it'd be just the one class for me if the teacher presented me with ankle (or any) jewellery
ETA:

had this system to help them pick there own Belly dance name even the people who were not becoming Pro's loved to have a belly dance name.

This forum really shows up the cultural differences. Again I cannot imagine this going down well. I have seen well established dancers being presented with names from teachers which they have earned but pick and mix seems almost insulting to te culture.

 

[Shanazel]

Ahem. As a child of the sixties, I feel obliged to point out that "hippy" refers to the width of a particular part of one's anatomy. "Hippie" refers to the flower child/back to the earth movement of forty years ago.

Yasaman, feel free to present me with jewlery. I prefer jade and turquoise to diamonds and emeralds, but if the sparkly stuff is all you have, well, I guess I can force myself to accept.