onela
New member
After resigning myself to understanding that I'd be a keen intermediate forever and deciding not to spend so much time working towards trying to work towards dancing in a troupe or something, and shifting my focus to fitness instruction (which I am sincerely good at and RIDIC enjoying!), I find myself- get this- teaching belly dance! A former instructor of mine recently took a new job that involves a lot of travel; she wasn't able to commit to the spring session and after consultation with another instructor (whom we have both studied with, and also used to teach this specific class), she thought of me and asked me to take the class.
I am *very* flattered and grateful for the opportunity. Teaching has made me bring up my game for my at-home practice, and flex other dance-muscles, like choreography brain. Generally speaking, I'm having a blast.
BUT.
In my beginner class, I have a participant in a wheelchair. She tried to take the previous instructor's winter class, but didn't finish the whole session because even though she lives nextdoor to the recreation centre, poor snow removal prevented her from attending the whole session; she expressed to me that the few classes she'd done previously until the snow fell, she left in *tears*, frustrated with trying to figure out how to be a wheelchair-using bellydance student.
My first class, I made it perfectly clear that to me, all bodies are good bodies; my class is body-positive, and it takes heart and soul to be a dancer. We all have different ability levels, our level of mobility may or may not be apparent to each other, and that I am committed to facilitating the very best "learn to bellydance" class that I can. (all bodies are good bodies and my class is body-positive is what I express to any and all new participants in *anything* I teach, from my aerobics classes, my bellyfit classes, my interval class for competitive figure skaters- I mean *everybody*. It's important to me, working in women's fitness, to talk the talk and walk the walk on that one- I would have said it no matter who was standing in front of me for the first class.)
For the first few weeks when we've focused more on technique, it's been easy to make sure everybody had some stuff to work on where they were challenged, and stuff where they feel awesome at what we're doing; for technique, I try to teach similar kind of movements for upper body, then lower body (for example, I taught chest circles, then we practiced them to music; I taught hip circles, and most students worked on those, except said participant in a wheelchair, who still had our chest circles that she could keep working on). Now, we are moving on to our beginner choreography, which I have inherited from the previous instructor. I feel that my participant in a wheelchair is a little frustrated with the choreography.
What I want to know is if anybody here on the forum has worked with participants in wheelchairs, and if you can recommend any resources on how to adapt choreography for dancers with limited mobility/wheelchair users to make sure that NOBODY leaves dance class in tears. I absolutely, sincerely believe that all my ladies can continue to enjoy dance, even my participant in a wheelchair; but my brain is struggling with how to adapt this pre-existing choreography and I haven't been teaching dance long, so I don't have much experience to draw upon. Basically, I am looking for any and all advice regarding working with dance students of literally all levels of mobility.
I am *very* flattered and grateful for the opportunity. Teaching has made me bring up my game for my at-home practice, and flex other dance-muscles, like choreography brain. Generally speaking, I'm having a blast.
BUT.
In my beginner class, I have a participant in a wheelchair. She tried to take the previous instructor's winter class, but didn't finish the whole session because even though she lives nextdoor to the recreation centre, poor snow removal prevented her from attending the whole session; she expressed to me that the few classes she'd done previously until the snow fell, she left in *tears*, frustrated with trying to figure out how to be a wheelchair-using bellydance student.
My first class, I made it perfectly clear that to me, all bodies are good bodies; my class is body-positive, and it takes heart and soul to be a dancer. We all have different ability levels, our level of mobility may or may not be apparent to each other, and that I am committed to facilitating the very best "learn to bellydance" class that I can. (all bodies are good bodies and my class is body-positive is what I express to any and all new participants in *anything* I teach, from my aerobics classes, my bellyfit classes, my interval class for competitive figure skaters- I mean *everybody*. It's important to me, working in women's fitness, to talk the talk and walk the walk on that one- I would have said it no matter who was standing in front of me for the first class.)
For the first few weeks when we've focused more on technique, it's been easy to make sure everybody had some stuff to work on where they were challenged, and stuff where they feel awesome at what we're doing; for technique, I try to teach similar kind of movements for upper body, then lower body (for example, I taught chest circles, then we practiced them to music; I taught hip circles, and most students worked on those, except said participant in a wheelchair, who still had our chest circles that she could keep working on). Now, we are moving on to our beginner choreography, which I have inherited from the previous instructor. I feel that my participant in a wheelchair is a little frustrated with the choreography.
What I want to know is if anybody here on the forum has worked with participants in wheelchairs, and if you can recommend any resources on how to adapt choreography for dancers with limited mobility/wheelchair users to make sure that NOBODY leaves dance class in tears. I absolutely, sincerely believe that all my ladies can continue to enjoy dance, even my participant in a wheelchair; but my brain is struggling with how to adapt this pre-existing choreography and I haven't been teaching dance long, so I don't have much experience to draw upon. Basically, I am looking for any and all advice regarding working with dance students of literally all levels of mobility.