BigJim
Member
If you are a Bellydance instructor and are teaching classes I hope the title of this topic has caught your attention. This is a personal observation of a situation that I've been observing for the last couple of months and I'd like to share it with the Forum.
The story goes like this... I've been trying in a low pressure way to encourage my daughter to start taking bellydance classes. She is no rookie as she has 15 years of Jazz Tap and Ballet experience. She has moved to a city about 3 hours away and to try an encourage her to continue dancing I said i'd pay for her initial set of beginner lessons in bellydance. She signed up with an instructor who has a good reputation... who is a professional and is one of the kingpins in the city...so far so good.
So how did it work out.... the first couple of lessons generated some interest... my kid was sick for the 3rd and missed it... instructor was sick for the 4th and missed again... 5th lesson had a venue change to a cramped location... to many dancers... not enough room... by the 8th lesson desire to dance not really there... asked her if she wanted to continue on and answer was "well maybe but this instructor was to disorganized for her liking".
And now we get to the point of the story... maybe my daughter was to advanced for this class and didn't have the patience to go with the flow and know that this class was just to learn the basics.... or maybe the instructor had to many newbies to handle, felt like she was trying to herd chickens and was just happy to get the class done and hoped that they picked up something along the way... I don't know what happened because I wasn't there. But I do know she's probably not going to try bellydance again and I think it's a real shame because she could be a great dancer.
After reading this, if you are a teacher or instructor, the question might be"WHAT ARE MY MOST IMPORTANT LESSONS THAT i'M TEACHING" ... the answer might not be teaching the advanced students the more difficult concepts... or choreography... or zils... etc etc... but in figuring out a way to give your absolute best to the newest students... if they are happy they will come back....
This comment has been made not to offend anyone but to try and generate some ideas or thoughts on getting people interested in bellydance and keeping them in the system....looking forward to any comments
The story goes like this... I've been trying in a low pressure way to encourage my daughter to start taking bellydance classes. She is no rookie as she has 15 years of Jazz Tap and Ballet experience. She has moved to a city about 3 hours away and to try an encourage her to continue dancing I said i'd pay for her initial set of beginner lessons in bellydance. She signed up with an instructor who has a good reputation... who is a professional and is one of the kingpins in the city...so far so good.
So how did it work out.... the first couple of lessons generated some interest... my kid was sick for the 3rd and missed it... instructor was sick for the 4th and missed again... 5th lesson had a venue change to a cramped location... to many dancers... not enough room... by the 8th lesson desire to dance not really there... asked her if she wanted to continue on and answer was "well maybe but this instructor was to disorganized for her liking".
And now we get to the point of the story... maybe my daughter was to advanced for this class and didn't have the patience to go with the flow and know that this class was just to learn the basics.... or maybe the instructor had to many newbies to handle, felt like she was trying to herd chickens and was just happy to get the class done and hoped that they picked up something along the way... I don't know what happened because I wasn't there. But I do know she's probably not going to try bellydance again and I think it's a real shame because she could be a great dancer.
After reading this, if you are a teacher or instructor, the question might be"WHAT ARE MY MOST IMPORTANT LESSONS THAT i'M TEACHING" ... the answer might not be teaching the advanced students the more difficult concepts... or choreography... or zils... etc etc... but in figuring out a way to give your absolute best to the newest students... if they are happy they will come back....
This comment has been made not to offend anyone but to try and generate some ideas or thoughts on getting people interested in bellydance and keeping them in the system....looking forward to any comments