Category: teaching

I’m nervous. My classes for the fall 2011 semester start tomorrow…the first classes in the brand new schedule. After 10+ years of perfecting the old method, I’m embarking on something different. And I’m nervous! Well, I’m actually nervous at the start of every new teaching year, so this really isn’t new. But it feels new. I guess those butterflies are a good thing because they mean that I haven’t gotten blasé. They mean I’m still anticipating & looking forward to new things.

I’ve been putting a lot of time and thought into my lesson plans…probably more than usual because I really want to do it differently this time around. I don’t want to fall back into the same-old, same-old. I want to teach the things that interest me at the moment. How can my students not benefit by coming with me on a journey of exploration?

The first Special Topics class is going to be on finger cymbals. I love the finger cymbals, and I am actually quite a good player; however, I rarely play them in public. And in traditional classes, it seems we never had time to do more than the odd session here and there. I want to change that. I want to rediscover my love and ability with my zills, and I want to help my students to discover it for themselves as well. So we’re going to spend our first Special Topics class learning some patterns, watching a bit of video, and generally becoming familiar with having them with us while we dance. There is so much material to cover – so many ways to explore playing with the cymbals that I can promise you this will not be the only class on the topic. I expect we’ll come back to it a few times during the year. Maybe even in the very next class!  If there’s something you want to learn about, please let me know and I’ll see if I can work it in! How lovely to have this luxury to go in-depth and spend as much time as we wish on a subject!

The Repertoire class is going to learn a Reda-style Hagalla this term. I have always been fascinated with Mahmood Reda’s choreography and when I came upon choreography notes from a workshop I took a long time ago, I decided that I would like to spend time with that old dance, explore the folkloric theatrical Hagalla, learn as much as I can about the actual Bedouin tradition and share it with the class. 

The Introduction to Bellydance – Fundamentals level 1 will be pretty much the same as it always was. There’s just a certain amount of information & movement vocabulary you absolutely need to have in order to begin your journey and I always look forward to spending time with brand new dancers. And hey – for the first time ever in 10 years, this class is NOT full! I’m not sure what to think about that! But it’s okay – the students that are there will get extra attention – yay! There are still 4 spaces open, so if you want to sign up, let me know ASAP as classes start Wednesday.

Hang onto your hip scarves, ladies – here we go!

Morocco, better known as Aunt Rocky, has spent her entire adult life – over 40 years – travelling throughout Egypt & North Africa studying and documenting the dances of the region, and travelling throughout the world teaching them to the rest of us. Studying under Aunt Rocky on a handful of occasions, including two 4-day bellydance “bootcamps” hosted by Saqra have been powerful experiences for me. But more than fond memories…Aunt Rocky has acted as mentor and guide to me. She has taken the time to sit and talk with me, to offer her opinions and blessing. She has had a huge influence on me as a dancer and dance teacher. I would love to honour her in some way for the contribution she has made, not only to me but to the art of Middle Eastern dance throughout North America and the world. I would love to bring her to Whitehorse so that the dancers here could hear her stories and experience her teaching style.

A very well-written post about her is here: http://wwwworldbellydancealliance.blogspot.com/2010/09/morocco-we-call-her-aunt-rocky.html

While browsing her site, I came upon this note (posted on the reviews page) that I had written to a list serve that used to be active – one of the very first for bellydancers, called simply, “MEDlist”. Many of my students will recognize this story – it is one I tell often. Here it is:

Question:

Do you have any advice for teaching a student who is really struggling? In every class, there is always a student who just doesn’t get it. I tend to spend a disproportionate amount of time with them, when the rest of the class also deserves my attention. How do I catch the slower student up without holding back the rest of the class?

Nita’s Answer:
Keeping in mind that each student is an individual with a different level of mastery, try to spend the same amount of time with each student, correcting each  to the level she is performing at – not to the level she “should” be at, nor to the level of the class she is enrolled in. If a beginner student has enrolled herself in the intermediate or advanced class, you must still correct her as a beginner.

I find that the difficulty with learning any new complex movement usually stems from a weakness in one of the foundation movements that it is built upon. In other words, if the rest of the class is learning a complex movement and one student just isn’t getting it, you will need to identify the weak foundation movement and offer a correction to that movement (not the more complex one.)

For example, if you are teaching the class horizontal figure 8 hips but she is still struggling with isolating the hips in a horizontal slide, than of course she is not going to be able to do the figure 8 correctly, hard as she might try. In this case, you should correct her on the weak fundamental movement (the hip slide) rather than trying to “catch her up” to the rest of the class doing the complex movement (horizontal figure 8).

Say something like this: “Lets break this down. We know that the horizontal figure 8 is built on the hip slide, so lets master that first. When you’ve got that, it’ll be a snap to build on it and do the figure 8”.  Give her the job of practicing the hip slide and quickly move on to the next person.  It is then up to her to take your advice or not.

“A guy calls the musicians’ guild to get a quote on a 6 piece band for a wedding. The rep says “Off the top of my head, about $2000”. He says”WHAT? FOR MUSIC?. “The rep responds ” I’ll tell you what. Call the plumbers’ union & ask for six plumbers to work from 6 to midnight on a Saturday night. Whatever they charge you, we’ll work for half.”

(From Absolute Underground TV via a facebook status)

I like that joke. It’s funny because it’s so true. People don’t question paying a professional trades person for their expertise, but they are always often thunderstruck when asked to pay a professional rate when hiring a musician or dancer. It’s just crazy-making! Why does this happen? Why does the public so undervalue the professional entertainer?

It can be really insulting, too, when someone calls to hire you to perform for their event and then changes their mind when they find out that you actually charge money. Money! “Well,” says a typical inquirer, “I thought you could stay and enjoy the party in return for dancing.” Or how about the restaurant owner who offers you a “free” supper in return for the evening’s entertainment. Or worse yet, the potential employer who cancels your gig because they found someone else who will do it for significantly less money. I even had one conference organizer who, upon being told my fee, asked me if I had a student I could recommend who would do it for free! This might lead you to think that I charge exorbitant rates – not true! My rates are similar to what bellydancers are charging for similar gigs in Calgary, Edmonton & Vancouver.I think dancers and musicians have in large part done this to themselves through a history of undercutting. Undercutting is when someone agrees to work for significantly less money than the current local rate. This results in the going rate going insultingly lower and lower until a professional can no longer justify working.

Sometimes this happens in all innocence – for example, several years ago I passed a gig along to a student of mine who I judged ready. She was excited to accept. When she discussed what rate she should charge, she suggested a rate about 50% of what I typically charge for the same event. “No, no!” I cried! “Don’t undercut me!” She was shocked – she hadn’t considered it to be undercutting. In her mind, she was my student and less experienced and therefore should charge less than me. Logical on the surface; however, I explained that once you enter the arena of the professional, you must conduct yourself as a professional in every way, including your rate. (How to determine your readiness to become professional is another topic.) The client has hired a professional, and that is you! Why should a client want to pay $175 for a bellydancer if they can get one for $75? Why should they want to pay $50 for a bellydancer if they can get one for tips and a meal? And so it goes.

Another example is when people accept a gig for very little or for free because they “just want to dance.” They want the fun and the experience. They aren’t thinking that they are getting their experience at the expense of those working artists who gig for their living, to supplement their income or support their art. These dancers may be ultimately shooting themselves in the foot, because when you undervalue yourself as a performing artist and don’t charge a professional level fee, everyone’s fee goes down – including yours on the day you decide you’re worth more than a plate of nachos.

And what is wrong if you just want to dance and don’t care about competetive rates? Nothing! Dance for your family and friends. Dance at public events such as fundraisers for good causes. Dance in the school recital with your teacher. Just be sure, when dancing in public, to let people know that you are an amateure, not a professional for hire.

I pretty much suit myself these days when it comes to what gigs I accept and what gigs I turn down. I enjoy dancing for friends – in fact, this weekend I’m helping to celebrate the birthday of an old friend by showing up in costume and doing a little performance. I take a paying gig if it takes place at a date & time I am happy with, and only if the client is happy to pay a fair rate. I am too old to want to beat the bushes for paying gigs at this point in my life, and I’m past the days of wanting to make a living gigging – fortunately I have a 9-5 that takes care of most of my living expenses. These days the dance pretty much manages to pay for itself, and that is 95% through the school. I dance for free a lot – donating my performances to good causes that I believe in. But even there, I set a limit. Often oganizations who are fundraising will have a small budget for honoraria, and I always ask if they do. I am happy to give a receipt for in-kind donation for records if they are non-profits. This also lets them know that they received a gift of some value, and that I value my time & talent. And let me stress that while I do donate performances to good causes, they have to be causes I am passionate about. I’m sure nobody would be surprised to hear that everyone considers their cause to be the best one! So I hope the phone doesn’t start ringing with people wanting free entertainment now that I’ve said that.

The subject doesn’t come up very often, but when it does I just want to throw a little tantrum – which, I guess, is what I’m doing in this blog post. I have spent countless hours practicing technique. I have spent a lot of money on my dance education and training. I am a professional dance artist. I teach classes and have spent hours and hours (and dollars!) attending professional development classes and workshops learning how to teach dance and how to teach adults in general adult ed. It takes a couple of hours to prepare for a gig. Am I dancing at your wedding or at your convention? Am I doing a little solo followed by a fun bellydance lesson for your baby shower or your women’s retreat? Costumes are expensive, and the client expects a professional performer to show up in a professonal costume. But there’s more to it than that – it also takes a good chunk of time to put on makeup and do the hair for a performance. It takes time and expertise to plan the gig – what numbers I will dance to, making the lesson plan for the workshop, putting the music in order. Arranging my day to accommodate the gig (which is often at an inconvenient time). Waiting around in the kitchen or the closet or hiding in the guest room for the right moment when the birthday boy will be surprised by my entrance. Helping the bride plan the right moment for the dancer to entertain the guests in phone calls before the event. Isn’t having a professional arrive on time, prepared and ready go, adding pizzazz to your event in a seamless, no hassle way worth the price? It should be.