Teaching is a big step that many dancers take before they are really ready. If you've only had less than 4 years experience you probably aren't ready but then again some are natural teachers. However teaching is also a big responsibility. Your responsible for teaching students to dance correctly. Now that doesn't mean that they have to do movements exactly this way or that but you need to teach them how to properly align their bodies and correct posture so that they are not setting themselves up for injury later. Years of doing a move without proper alignment can cause severe damage to joints. You also need to be aware that what makes sense to you doesn't always make sense to everybody else. So if you really want to teach here's my to do list to help you get ready and prepared for this challenging yet rewarding path.
Getting To Know Your Moves
Something you thought you already knew? Think again. As a teacher you have to have a deeper understanding of how each move works. You will have to be able to explain it not only the way you know and understand it but in a completely different way. I suggest using as many of your senses as you can to get to know each move. First write down your own description of your moves, how far can you break it down? It's OK to name it something that makes sense to you. Many people find moves easier to recall when they can give it a name. Once you have your moves described and you feel they make sense, ask at least two people to read them and try to do what it says; make sure one person has some experience with Middle Eastern Dance and one has none. This way you will see if it makes sense to someone who has no previous exposure to the moves. You may also find that the person who has experience with the moves can help you fine tune your description or even give you a completely different way to describe it all together. Now you have an idea of how well people will understand what you say. You might want to go to some beginners classes to listen to and watch the instructors to get a better idea of how to conduct your own classes and possibly find another way to explain movements. Pay special attention if they are talking about proper alignment. Take notes! What moves would you say are beginners/intermediate/advanced moves and which ones are ones that others say are beginners/intermediate/advanced moves.
Planing Ahead
The first thing every teacher should do (for any subject) is to create a lesson plan. How do you want to structure your classes? Which moves are you going to teach? Are you going to teach props? Which props? What zill rhythms? What warm-up's will you use? What music? Will you hand out a syllabus? Will you devote time to history? Community events? Costuming? How long should each part last? Will you teach a choreography? How many lessons are there per session? How many sessions are there going to be a year? How much should you charge? These are all things you should plan out well in advance. The following is my personal opinion of how a lesson plan should be, many people will prefer a different approach. I like to plan an 8 - 10 week session with lessons once a week. I focus on 1 - 5 new moves each week with repeat practice on each move already learned. Zill practice is always included and I teach certain rhythms with different levels. I often introduce one prop, generally a veil and teach one or two veil movements each lesson. I like to have a syllabus prepared that I can hand out at the first class and extra's are available for late joiners or replacing lost copies. In my syllabus I list basic class information (date's, times, location, contact information,etc...) first. Then I like to give an overview of what will be studied each week including moves, zill patterns, and props that will be learned each week. I then include a page with a list of movements and zill patterns that will be learned during the session. Each move or pattern is listed with it's description (the way I describe it) and an empty space below for students to take their own notes in. If a choreography is to be taught it is written out in the syllabus along with the schedule for learning it and ample space for notes.
To view a sample of my basic outline for these different levels click on the links below. Descriptions are not included here as they can easily be found in the movements section and the basic info on time location, etc...will be excluded as it's unecessary but, you will find a basic plan for each level. As it is a "basic" plan there is no choreography or props in these lesson plans.
Location, Location, Location.
You have your lesson plan finished and know that your way of describing things is at least acceptable at this point (you often make improvements to these things after you have more teaching experience) So what is the next step? Location! You need to start looking into locations where you can teach. You may want to ask around at dance schools, fitness centers, community centers or any other place that rents out space for dance and fitness related classes. You should have plenty of mirror space so that your students will be able to see you and themselves when practicing. If you can find a place with wood floors that's preferable as it's generally the easiest to dance on and also puts the least amount of stress on joints. A carpeted floor is an absolute red light. Carpet is hard to dance on and makes it hard for students to learn. A concrete floor is not preferable but will do if you can't find anything else, concrete is not flexible like wood and therefore puts more stress on joints which can cause pain and problems later if used a lot. After you've found a place which is suitable for dancing you should find out if there is any space available for rent and how much it is. Also ask about insurance, do they have insurance? Does their insurance cover you? Do they require you to have insurance to teach there? Can you be added to their policy? How much do you have to pay if you can be added to there policy? If you have to find outside insurance you should look around at different insurance policies that would offer you protection. There may be other locations who have insurance to cover all their instructors to which you could be added so look at other locations as well if you can find more than one. You should also look at whether the size of the room is sufficient and also the parking arangement. You wouldn't want to have a class of 30 with only 5 parking spaces. Make sure you take the parking into consideration when deciding on class sizes as well. Take all these aspects into cosidereation before deciding on a location.
Marketing
You have your lesson plan and your location so your pretty much all set. Now, you need to get the word out about your classes. Ask if you can post flyers at your studio, the community bulletin board at the grocery store. Local Middle Eastern food markets, restaurants, and dance vendors are a good place as well. You may want to have bussiness card to hand out to people you meet as well as a website where people can read about you and your classes. You may want to list yourself on various online directories for dancers and specifically for middle eastern dancers. You can be listed on this site by filling out the classes form or you can be listed on shira's site or bhuz.com or any other directory... there's tons of them out there! You want to be very active in marketing yourself or people will never find out about your classes. The nice thing about offering your classes through a community education program is that you will be listed in their catalog which generally get's mailed to people all over the area, who may not have otherwise thought about bellydance classes.
