Elizebeth Randall
Over the past three years, 100 working artists have shared their stories and career paths on this blog. One of the biggest themes to emerge is about teaching - as an opportunity to explore our movement choices and curiosities, as an income source, as a means to find dancers, and as an opportunity to develop our audiences. This summer, we will repost writing from the 100 artist profiles about teaching as well as offer you reflection questions related to your own work. Click on any name below to read an artist's full profile.
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From Shelley Senter:
Teaching will most likely and most fortunately play a role in your dance career. This is where dance artists walk the walk. To articulate what you are "up to" is one of the most profound learning experiences one can have. An important principle of teaching (for me) is transparency: let your students in on your questions, your research, your willingness to not know (or perhaps your fear about not knowing). A good teacher is not so much one who teaches things to others, but one who allows others to learn. Getting out of the way to allow students to learn (to try, to fail, etc.) is huge.
From Patricia West Sotelo:
I began dancing at the age of four. It was modern dance. My teacher was trained in Laban. I now realize how much of this has shaped me as a dancer and performer. Attention was put on how to carry yourself on stage, letting energy flow throughout every limb and cell of your body and creative movement. I now, as a teacher, emphasize these same points, and this first teacher of mine is still an incredible resource to me. My mother, once a dancer and still a musician and teacher, has also shaped me as a teacher. To this day, we share ideas, inspire each other, and enjoy the natural unfolding of possibilities that our teaching encourages.
The best way to learn how to teach is to do it. We all teach how we best learn, but the more we do it, the more we realize what others may need. We begin to broaden our scope and our lens. It's also important to know that the teacher doesn't have something that the students are without. As teachers, it is our job to help unveil what is already present. We create and facilitate situations that reveal the students in their best light --- showing forth their skills or selves that may have been hidden before but always there.
Teaching can be crucial in a dance career. As I toured from place to place, we not only performed but taught. People wanted to not only be an audience member but wanted to experience a class or workshop taught by us, the company members. It was a wonderful way to get to know a community, fully delve into a place, and meet individuals who value the arts and want to help spread the language of dance and creative expression.
From Mo Miner:
I think teaching is very important. It is a way to earn an income in dance, and it is the way that modern dance stays alive through generations. If you enjoy teaching dance it is important to seek out dance pedagogy classes and opportunities to teach. Even if you don’t feel ready or prepared, the only way to learn to teach is to do it. Offer classes to your friends for free, teach children, figure out what is important to you and what you want to pass along. Teaching in any form is only satisfying if you love it, so it is also important to be realistic about whether teaching is for you. There are endless possibilities in the field of dance, so you should follow the threads and pathways that keep you interested and excited.
From Elizebeth Randall:
If you have a real desire to teach, follow it. The world will never stop needing positive, passionate, and enthusiastic teachers. Learn by taking classes with teachers you respect and admire and talk to them about how they do what they do. Consider being an assistant teacher for youth classes when you are first getting started. Observe classes. And most of all, do it; we learn to teach by teaching.
Teaching has paid my bills throughout my career but it has also been the place, on a deeper, personal level, where I have discovered my voice and built my confidence. When I walk into the studio to teach these days, where once I felt nervous and uncertain, I now feel a kind of relief; I know I can really be myself in that space, and I trust the relationships I have built with my students. It is a fruitful and beautiful place to be. I think I used to think I could either be a dancer OR a teacher and that focusing on one would compromise the other. In some ways, this is true, but I am realizing now that teaching is just another facet of my full experience as an artist. I am also learning that it goes far beyond the simple transmission of technical information or choreography. Our work as teachers can be transformational. I believe we can also help students grow and deepen their sense of connection, awareness, intention, joy, and self-worth through the lens of this particular form.
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