Springtime Musings on Teaching and Learning: Or, Where My Mind and Heart Are with Teaching Modern Dance These Days

Image above pulled from the 2017 Dance+Change project through Life as a Modern Dancer. Read about the project and view all 12 images here. Graphic design by Jenny Lederer.

 

Springtime Musings on Teaching and Learning
Or, Where My Mind and Heart Are with Teaching Modern Dance These Days

By Jill Randall

Over the years on the blog, I have enjoyed writing and offering lists of themes, quotes, and guiding questions to support our teaching practices, including my own. As we head into springtime 2021, you might also be seeking some new ideas. 

The ideas below explore this particular time in our teaching lives and consider online, outdoor, and in-person teaching experiences. Plus, I am starting on a personal journey and self-study about decolonizing dance classes and programs. 

Some of my current inspirations and readings include: 

• Intro Spective Wellness: 10 Writing Prompts to Examine Your Beliefs around Intersectional Wellness by Chanel Durley
• Decolonizing Dance Discourses - Dance Studies Association
• The work of Nyama McCarthy-Brown on critical dance pedagogy and culturally relevant curriculum, including her book Dance Pedagogy for a Diverse World
• “Dancing Decolonization: Embodying Communal Pedagogical Practices” - by Waeli Wang
• “My Dearest Arts Organization, Are You Listening?” - by Miko Lee and Jennifer Ridgway
• “Sarah Crowell Moves to Decolonize Dance” - by Lou Fancher

Please share in the Comments section below current readings and podcasts informing your teaching practice as well. Thank you!

I dedicate this piece to teachers Anne Riordan and Ruth Bossieux, two incredible mentors. Thank you for your love and wisdom.

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The Prior and the Current: Words to Describe Teaching Dance Classes

Previous/Prior/Traditional:

lead, impart, direct, preserve, show, transmit, tell, critique, decide, 

speech, monologue, soap box, 

one-way, rigid, set,

not deviate from the lesson or lecture, stick to the script, self-preservation

The Current + Aspirational:

share, offer, put into motion, hold space for, listen, respond to, co-create, 

reciprocity, dialogue, fluidity, emergent, flexibility, questions/questioning, feedback, 

co-learner, journey, generosity, teaching for transformation, to move and be moved

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Questions, Curiosities, Offerings, and Actions: 21 Ideas for Teaching Artists This Springtime

The questions below are not in a particular order and can be explored in any order:

1. Whose voice (or voices) are centered in your class?
2. When do you name your sources and influences? After class, are you able to share these names and relevant links so students can learn, experience, and connect further?
3. How does your class/course support self-care for your students?
4. How do you see and acknowledge everyone in the room?
5. Do you feel you have agency as the teacher (based on your place of employment, required syllabus, etc)? How do your students have agency for their own learning in your class? Do you ask your students what agency feels like to them?
6. What sparks joy for the students?
7. How is your class/course a catalyst for liberation? Transformation?
8. When and how are there moments for personal expression?
9. How do you acknowledge location/land for the class, for your location as the teacher, and for where the students are? 
10. How do you talk about the honor and privilege of teaching, of leading, of being in front of the room? 
11. How is teaching a collaborative endeavor?
12. Supporting many voices and stories; supporting windows and mirrors for the students. Do you have the potential to have guest speakers?
13. What does “making it your own” mean and look like in your class? 
14. What is the role of set material in your class versus improv? Direct instruction? 
15. How do you offer multimodal learning for students to access and experience information in many ways? (Seeing, hearing, reading, writing, feeling, moving, discussing)
16. How do you center BIPOC voices, stories, and teaching inspiration in your classroom? 
17. Making personal connections. When and how are there moments of reflection? Moments for conversation, peer feedback, and shoutouts? 
18. How do you incorporate student ideas and feedback - on topics, music selections, and more? 
19. If possible, are you able to have personal check-ins with each student throughout the semester? 
20. When and how is there student choice and student leadership? 
21. What does “dancing together” and “being together” mean right now? 

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Challenging the Technique Class (such as forms like ballet, modern, and jazz)

Questions, topics, and themes:

1. What lineage are you a part of? If continuing a Eurocentric tradition, why? 
2. Clarifying your lineage and what you are actually teaching, including how much of the material in today’s class is your original creation
3. Actively/regularly naming influences; sharing links and resources afterwards so students can learn more. Actively exploring non-European influences and inspiration.
4. What does “make it your own” mean to you in a technique class setting?
5. Naming the honor and privilege of being the teacher/guide/facilitator; it is a two-way street and give and take for both students and teacher alike.
6. Humility 
7. Introducing yourself to students in drop-in classes. Learning students’ names.
8. Being a lifelong learner. Embracing growth mindset. Being a co-learner. 
9. Your place physically in space. Do you always need to be in the front of the room? What about circle formations sometime in your class?
10. How can student voices emerge - in both small and big ways - in a technique class? Can students make suggestions of songs, ideas and themes for the next class? (Please note and name these students next class too if you use their ideas!)

 

Thank you to colleagues Rebecca Johnson and Wendy Jones for reviewing this piece and offering feedback.

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