I taught my first dance class!
It was my first time teaching a class forreal and it was fun! I’m really happy that SnackPack trusted me to teach a class by myself. It feels like it went well for me and I hope people had fun too! It was also really cool seeing a lot of people in one room dancing to my choreography so that was a mindblowing experience! I’ve been trying to learn how to teach dance since this experience because it felt really nice sharing choreography that I put together. So hit me up if you wanna learn my choreo 😎
Previously, I’ve made a couple of choreographies and taught to my peeps at NYU Breakdance Club, so I think that experience helped me a lot although it has been a long long time since then.
Here’s a few things I learned from teaching my first dance class thru SnackPack!
✨Teach in CHUNKS or finish the 8-count before moving on to the next 8-count
✨When doing runs, count to lead people into the first move (usually your typical “5-6-7-8” lead in)
✨Explain the moves AND the weight changes if possible to explain the flow of movement to another
✨Feel free to tell people in the beginning what to expect in terms of the choreography, such as how many 8-counts is the class aiming for, and have CHECKPOINTS if possible
✨LET THE CLASS HAVE WATER BREAKS
✨Be prepared in terms of either counts or lyrics, practice teaching the dance to a friend or mentor before teaching a full class and know the song enough to answer people’s questions
✨Simplify your explanations. Find the balance between overexplaining and not explaining enough. METAPHORS can help a lot
✨Drill the movements together with the class
✨WATCH the class’ progress and CHECK IN with them before proceeding. Ask how many runs more before moving on to the next 8-count or before running with music for the first time
✨Consider the people in the back! You can make the front half sit down or switch lines at certain checkpoints of the class if there is no space.
Song: Valid! by Jean Deaux
Choreography: me (Instagram @zlgiannac)
Here’s the solo version:
