New Year's Resolutions

Hey all!  It has been quite a while since my last post but the month of August turned out to be much more action packed then expected.  A part from having a few lazy days earlier in the month, August was full of summer camps, boot camp, and teaching workshops.  I even had a chance to reunite with some of my teaching friends in Ontario.  Along with the great weather, it was a surprisingly fulfilling month that has left me ready to take on the dance season that lies ahead.
Whether your time away from the regular dance season is spent on the beach or in some kind of intensive, it's always great when you can come back to the studio with fresh ideas and renewed energy.  On August 15th we began our first week of summer camps which brought over 100 kids between the ages of 3 and 12 through our doors.  Many of these kids were new to dance and did an amazing job of learning multiple numbers over the course of five days which were performed for friends and family at the end of the week.  As always, the little ones were cute, hilarious and never failed to come up with the most inventive ideas when storytelling through movement.  It was so great to meet so many dance and Glee enthusiasts and I really hope to see them again sometime soon.  Near the end of August our competitive dancers resurfaced, fresh faced and ready to take on a week of boot camp.  This year, classes included ballet, acro, broadway jazz, and afro jazz.  For some, getting back into it was a bit of a struggle while for others it was apparent that they were more than ready to get back at it.
I myself had an opportunity to attend the Royal Academy of Dance's (RAD) teacher's course which introduced the new syllabus for Intermediate Foundation and Intermediate.  Not only did I love the new ideas that the RAD is incorporating but they are also taking risks that will challenge students and help keep ballet training in tune with the progress that is being made in other forms of dance.  The course I attended was in Saskatchewan and was attended by some really lovely teachers.  There was a great feeling of comradery in the room.  You could tell that everyone was inspired and excited by the new work.
One thing about teaching dance is that even though you are always in the room with many people, it can be quite isolating at the same time.  This summer I had a chance to get together with my ballet teacher since childhood, as well as four of my best friends in Ontario, all of whom teach dance.  Having an opportunity to chat about training methods, obstacles we encounter, and ideas for choreography was awesome and has put me in a great state of mind.
In January we always make resolutions for the year, but I think it's also a good idea to do a similar thing in September, when we're preparing to hop back into a busy routine.  I have decided for myself to focus more on quality of movement in the hopes of creating more depth and layers to the overall performance of my dancers.  I have also realized that I often focus on turn out from the thigh but that it would also be beneficial to make more of an emphasis on how this work at the top of the leg travels down to the end of the foot.  I am currently listening to as much music as I can and will hopefully come up with a nice variation that will challenge myself and my dancers.  When I chatted with Erika and Meaghan, they both agreed that this year they would try to focus more on repetition rather than trying to cover a wide variety of steps.  We all agreed that more results are achieved when teachers take time to allow students to work on a smaller number of steps for a longer period of time.  Sometimes it is easy to get ahead of ourselves and move on to the next thing before students are ready.  Apart from that, Erika and Meaghan reiterated that above all, their goal each year as teachers and business owners is to instill a love of dance in each student and to make sure that everyone who has taken a class, leaves having had an enjoyable and positive experience.  As a ballet teacher, I frequently encounter adults who tell me how horrible their experience with ballet was as a child.  I am in full agreement that at the end of the day, what matters the most is that our students look back on their experience with fond memories.
I really hope that our students make similar resolutions for themselves, whether this means trying to focus more in class, fix an old habit, discover how to work a new muscle, make a new friend or follow a conditioning routine at home.  I'm looking forward to 2011 being a year where lasting friendships are made, challenges are met with determination and achievments, no matter how small, are reached.