How long Should You Study with your Teacher?

How long Should You Study with your Teacher?

A very interesting topic came up today that I wanted to share with all of you. This topic came to my attention many years ago because I asked one of my first teachers this question, “How long should I study with you?”

Now the reason why I am bringing this up is because I feel it is important for dancers to learn from as many teachers as possible. This way your creativity is always inspired but with different philosophies on dance.

Every teacher has her own different and special ways of teaching. This we all know but sometimes when we spend so much time with one teacher we can become the carbon copy of how they dance.
Also a problem that can come up is difficulty learning from other teachers.
What can happen is a comparison to the speed at which a dancer learns moves to how she learned previously. Dance comes into our bodies at the speed our bodies can handle it and in order to build up our speed we must take in the movement like a sponge.

But the question that I asked so long ago still lingers in my mind.

Over a year and a half ago I had a student who was doing very well under my coaching. We worked on her body image and we also worked on what she was trying to cover up. A former teacher had told her that she must cover her ample bosom and not show it off. My first question of course was, “Was your teacher small busted”? And the answer was “Yes”. I laughed because I was only joking when I asked her this question but she answered me very seriously. My student was also an African American woman that was just lovely. And she came from a studio that left her feeling different, uncomfortable with her body image and inferior to the other dancers. She left that teacher feeling like she would never get to her dreams and aspirations because she was not shown how to be herself and to be proud. So we went to work and almost a year later she was a different person. She did the work and I was the support system. But I did something that some of you may think is unusual, I told her at almost the year mark that our time as student and teacher was over and that she must go and learn from someone else. I had a teacher in mind and I had already recommended her to my dear friend, Rozana al Jinan. She was thrilled I found her a new teacher but she wasn’t happy with me for ending the classes. I may have done the opposite of what I intended and she may have felt that I abandoned her. But as I told her, her first day of class that one day I would see the need for her to move on and that day had arrived.

I feel if students stay too long with one teacher they can become stagnant in their own creativity. But again this is my philosophy and there are many teachers out there who may feel different. And I will add here that troupe performing is entirely different because you have to stay together in order to move in unison, almost like an old married couple who finish off each others sentences. My dear friend Rozana al Jinan is a classic example of a master teacher and choreographer with her troupe.

So aren’t you wondering what my first teacher told me? Well I thought so, so here is what she said, “You should stay with me and learn all you can but eventually go and learn from other teachers.” This I took to heart and have learned from many different and diverse teachers who all gave me something to ponder, take in, use or let go. Maybe because I had so many teachers I was able to let go of ideas that didn’t suit me easier than if I would have had only a few to learn from.

Now here is something that dancers have written in to me about that makes me wonder what kind of agenda their teachers have. Some dancers have told me that their teachers won’t “allow” them to learn from anyone else. How can a teacher “not allow” or “allow” you to do anything if you are a grown adult? As in anything there can be a conflict of interest if a curriculum from one teacher doesn’t flow with the other. So this is where the responsibility of the student comes in. Respect who you are learning from and work within her curriculum. It really is that simple.

Last but not least make sure you understand when it is time to leave. You will know because there will be signs telling you it is time to go. One sign might be that you feel movement differently than your teacher and you express what you prefer more than you use to. Another sign might be that you don’t get the same feeling from class like you use to.
Know that this is ok and a good teacher will eventually expect you to move on.
One thing that I have seen is a specific few who create drama to justify leaving their teachers or studio. These students are the thorns in (the you know where) of most teachers. So best not to be one so you won’t experience one.

Just recently I had two students from years ago come back to me. They called me up and said it was time to come back. And you know something I never close the door on any of my students for good. I tell them to go explore and learn and they can eventually come back if they want to. There is a saying that says dance is the poetry of the foot and to tell you the truth I can’t wait to see what kind of verse and prose they will dance. Best of all they will show me who they are in dance and I can’t wait to meet the dancers they have become.




Quote of the day:
“Eggs have no business dancing with stones.”

Signature Moves with Personality

Years ago when I first saw belly dancing the dancers who stood out the most were the ones who understood where “their” dance moves came from. Nothing was forced and they glided, gracefully across the stage and than all of a sudden out of nowhere a sharp combination or soft accent would appear and take your breath away.
As a novice I could see that this would be necessary to understand and incorporate into my dance. Now, I didn’t understand at that time how to go about doing it so I spent many years researching this so I could pass it along to my students.
What is a signature move you may ask? It is your personality and style that brings life into a group of combinations. It is you in a move and your dancing is done with your life experiences expressed through each gesture of the hand, arm, walk or turn. You are up on that stage 100%, therefore there is no carbon copy of another dancer only you. So as a dancer performs she has a select few moves that are combined and put together her way that reflect her view of the world. This view is only hers and as a consequence a signature move is born.

This year started out with a bang in signature moves. Currently I am working with a fantastic singer Kymberlyann Lopez who has just finished her new cd that will be released this year. We are working on belly dance moves that she will be incorporating into her dance along with her hiphop, breakdancing and jazz moves. She is the new generation of singers coming out knowing that dance combined with singing can be a powerful tool to get your message across to your fan base and what better way than to teach them your own style of dance. I’m not talking about choreographed moves done to music, I’m talking about instinctive moves that accent words and get the message across in ways that the fans understand. It is a silent code of movements that belong to the fans and bond them to the singer. Kymberlyann will be touring this year and her belly dance signature moves will make a difference and pave the way for future singers who dance to create their own distinctive moves.
Judy Maloof is another professional dancer who is taking private belly dance classes with me and we are incorporating sensual and classical moves into her ball room and salsa dancing. Judy is a risk taker and she understands that bringing in moves that speak volumes is the key to making a broader
statement to her admirers. She is one dancer that can hold her own with the best of them.

Think of ways to be yourself when you dance while you are learning to dance. I know this sounds a little crazy but if you don’t start putting in your personality and style in now than when it really counts you won’t be able to hold your own with the best of them. The best are so because they and their dance are one.

I know what some of you may be thinking; ok so how do I figure out what is my signature move?
When I work with dancers the first thing that I do is I watch how they talk and how they use their hands. Secondly I believe the body always tells its own story and if I watch enough movement from a dancer than I can catch a glimpse here and there of the bodies natural way of moving. Than I look at how a dancer holds her rhythm and how she counts to the music. Even if a dancer doesn’t count evenly with numbers she will have a unique way of moving. So I look at this in the beginning and I can eventually see how a dancer prefers to move to music. To be a natural dancer means that you understand your preference in movements and how to time them to the music. Every dancer times her movements slightly different and this is a key element in understanding how to help a dancer create her signature moves.

Put together life and dance and eventually down the line you will understand your own unique signature moves. And for those who don’t understand or who are still searching, I’m here and ready to help.