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written and reprint permission granted by Jennifer Padgett
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A common issue
for new instructors who have just started teaching is that they have the
cueing down, and they know how to create choreography, but people keep
telling them that they are not "breaking down." What is breaking down?
Breaking down means two major things.
BREAKING
DOWN First, it means for you to take each move in a combination and repeat it several times so your class can get used to it, and then adding on the next move, which you also repeat several times. For example, if you are doing Combination 1, with 4 moves, A+B+C+D, instead of saying to the class, "We are going to do A, then B, then C, then D! Ready, go!" you would do move A several times, then B several times. Then you do A+B several times (this is commonly called 'adding on'). Then you do C a few times, then D a few times, then C+D a few times. Then you add C+D to A+B, and go "from the top," which means repeating A+B+C+D a few times before moving on to Combination 2. This helps your class get used to moves that may be unfamiliar, it helps you use less choreography per class, and it makes your choreography last longer. It is important to note that there are several teaching methods other the A+B+C+D style. It's also perfectly acceptable to never go from the top, and just break down Combination 1, then Combination 2, then Combination 3, and so on. Yet another style is to not have combinations at all, and just go through a list of moves (called "freestyle teaching." This is probably the easiest thing for a brand-new instructor. You can just make a list of moves and run through them. If you need more, either make them up or go back to the beginning). Still other people teach "chorus/verse," where you have one set of complex steps for the chorus of the songs on your tape, and another complex set of steps for the verses. However, each style still requires that you show and repeat each new move so the class understands what you are doing. The second and more important part of breaking down means for you to take more complex moves and teach them by breaking them into smaller, simpler parts. For example, if you are using a turn-straddle-turn, instead of just showing it 16 times while the class marches or step touches, and hoping they eventually catch on, you break it down by teaching a turn step, then separately teaching a straddle, and then showing them how to combine them into a turn-straddle-turn. This helps keep your class moving at all times, and also helps reinforce the more basic moves. |
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