Online Classes- Tipps and tricks
Hey I’m Erik Nieland, a dancing teacher who loves Blues, Lindy and Fusion. Figuring out how to make people connect with themselves and others is what I love and do.
Last week I went more into the squishy side of teaching online, this article will give you practical tips and tricks to try out. And don’t forget, I would love to hear how it has affected your way of teaching.
Start with a mental warm-up
Let’s face it, all our social skills got a bit rustier in the lockdown. Let people get used to hearing other people again. Start simply chatting a bit (more on this in a later article). In these times, verbal connections are a lot more intimate than most realize. Only after the mental warm up, do you start your physical one and start combining them slowly.This mental warm up time also allows people to change the volume, lighting etc to their comfort level. In a real class you can use your voice to determine loudness, online you can’t.
The pep talk
Dancing in front of a webcam is scary. We don’t get the direct feedback that tells us whether we are doing it right or not, and so we start questioning everything and are sure about nothing. Again these online classes are a different beast all together. Embrace it as such. “Messing up” will be your default and that is OK. As I always say in my classes, if you are not feeling a little uncomfortable, you are not learning as much as you can. Encourage yourself and your students to go with the flow. Use the lagg and interruptions to your advantage. What would you do if you or your partner would make a mistake on the dance floor? Is it any different from a stream interruption?
Focus on big and slow
Don’t just move to the right, but REALLY move to the right. Act as if you are 50 kilos heavier. Use your arms, head and hips to point where you are going. Move with intention. We see this oftentimes explained to us, as prepping first and then moving. The prep is the time your partner can use to see what is coming and indeed… prepare. The prep is also time to see if your partner is doing something else, and maybe you will decide to follow instead of lead.
Direction
Focus on making your students not imitate the moves of the other person but focus on the direction and energy. If your partner moves to the right, move to the right. Simplifying the movement is 100% ok. If your partner cartwheels to the right, you can simply walk to the right. The more advanced we become communicating our movements on zoom, the more we can do, but as long as we communicate the general direction we are in touch.On more advanced levels, this can help your students work on their isolations and creating/taking their own creative space.
Timing and footwork?
In lots of streams your video will be off with the sound, there will be lags, and it will arrive differently for different students. Counting is just not as effective. The same goes for our footwork. Not everyone has an HD camera with high speed internet, and so most of us look like different pixelated versions of humanoids.Not accounting for this is a recipe for frustration on both sides.Work with energy instead of counting.
Energy
How do you build up energy? How can you accept, move and transform energy given to you? Let your students get more comfortable with these concepts and have fun. When you see them on the real-life dancefloor the next time, you will likely see massive improvements in footwork/timing. Footwork makes more sense if you know why you use it.
Feedback
Give some feedback, see how your students are doing and let them know. A few small words of encouragement can go a long way.
Staring
But don’t stare at the webcam too long. It is a lot more intimidating online than offline, because you are staring directly at everyone personally, not looking around in the group.
How can your students help you?
Your students can help your class by giving visual feedback instead of verbal, have them wave in front of the camera in order to see their state of mind and to give you feedback or to grab your attention.
Closing thoughts
These are just a couple of tips/observations that I wanted to get out there to start a discussion. If you are interested to hear more tips/tricks/ideas then let me know in the comments, I have plenty of ideas I am working on.If you want to work with me on how to achieve these concepts then get in touch.