More tap drills

Clearly tap is my favorite to teach, just because I am so passionate about it and it is so rarely found in studios these days.

I started doing something with my pre-teen dance team the other day that seemed to really help them clean up and even out their sounds. In a circle, we did a basic call and response with something we have been workign on: paddle & rolls. With no music, I would do a paddle & roll combination then the girl to my left would repeat it back to me. Then I would do it again, and the next girl would do it, and so on around the circle. We did it twice with one combination, and then once again with a slight variation. Even by the end of the third time I saw improvement.

But the real treat came the next week. My girls came in saying they had been doing paddle & rolls everywhere, in the lunchroom, in their houses, driving their families crazy. I was so proud. Especially because last week even with our drill we had worked on tap the least amont of time we ever have.

Tickled pink is what I am. This is my new favorite exercise. It's fun, seems like a game, but also gets the girls to hear their sounds individually.

The many difficulties of chaines.

Never did I imagine that teaching chaines would be so hard. I have been doing them so long that I can't even remember learning them, though I faintly remember big blue dots in the studio for spotting purposes.

Here is a list of all the things I have tried on my 7 year olds so far.

• Doing them toward the mirror so they can spot their faces instead of dots. It seems easier to keep your eyes on your face than on a big blue dot. At least that was the theory. I still haven't invested in any blue dots so I don't know if that's true or not.
• Using the barre. We have some awesome moveable barres, so I stick them on either side of the room so they are running toward the mirror. Using the barre the girls turn and try to spot their faces. This, ideally, was supposed to help with them turning over the correct shoulder. It helped most of the girls get the general footwork and turning direction down.
• Using the pivot turn thumb system. Last night, for those girls who were still having a hard time knowing which way to turn, I used my pivot turn thumb system. We're doing right chaines? Thumb over your right shoulder, that's the way we're turning. Left chaines? Thumb over that left shoulder. Last night though was kind of a frenzy so I don't know if it worked yet.

Teaching chaines is my nemesis, it seems like it should be common sense, just twirling! But if I have learned anything so far it's that difficult things will only be learned if there is consistency. We've just gotta do this every week and hope it sinks in!

Anyone have any other awesome ways to teach chaines?