Workshop Reality Check

During a recent discussion on dance workshops, much of the discussion focused on workshop instructors who change the material at the last minute. Participants discussed the problems with workshops being:
1. How sometimes what a workshop is advertised to be turns out to be not quite accurate
2. How sometimes, workshops are not advertised correctly
3. How sometimes the level of what is offered doesn’t match what the sponsor indicated would be taught

A number of the participants in the discussion lay a large portion of the blame on the workshop instructor, but I think a few pertinent facts were left out or not considered.

First, while all of the above are valid points, I think it is important to mention that sometimes, when a teacher is hired to do a workshop, the sponsor has to take some action to ensure the intent of the workshop, and its level, are clearly stated in any flyer, and in the contract with the instructor.

I was once hired to present a workshop specifically requested to be at the advanced level, and when I arrived and chatted with some of the students a few minutes before the start of the workshop,  have realized many were at what I would consider a beginner two or intermediate one level- this meant I had to quickly re-format the workshop and material to suit the learning level, to cover both intermediate and advanced, without boring the advanced dancers to death. When I examined the situation, I discovered the sponsor had never indicated in her advertising that it was to be an advanced level workshop.

Sometimes, it is a matter of semantics. Sometimes, what is considered “advanced” or “performance ready” is viewed differently in different areas. A workshop instructor has to be prepared to be flexible, since there is little to no internationally accepted dance standard in the non-native bellydance-inspired or related dance community, outside of small pockets of standards development. (1) . This is why a general understanding or consensus of standards would be useful (2)-  if a workshop is listed as “performance improvement”, the instructor should be able to assume those applying are already at a certain level of performance.

A further truth complicates things further: many dancers think they are at a different level than they really might be- because we have no clear standards for levels or the on-going dance process, I have met dancers who were barely functional who were convinced they were advanced, even “professionals”, and I’ve met excellent dancers who had no clue how good they truly were.

And let’s face another truth- there are people out there teaching classes who really should not be, and that’s a pity, because they are not preparing their students to be able to make good decisions about the best workshops for their learning level. This genre has battled the problem of unqualified teachers for a long time- we have all known, or heard of, the “8 week wonder”- the student who takes an 8 week beginner course and then begins to perform in public. And we’ve also known, or heard of, the student who takes a series of beginning level classes or two, and suddenly is offering to teach workshops on her flashy new website, or is found teaching ‘bellydance classes” at the local community center. Sadly, the time when community centers demanded to see a resume and get references from those wishing to teach physical classes for adult seems to be long past.

When I applied for my first teaching job for a local community college that offered adult recreation classes, I had to present a resume, proof of my training, three references from dance teachers and was interviewed regarding my qualifications by a 5 person board!! I wonder how many could pass that scope of inspection today?

And teachers need to remind their students that, if they do get to a workshop and realize it is outside their skill levels, to just focus on things that will help them improve their technique, rather than just think about a workshop as “getting movements”.. as too many students do.

Workshops are never just about getting the latest fad movement or riding the latest trend- yes, they can offer such things, but their intent should be about improving the student as a dancer. It is better to walk away from a workshop with a few things well-learned, with a visible improvement, than to collect a basket of movements and promptly forget, or poorly execute them at your next performance.

I know there are different approaches to levels- from Beginning I to Advanced I and above, to the Beginning/Ongoing; both are legitimate-but, a teacher needs to be able to tell her students what kind of workshop they might be able to handle.

Yes, there are general workshops that can be both a learning experience and a good review for more advanced dancers,and I have enjoyed taking many of them myself- but if a teacher is hired for a specific subject that is advanced, that should be made clear (for example, floorwork should only be offered to dancers whose bodies are ready); and if it is a focused workshop (such as veil only, or articulations only, or a mixture of articulations and hipwork, etc) that, too should always be specified.

Which brings me to this: I am glad to see more and more focused workshops being offered, from Understanding Music to Stagecraft, from Target Movement workshops to things as simple as fundamentals reviews and posture and body awareness….. because from what I have seen, we need these focused workshops more than many realize.

I have taught workshops about dance that had nothing to do with movement- from the business side of dance to starting your own studio, from marketing dance in a non-dance community to becoming a teacher, from choreography development to production and stage craft. I have taught refinement workshops that allowed students to spend two hours on just one part of the body alone (for example, arms, or torso work or simply walking) and so on.

The point is to get students to workshops that will benefit them the most for where they are, that will help them grow a little or improve their understanding of movement, music, mechanics, stagecraft, the style they are learning, and more…and to do this, we need to be honest with ourselves and honest with our students.

And we need to be willing to continue our own learning process.

© 2017 Prima Beladi/Ne-Kajira Jannan

(1) Some teachers have developed standards for their classes and/or styles. Suhaila Salimpour, Carolina Nerricio, Ne-Kajira Jannan and others have established goals of understanding and accomplishment within their styles that must be achieved before students can move up or progress. Some offer certification programs that must be completed in order for a student to teach a registered style under the auspices of the creator of those styles.

(2) There are actually clear, distinct differences between styles that lend themselves to standards development and concise definitions. The fact that a number of teachers themselves are unaware of these differences has led to confusion and, in some cases, division and conflict. However, once teachers open themselves to seeing and understanding these differences, I believe they find it easier to define what they are doing and be more informative to their students.