Accountability. Super glamorous word, I know. But it could be what’s standing in the way of taking your dance skills from here 🪫to HERE 🔋.
It’s something we talk about in class all the time, but to be honest, we as instructors don’t always give you that opportunity to be accountable. So in the spirit of accountability, it’s time for us to “fess up” in order for us to be able to pass that accountability baton over to you so you can start thriving in any class you take.
What do we mean by all of this?
We can compare it to a parent helping their kid with a paper for school – Let’s say the child is struggling to come up with a topic or sources for their paper. We all know that there’s some parents who will try to “help out” by essentially taking over and writing the paper for their kid. They will spoon feed them the entire way to make sure that the paper is written and written well. They will literally give them the words to write. This is not giving the child any opportunity to take accountability and actually learn how to write a good paper. Sure, at the end of the day, a solid paper has been written, but what has the child learned? Would they be able to do it themselves the next time? Probably not. Another approach would be to ask their kid questions to guide them to come up with the answers they need to get moving on their paper. So instead of telling them what to do directly, it requires the child to engage in the process and come up with the answers themselves, giving them the tools they can use to successfully write their next paper.
This is the exact same concept that we’re talking about when it comes to accountability in class. We have certainly been that “protective parent” with you guys in trying to give you everything you need to succeed by giving you all the answers. But that’s not giving you the opportunity to fail in order to get better. That’s not fair to you or your growth as dancers. We recognize this now.
Our goal moving forward is to of course teach the movements and break things down but not necessarily spoon feed every single movement, technique, or transition to you, especially in a Level 2 class. We want to give you the space to recognize what is going on in order to create a certain movement or what the transitional step might be needed in order to connect two sequences together.
Here’s what you can expect (for example): Instead of us telling you how to shift your weight in your feet in order to make a move flow, we might ask you, “How can you make this movement flow more?” From there, we want YOU to try to figure out what creates flow here… And of course, we’ll still be there to guide your learning process, but instead of you simply being in the back seat along for the ride, you’re now in the front passenger seat calling some of the shots.
So what can YOU do about this? Whether or not your instructor is prompting you to take accountability, we want you to force yourself into that front seat. As you’re learning, you can ask yourself those questions like “how can I change the texture of this move?” Or “is there a way I can expand this movement even more?” Start by asking yourself these questions and try troubleshooting for yourself. Of course, if you recognize that you don’t necessarily have the specific knowledge/ tool required to change a texture or make a move more expansive, ask the instructor for help! But it should start with you. That way, you are more engaged in the learning process in a way that will allow for you to truly soak in the information so you can implement that tool the next time around without the instructor spelling it out for you again.
The other thing we talk about in class regarding accountability is not watching the instructor the entire time. And again, that is certainly on the instructor to make sure they are not doing the routine with you the whole time but actually giving you the opportunity to own it for yourself. (Something we are trying to get better at.) But even if the instructor never takes a step back to watch, we want to encourage you to take that accountability for yourself, and make sure that as you’re learning, you are not staring at the instructor the entire time. Because as soon as that instructor goes away, there’s a 99% chance that you won’t have the confidence to execute the movement without them dancing in front of you. You’ve got to start building that confidence in throughout the entire class by making sure that you are looking at yourself (or simply not at the instructor) after learning the movement a couple times. The first couple times doing it by yourself might feel awkward or clunky or like you’re failing. But that is a necessary part of the learning process in order for you to be able to truly own the movement.
Alright, I know, these were a lot of words. So here are your key takeaways:
1. Before asking the instructor a question, ask yourself first. See what knowledge and tools you already have within you before asking for help. Ask yourself, “what am I missing?” or “how can I figure this out?”
2. Do not stare at the instructor the entire class. Give yourself the opportunity to feel a little uncomfortable and make mistakes by looking at yourself during the learning process.
By implementing both of these things, you will start to recognize more confidence in yourself in the learning process and see more growth in your dance abilities. You’ll be able to own the movement without question.
At the end of the day, we want you to be able to take any class from any instructor and have the dance and learning skills you need to confidently take class, regardless of how much the instructor breaks the movement down or explains things.
You know that saying “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”? We want you fed for a lifetime!
It’s time to truly start taking accountability of your dance experience. Get in that front seat and start calling your shots and navigating your journey.