Hello to All and welcome back!
Can you believe we now find ourselves in November – that’s a lot of shuffles ha ha ha ha!
Anyways – over the course of this year I have found myself teaching masterclasses, examining my Tapatak Oz programme and also running tap auditions for various events etc. And the one thing that has really struck me is how serious the children can be in these situations!
Now of course – you can expect people to be a little nervous when in a class with a guest teacher, in an exam room or in an audition situation, but nonetheless I think it is of paramount importance to remind our students that TAP IS FUN! And at the end of the day – if they are not showing us the JOY OF TAP – then everything else is a little lost!
You can have all the tricks and technique in the world – but without a true connection to ” why you are tapping in the first place” – it is all a real waste of time. If the student can not show their love and passion for tap then the audience will not feel and experience that love and passion either!
To combat this – I now say to all my students:
Feel The Joy!
Be The Joy!
Show The Joy!
{ this usually gets a chuckle and the room is set for a little joy making – so you might like to give it a go – preferably with an ” over the top” facial expression and hand gesture ha ha ha ha}
But in all seriousness – it is just so important in all genres of dance to convey that connection to your heart and soul while dancing.
And I feel it is especially relevant in tap, as the connection between the rhythm coming out of the dancer’s feet and their personality, is just so important in transferring the feel to the audience effectively!
So today, I simply invite you to really inspire your students to work on their showmanship and personality, alongside their technique – as both aspects are really important in the world of dance – and TAP!
It is like that extra ” ribbon or bow” on their tap dancing parcel that takes it to the next level.
A wonderful flow through of this approach is that your tap classes will be brimming with joy and enthusiasm when you actively encourage this sense of JOY from all your students!
It truly makes a huge difference to class, performance, confidence levels and the tapping in general! It might start from within – but very much ends up on the out and connecting with all who are lucky enough to be watching!
And that is it for today!
So get you JOY ON!
Love Tap and Pass It On!
Christine
PS: And if you are looking for a structured set of lessons to use in your dance school – for all levels – check out the Tapatak Oz Syllabus online at: www.tapatak-oz.com
All our programmes are instantly downloadable online and accessible to all!
From 5yrs to Pre Professional – all levels come with a video file, music file and PDF written manual for easy class use. And it’s all explained in great detail from the front and back for easy ” on site ” learning with your tap staff – just like you are in a class with me.
AND – all our clients have FREE ACCESS to our updates and teaching tips on the website!
AND EVEN BETTER – we now have a special VIP “TAPATAK OZ FACEBOOK PAGE” that is private and only for our clients! Here we share heaps of cool additions to the programme and ideas teachers and students have from all over the world in our Tapatak Oz Community! It is super cool and is a great way to find new ideas for teaching the set work and new funky approaches to all the combinations etc.
It is amazing what both the students and teachers are coming up with and let’s face it – when you are teaching all year, we all need some inspiration sometimes ha ah ha!
So when you join Tapatak Oz, you not only get the set programme – but you also join a vibrant community of tap teachers all over the world, who really love teaching TAP and through the VIP page get access to some of their cool ideas too.
Oh – and here is a link to the new private VIP facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1874658719225986/
We are a happy band indeed!
So enjoy!