Help! I'm teaching a dance class to blind teenagers tomorrow. Zumba moves and playlist wanted!
July 8, 2012 11:00 AM Subscribe
I have to teach a dance class to 6 blind teens tomorrow. Help me come up with a playlist and simple dance moves.
I love to dance but I've never taught dance before. Tomorrow I am teaching a dance class to 6 blind teens. Nobody expects me to teach them how to tango in an hour and a half, but it should be fun, loose, and get them moving in ways that are freeing. I don't know what type of dance they've tried before.
I love salsa and merengue so I was thinking of a Zumba-type class with some simple Latin dance moves that I could chain together into a routine. The class should be an hour to an hour and a half long.
My questions:
1. What type of basic moves have you done in your Zumba classes? If possible, I need some moves that are easy to describe (i.e. march in place, shimmies, wave your hands back and forth.) It has to be something that they can easily relate the moves to so I'm not spending lots of time trying to verbally describe each move.
2. Songs! Help me develop a playlist of Latin music that would be good for this class. I think it might be good to mix Latin and some regular pop/hip-hop that is popular with kids these days. I don't listen to pop music so I have NO IDEA what to pick.
3. HELP PLEASE!
Thanks a bunch!
I love to dance but I've never taught dance before. Tomorrow I am teaching a dance class to 6 blind teens. Nobody expects me to teach them how to tango in an hour and a half, but it should be fun, loose, and get them moving in ways that are freeing. I don't know what type of dance they've tried before.
I love salsa and merengue so I was thinking of a Zumba-type class with some simple Latin dance moves that I could chain together into a routine. The class should be an hour to an hour and a half long.
My questions:
1. What type of basic moves have you done in your Zumba classes? If possible, I need some moves that are easy to describe (i.e. march in place, shimmies, wave your hands back and forth.) It has to be something that they can easily relate the moves to so I'm not spending lots of time trying to verbally describe each move.
2. Songs! Help me develop a playlist of Latin music that would be good for this class. I think it might be good to mix Latin and some regular pop/hip-hop that is popular with kids these days. I don't listen to pop music so I have NO IDEA what to pick.
3. HELP PLEASE!
Thanks a bunch!
Do you know what kind of touching is okay in this situation, both from your perspective as a teacher and their perspective as people who don't like being patronized?
It sounds like they are coming in as part of a group, so perhaps you could ask the group coordinator if and how it's okay to give a little physical guidance on certain moves, which could broaden what you can teach. I know that in nearly every dance/yoga/exercise class I've been to, the instructors haven't been shy about a hand here or there to aid in form, so I don't think it's out of line to bring this up ahead of time.
If it's just you, you might not have a ton of time for it. But then again, setting up partner dances like a couple cha-cha or jive moves could have them mirroring each other and feeling how their bodies relate.
But they're teenagers, and having them touch each other is always a dicey proposition!
posted by Madamina at 12:30 PM on July 8, 2012
It sounds like they are coming in as part of a group, so perhaps you could ask the group coordinator if and how it's okay to give a little physical guidance on certain moves, which could broaden what you can teach. I know that in nearly every dance/yoga/exercise class I've been to, the instructors haven't been shy about a hand here or there to aid in form, so I don't think it's out of line to bring this up ahead of time.
If it's just you, you might not have a ton of time for it. But then again, setting up partner dances like a couple cha-cha or jive moves could have them mirroring each other and feeling how their bodies relate.
But they're teenagers, and having them touch each other is always a dicey proposition!
posted by Madamina at 12:30 PM on July 8, 2012
How about fun music and easy dance moves?
The twist, pony, the sprinkler, the bump, all are fun.
If you're feeling ambitious the Bus Stop and Electric Slide.
Dancing is natural and fun, don't force something difficult or awkward. Just moving around will be fun.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 3:22 PM on July 8, 2012
The twist, pony, the sprinkler, the bump, all are fun.
If you're feeling ambitious the Bus Stop and Electric Slide.
Dancing is natural and fun, don't force something difficult or awkward. Just moving around will be fun.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 3:22 PM on July 8, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by jaksemas at 12:13 PM on July 8, 2012