FOLK DANCE IN THE CLASSROOM – HOW TO TEACH IT (AND HOW NOT TO!) 

Why teach dance? • Dancing together is a fundamental form of communication • Sharing a dance, holding hands, moving together releases oxytocin in the brain, thereby building positive mental health and reinforcing a sense of belonging. • Doing a dance at the start of the lesson can be a fabulous transition activity, especially if it is a dance students already know and can enjoy doing independently of the teacher. • It's plain good fun! 

Dos and Don’ts of Folk Dance Education Do: Don’t: • Be thoroughly familiar with the steps of the dance you wish to teach • Attempt to teach a dance from a written description • Sing the music while teaching the elements of the dance • Put on the recording of the music you plan to use and start teaching steps while it is playing • Teach the elements of the dance in a controlled setting – eg with students seated in front of you • Invite students to get up and move before they are thoroughly familiar with the music and the elements of the dance • Keep the whole experience musical. • There is no need to count. This is NOT a maths lesson • Stop calling the steps as soon as possible. Allow the dancers to hear the music and gain a sense of autonomy and success • Keep calling steps when it is obvious the dancers know what to do. It stops them from relating to the music, feeling the beat and taking ownership of the dance 

Do: Don't: • Choose a dance that is age appropriate, according to your cohort's physical skills • Expect young/inexperienced dancers to have success learning a dance that is too complex for their skill set/physical abilities. • Select the dance you are going to teach with a purpose in mind • Choose a dance to teach the class just because you know how to do it. It is by far less engaging. • Be prepared for things to wrong. It's ok – it happens to us all! • Freak out if your plan goes awry. Have something else up your sleeve to go on with, just in case! • Be brave and have a go. The more times you do this, the easier it gets. • Avoid teaching dance because it seems difficult. If you are well prepared, you are likely to have a ball. 

Modifying dances • Make sure you really know the original dance thoroughly • Take the elements of the dance, individually, and modify to suit your cohort. For example, a polka step can become skipping; a promenade can become marching, complex clapping patterns can be simplified down to their basic rhythms... • You may need to change the formation of the dance, if you have limited space. For example, if you have too many students to form a circle, you could consider concentric circles, or splitting students into groups to make shorter lines (ie like little semi-circles) 

Learning repertoire There are many different ways to learn dances in the modern world. I started to learn dances with set steps as a 7-year-old, preparing to celebrate my older brother's "coming of age" ceremony and party. My father taught me to waltz and to dance the Cha Cha and Samba, while my mother taught my brother. Then, as an adult, I had to find workshops to attend or travel. Now it's so much easier: • It might sound like stating the obvious, but YouTube is a fabulous resource, if you are already comfortable learning by just observing and copying steps • As life is slowly re-opening, you can start looking for cultural groups who have regular dance classes. In my experience, these groups are often thrilled if someone outside of their community shows an interest in learning more about them through their dances • Keep your eye out for community cultural celebrations. These often provide an opportunity to make connections for learning and/or will have some dancing happening that you can simply join in with. 

Resources • Shenanigans CDs with printed booklets of dance descriptions – Levels 1, 2 and 3 available through my website: https://smorgasbordmusicanddance.com.au/ All Folks Can Dance page • Andre Van Der Plas CDs with books of dance descriptions – (available through my website: https://smorgasbordmusicanddance.com.au/ All Folks Can Dance page • "All Folks Can Dance" packs each of which contains: • 1 folk dance – lead sheet with chords • Orff-style classroom arrangement • Instructional video of the dance that can be used in the classroom (in lieu of a zoom session) • Video example of the finished dance • Instructional videos of all of the Orff arrangement parts that can be used in the classroom • Written dance description • Some background information on the dance 

So, what now? Get out there and dance your heart out!