When I was training to be a musician at Birmingham Conservatoire each student was given one-to-one lessons with a specific tutor. Josef Weingarten was well known for being a strict yet transformational teacher and although he was not the tutor assigned to me, his name is one I remember in particular…
I was curious about the way Josef Weingarten taught his lessons. When he taught his students on a one-to-one basis he issued an open invitation for other students to come and observe… just imagine your peers being invited to watch your private lesson, it was terrifying! These so-called private lessons did have various advantages, aside from encouraging the students to practice.
Sometimes we can be so focused on ‘doing’ the task that we don’t have time to step back and ‘look’ at it. These students were given the chance to stand back and watch someone else undergo a lesson, which allowed them to identify any corrections that were relevant to their progress and draw lessons for their own improvement.
In 2015 the Dance Doctor will be offering a series of dance clinics, which will be open to small groups of 6 dancers. The ‘Dance Clinic’ will be an opportunity for you to ‘look’ at your dancing using the mirrored studio provided, learn how the dance should ‘feel’, receive direct feedback from the Dance Doctor, listen to feedback given to other group members and perfect your technique.
Without feedback our self-awareness is limited and without self-awareness, we can’t begin to improve. Sometimes we don’t need oodles of information, we need a simple awareness session that reveals just one area of improvement. Identifying that one little thing allows us to make an adjustment and could make a big difference to our dancing!
“I feel that my aim is to become a good swing dancer and to get there I think the only way is to have your technique fine-tuned” Jonny Howe – Dance Doctor client
So what are you waiting for? Email joolee@lindy-jazz.co.uk for more information and to book your appointment at the ‘Dance Clinic’.