Ideas and enthusiasm – Task 2d (fourth instalment of task)

Task 2d seemed huge to me and once I started writing I did not stop.  As a result I have made the decision to post the answers to the questions posed in the task in instalments in the hope they will be more manageable to all.  In each post I will specify the question(s) tackled.

• What ideas do you think about?
  
• What in your daily practice get you really enthusiastic to find out more about?
  
• Who do you admire who also works with what makes you enthusiastic?
  

The thought of being able to help someone make a difference pulls me into work every day. I enjoy being part of that breakthrough. Helping students find their strengths and weaknesses and discovering ways we can work together to achieve their potential. A massive part of this is getting the students, irrespective of age, to own their own bodies and therefore own their work, taking responsibility for their own individual learning. Gardiner's 'multiple ways of inteligence' comes into play here: As a teacher it is important that you are aware of the different types of intelligence, and are able to note when a student is on their way to ownership and give the appropriate cue to them as individuals to consolidate their learning and ownership. For example, should I tell them to move their leg? Or should I move it for them? Do they need both?


The students that I have at the moment are particularly daring and willing to try anything. This makes choreography so much fun. I really enjoy giving them new lifts, or jumps to attempt and this keeps me constantly thinking. I am looking at getting a Tumbling Coach for our Troupe girls to push them and expand both mine and their skill sets. I'm really excited at the prospect of working with the Coach and seeing what they are able to offer and we are able to create.


I am particularly interested in strength and flexibility: This is potentially because flexibility is something I have always struggled with, but also because it adds to the aesthetics of every line but is useless without its partner, strength.


At some point last year I came across Deborah Vogel's work and through this discovered Lisa Howell. Both woman are dance specific therapists and have a wealth of knowledge and ideas on issues surrounding flexibility and how it can be improved, although they do not always agree with each others ideas as is evident the podcasts they broadcast.


Last year I was training harder than I had in years and was making next to no progress with my flexibility and was really aware that my student's weren't either. I think a large proportion of this was down to their lack of commitment outside of class. However around the same time as discovering these woman's work, I also took up Bikram Yoga. I was intrigued by Bikram Yoga. I found many of the exercises went against my idea of safe practice and at times the heat was unbearable. I cannot, however, deny the results. It definitely helped my hips to 'open up'. Was this the heat? The relaxation? Or the exercises? Mr Bikram could be onto something.


Initially Vogel, but more recently Howell and a friend qualified in Level 4 Sports Massage introduced me to Myofascial Release and the importance of massage and how if you weren't able to see a practitioner you could achieve good results by yourself with the use of foam rollers, and various sized balls. The results were amazing for me, and I was keen to try this out on my students.


Many of my teachers have spoken about 'muscle length' over the years, and have passed my flexibility off as me just having short muscles. Indeed one of my past teachers had such limited flexibility she cannot work at 90 degrees, not that she has allowed this to hinder her career in anyway. I now believe that short muscles do not exist, instead the muscle is held in a contracted position by the brain. This may initially have been to protect the muscle from injury, but has now become habit. The key to flexibility is to undo these habits.


Since discovering all of the above I have incorporated a lot of the exercises from Yoga and Howell's Front Splits Fast programme into my classes. from Back in the UK we achieved some immediate results. Since being in China the results have not been so clear, however this could be down to the differences in anatomical make up. Even here, the differences between the flexibility of Asian and Western students is evident. I have many combinations, some students are flexible with no strength, some strong with no flexibility, some have both – what can I do for these students? Is there such a thing as too flexible?


Floor barre is something I have recently started using with the students in the hope of building strength with good results, and I look forward to having time to research this further.


Below are some additional ideas that I think about:

• What I can do to push the students further.
  
• How can I help them to break through the next barrier.
  
• What else do they need. Can I provide it, or do I need to source an additional coach or ask for help.
  
• What do they need individually.
  
• How can flexibility be improved. What if they are already very flexible?
  
• Does trigger point therapy work. How beneficial is massage, or self massage?
  
• How do strength and flexibility go together? Is there any use in one without the other.
  
• What are common faults of dancers? At what ages? How can these be fixed?
  
• Where are dancers weak? Is this a weakness across an age group? the world?