Good Dance Teachers

Are A Boom From Heaven

By Nelly Mazloum

From the first lessons the body must be placed on the right path to gain the advantage of a solid base for physical axial balance. It's madness to train without a structural foundation in mind.

Proper, well ordered leveled training technique is an absolute necessity. Random teaching is not advisable because contradictory techniques muddle the student's mind with indigestible nervous messages which end into bad dance habits that are impossible to

Teachers who cannot employ clear and simple explanations on movements and space awareness are unfit to transfer body-language messages to the motor system in the brain. Teachers worth their metal must insistently give anatomical information on posture and how gait is placed in the body during standing, walking, running, sitting in a fluent manner during class room exercises. Be natural, don't fake your sense of aesthetics; don't mix your emotions in heavy cosmetics. The goal is to be YOURSELF, but improved. Get rid of trimmings.

I always say to the beginners don't invent in imitation but look deeply into your limitations and seriously work on your possibilities. If you cannot do well what you have learned, for heaven sake, don't teach it to others.

Unfortunately the great majority of people are unconscious of their incapacitates, to the great tragedy of those who emulate them.

Students must develop a balanced sense of criterion, before deciding on an ideal.

Good teachers talk about discrimination but rarely explain what they mean.

I have an answer on this, when a student performs a step rightly, she will have it right for all her life, if she performs a step wrongly for 3 days she'll have it wrong for the rest of her life.

Some dancers are surprisingly ingenious in camouflaging their missing technique. Performers and teachers to unfold in their profession must integrate themselves to a quality of life able to protect them from false pretences. When someone tells you, you're an instinctive dancer, don't take it for a compliment, because it means, you are attractive, but your dancing is ignorant.

Persons with a talent who never practice excellence are the worst enemies of themselves. Confidence in oneself stems from the trust one has in knowledge. The mind approves and the body consents.

To choose a teacher is strictly one's personal responsibility.

When you discover an exceptional teacher don't get stingy. An exceptional teacher has the potential of turning you into an Artist, what you spend is worth it, and returns to you double.

Avoid ego trips and neurotic behavior.

Learning takes long and time is short. Get smart, work hard and remain truthful to those who have taught you something to better love and serve your dancing.   

Copyright ©Nelly Mazloum, 2002