NDEO’s Guest Blog Series features posts written by our members about their experiences in the fields of dance and dance education. We continue this series with a post by Caitlin Barfield, Independent Dance Instructor. Guest posts reflect the experiences, opinions, and viewpoints of the author and are printed here with their permission. NDEO does not endorse any business, product, or service mentioned in guest blog posts. If you are interested in learning more about the guest blogger program or submitting an article for consideration, please click here.
Let’s talk about teaching philosophies.
It has taken me years of training and teaching to come into my own pedagogical style. You must understand that as a young dancer, I was pushed to my limit and then some. While I was training to be a professional dancer, I found myself at the end of my rope time and time again. Overworked, burned out, and beaten down - not to mention the psychological trauma of it all, too.
Going to college as a dance major allowed me to push the reset button on my training, and there I found a fresh start. I was supported, encouraged and enlightened to be my best version with the most efficient of practices. I didn’t have to push myself past my ceiling of mental and physical capacity. I was allowed to let out the giant exhale I had been holding in for the past 18 years of my life. This propelled me into my early career post undergrad, teaching dance.
As I made my way into studio environments as a teacher, I saw a lot of the same red flags I had personally grown up with in dance: long hours at the studio, constant fatigue, and nagging injuries. And this was happening to students 18 years and under. I knew something had to change, for the sake of everyone’s well-being.
Having learned from both the positive and negative influences of my past instructors, I know focusing solely on the product, rather than the process, is not ideal. It’s important for a dancer to not only understand the basic fundamentals of their dance technique, but how to efficiently move through it as well: using the right amount of energy to achieve technical dance steps without overworking the physical body. I developed my own curriculum within my classes to properly progress the students in class. We would go from point A to point B to point C and so on. This would mean moving the class at a measured pace. We would be working on the same steps and concepts of movement for weeks to a month at a time, sometimes longer if the class needed extra practice. This idea doesn’t sit well with some studio owners, and particularly some parents.
Let me tell you about the first group of parents who were visibly upset and confused by my teaching methods. Let’s call them “The Dance Moms.” Now “The Dance Moms” were a group of moms who had children at the studio around 4-5 years old. They were all competitive students and I was their Ballet teacher, who they saw twice a week. These students took other classes for Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop and Acro technique, and outside rehearsals for their competition dances. I figured what they needed was a slower paced class to focus on the fundamentals of their technique. After all, they needed to learn not only the “what” but the “how” of their dancing.
We would do simple exercises in the center, very little at the barre, and work on repetitive movements rather than complex sequences. What I looked forward to the most, was the fact I was going to start with a group of very young dancers and build healthy training habits early. This elated me because with the older students I worked with, I had to toil to weed out the bad habits and attempt to start fresh with their training. That wasn’t the case with these girls. My managers and coworkers could see the benefit of what I was trying to do with these kids, and would go to bat for me consistently. The only group of people who had a problem were “The Dance Moms”
This group of moms acted in true “helicopter” dance parent fashion. would hover outside the classroom, stare down their children and often grimace at what we were working on in class. They would ask questions after every class. “Why aren’t they working at the barre?”, “Will they be doing demi pliés all year long?”, “What does this foot progression step have anything to do with my daughter’s training?”. Plenty of inquisitions came my way and of course I had no problem answering these questions. I’d rather be transparent and let them know my methods of teaching and how I like to manage my class, pedagogically speaking. Simply put, my teachings are slow and methodical, and I would explain this to the parents and ask for patience and time to see the end product. These answers never seemed to be enough for these moms. They wanted to see results right away. I mean, how could they see results when they watched every single ballet class week after week? They would only see the slow progress working as it should. They would go straight to my managers to complain, although no action was ever taken against me because I had the full support of this company.
Slowly and surely, “The Dance Moms” came around by the end of the school year. Their children responded positively to my teachings, and would share these sentiments with their moms. The moms would see with a year’s worth of patience and time, their children would be overall stronger and more mindful with their ballet technique. Their children improved in their training and continued to develop quality habits. These moms would compliment and praise my teachings by this point. While I wish I didn’t have to go through the headache of this first year, I’m glad they could see what their children gained in these ballet classes. However, this is perhaps where I see the end of my studio teaching career.
I have seen this mentality of parents time and time again from multiple years teaching at this particular studio, and it was exhausting to deal with constantly. While I don’t work here anymore, and my current studio job is nothing like this, I’m ready to make a change in my dance career. I believe I thrive in environments where I am encouraged to teach my students the way I see fit, and I feel my philosophy just doesn’t match with many studio environments, generally speaking. While most studios have changed to be more progressive in health-conscious ways, not all of them embrace it with open arms. It will always feel like an uphill battle to me, and I’m not going to give up on my professional ethics to fit in with any dance school. I’ve not only seen great results with my pedagogical practices, but great processes too. I have the power to turn my students into hard-working, curious, intelligent and mindful dancers.
That is why my teaching philosophy will forever and always be: slow and steady wins the race.
Caitlin Barfield has trained in dance since the age of 3 years old. She trained in styles including Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, Tap, Hip Hop, Modern and more. In her youth, she participated in numerous dance competitions all around Central Texas. She graduated from California State University, Long Beach with a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Dance. During her time in college, she worked with academic, conservatory and industry professionals. Since graduating, Caitlin has taught children from as young as two years to adult level in multiple genres such as Ballet, Contemporary, Jazz, Creative Movement, Stretch/Strength and even Aerial Silks. She also holds two teacher training certifications from American Ballet Theatre’s National Training Curriculum in levels Pre-Primary-Level 3, as well as Levels 4 & 5. She hopes to continue fostering young talent in a safe and encouraging learning environment.
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