Recently, I had the honour of being invited to choreograph a dance routine for a secondary school choir. I was told that I had been sought out specifically because of my experience choreographing for a cappella groups in the past… which is, frankly, the greatest honour! So, even though I don’t often teach, I was very happy to do two sessions for this choir.
I had a great time teaching the students (13-15 year olds, a big group of 33 students), they were very tuned in and applied themselves with earnest. When I used to teach music in schools (also as a freelancer), it was always a big game of chance as to whether the students would be positive and keen to learn, or if they would play punk with you (it has happened to me). So this particular choir was really a very pleasant surprise.
Some of my teaching points:
- The Responsibility of the Performer: to take care of yourself so that you can do your best
- Doing well cannot happen without doing your homework; PRACTICE
- No performance is perfect; every run through is a learning opportunity to improve the next time round. Keep Improving!
- Work as a team, look out for and help each other
- Most of all, Have Fun! (And don’t forget to smile!)
While I won’t post any photos of / with them here, you can find a snippet of the choreography on my Instagram.
I really hope the students had fun during my two sessions with them. I did get a lot of positive comments afterwards and it really warms my heart! Especially this message I received afterwards:
“Thanks so much for your help and spreading the passion for dance to the students” – choir teacher-in-charge 🙂
Very happy to be able to do this kind of rewarding work. Thank you again to the school for putting their trust in me. I’m looking forward to seeing the students perform!