"Inheriting" New Tap Students with Questionable 👀 Habits - PART ONE

You got new Tap students…yay!!

But right away you realize that they have some habits from their past teacher(s) that you find questionable or problematic. 👀 Tight ankles, wonky rhythms, straight legs…oh my!

This can happen within a studio/program with multiple Tap teachers and their individual approaches, when you start teaching at a new studio, or it can happen when students join your program after studying elsewhere.

No matter which way, this can feel like quite the pickle, right?

The situation can get even more awkward if the students insist on their way over yours.

Arms folded. Confused faces. Awkward silence. Yikes.

I know I’ve been stumped by this in the past. 

A few things that I encourage fellow Tap Teachers to do are 

1. Frame “new training” from the beginning,
2. Show respect for the students’ past experiences no matter what they are, and
3. Avoid leaving too much time for “debate”. Count ‘em in…5-6-7-8! 😅

ONE: “Frame” new training from the start. 

There were so many times early in my teaching career where I wish I had introduced myself and said upfront “There will probably be things that I do differently than you’re used to, so just expect that. Some of it may feel weird, but I’ll coach you through it.”  

Here are a couple of other things I talk about with students…

• Tap dance by its very nature is a folk art form. Its origins are not rigid, so how it’s taught (its terminology, etc) is not rigid either.
• In the true spirit of Tap dance, my goal is to make sure that my students can feel comfortable in a variety of settings besides my class - in a jam session, in a workshop with a guest teacher, etc. 

Now, in my program The Tap Teachers’ Lounge: Comprehensive Online Tap Teacher Training that Works, one thing we focus heavily on is the general development of the Tap student…helping them to 👏🏾 learn 👏🏾 how 👏🏾to 👏🏾 learn. 

We want our students to develop a humble posture of learning. Tap dance is all about exploration in a “lab” setting, so let’s proactively invite students to consider these big ideas from the start. 

Sharing these ideas can prevent a lot of confusion for our students,

so let’s tell them these things EARLY and OFTEN.

TWO: In your actions and language, respect the students’ past experiences (and their past teacher) however possible. 

New students can feel a little nervous, especially if they start to get the feeling that what they’ve invested real time and energy into learning is somehow wrong. Students can get discouraged or even defensive. 

I mean, who wants to feel invalidated? Anyone? 

Ultimately, we may not be able to change how our students feel, but we can help them to feel welcome & supported by modeling the “humble posture of learning” that we want our students to develop. 

We know students pay attention to what we do as much as what we say,

so we can’t exactly ask our Tap students to be open to new experiences

as we shut theirs down without a second thought! 

So give their idea a few moments to roll around in your mind, and look for some common ground between their way and yours, between the previous teacher and you…even if it’s a tiny dot of common ground! 🟣

***Let me throw you a quick curve ball: Every so often, what seems like a student’s “wrong” approach is actually just something that YOU’RE not used to as the TEACHER! Remember, sometimes there is more than one way to get to the same place, so be open to that rare possibility and welcome it if and when it comes from your new students! After all, we’re always looking for a fresh idea!

Now, setting aside that rare curveball for a more usual one: If the student is saying that their teacher told them that cramp rolls always have THREE sounds and are done with a toe-heel-dig…

...Welp! That tiny dot  🟣 of common ground might just be “Hey, that teacher did their best for this student and kept them in Tap shoes.” 🤷🏽‍♀️ 

In such a case, you may need to

a) fix your face lol, and

b) say to the student, “Ah ok. Well, what your teacher taught you may be a variation that some folks do and that’s cool. What we’re doing in this class is a different approach than what you’re used to, and this is also a very common way to do cramp rolls that you’ll wanna know, so we’ll work on them like this.” 

THREE: Avoid leaving too much time for “debate”. Count ‘em in…5-6-7-8! 

There’s nothing like some music, and a “1-2-3-4!” or “5-6-7-8!” to break up an awkward moment in class, am I right?! 

So once you’ve “framed” your approach to instruction, explored the student’s question and respectfully responded to it, the best thing to do is just keep it movin’. Dance it. 

Back-and-forth debate with a student in the middle of a class is just awkward and can lead to all kinds of unwanted stuff. As the Tap Teacher in the class, you’re the captain - you navigate unexpected waters with strength, ease, and you keep the ship headed toward the destination you set. 

----------------------

Hopefully, you grab an idea or two from this article to better prepare you for this inevitable situation.  

In the "Part 2" article of this very important topic, we’ll get into more specific language you can use to navigate these and broader Tap class situations, in such a way that helps your new and returning students to 1) gain clarity about how to learn Tap dance, and 2) keep them humble and open to new ideas! So stay tuned!