At about 0:35 seconds in to the video (below), I start the 3 minute clock, where I tell you 3 tips in 3 minutes to "fitting more in" to your Tap classes...and...GO!

Bored and Overwhelmed students in the same class? 😳

How we respond to these challenges can truly be "make or break" for our Tap program, so as Tap Teachers, we need to be prepared to support our students in tangible, meaningful ways. 

Here are 2 keys to doing just that (at around 3:15). Check out this short video blog BELOW ⬇️ to learn more. 

Interested In Online Tap Teacher Training? Click here to learn more! 

CHECK OUT THE SHORT VIDEO BELOW ⬇️  to help you navigate the options when it comes to Tap Teacher Certification, Tap teacher training, and Tap class curriculum options. Click here for more info on the Tap Teacher's Lounge program. 

Sure, when families visit class you can have them quietly observe a usual class and tell them their kids are doing great. 

But if you leave it there, you’re missing a huge opportunity. Huge. 

Think of it: you actually have the parents in your class as a CAPTIVE AUDIENCE. They’re watching, they’re listening! This is a fantastic chance to reinforce an expanded view of Tap dance and Tap dance study, so grab this chance! 

I just had a family observation day in my classes a few days ago, so I’ll share with you some of the main ideas I put out there that left the parents excited & impressed by what their kids are learning. 

WHAT You’re Teaching

I broke down a few key fundamental parts of the class - the history component, the musicality instruction, the footwork/technique, the improvisation, etc. 

I took each of the components and shared some detail about them. 

History: I shared the broad strokes of the history lessons I’ve given, including more details that families found interestin...

As an aspiring performer in NYC, I realized very early-on how uninformed I was about Tap dance history and culture.

I couldn’t hold a basic conversation with anyone about a dance form that I had studied for YEARS. There were times when I was around Tap dance “greats” & had no clue who they really were. I felt a kind of quiet, but very real embarrassment inside. I knew so little, AND I didn’t know what I didn’t know. 

It just felt OFF, very “out-of-alignment”.  

This definitely affected my teaching. In my early days as an educator, I taught very little history I’m sad to say. I didn’t know what to tell my students about Tap dance history. On top of that, I was a novice Tap teacher who didn’t have the skills to teach technique & clean routines efficiently, so there wasn’t even TIME for history. So in those ways, many of my students were short-changed.

Over time, I gradually gained more knowledge.

But when I started offering in-school residencies and school assemblies about Tap danc...

Stop making this crucial mistake, by using this ONE WORD that can take our Tap students from reluctant to resilient. Check out this week's "vlog" to find out what that word is.

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We all know the sayings, don't we?

Practice makes progress! Practice makes perfect!

But is it really true?

In a word: SOMETIMES.

We all loooooove to say “Again! One more time!” in our classes. So HOW we use repetition in our Tap classes is an important topic, especially when it comes to our Tap class lesson plans, and how we manage each class as our students are working to make progress on any exercise or piece of choreography.

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I remember an aspiring professional dancer taking my open Tap class at Broadway Dance Center in NYC, and saying:

“I tried for like 10 years at my home studio, but I still can’t do wings. Can you help me? I have a big audition coming up and I need to be ready.”  

So this dancer practiced wings for YEARS.

Rep after rep. Week after week. Year after year. 

Years of reps. 

Years of practicing that didn’t work. 😩

 We all know of situations like this, where practice did NOT make perfect at all.

Honestly, ineffective reps ...

In your Tap class, are you telling your Tap students what’s “right” and what’s “wrong”? 

🤔 If you are…are you absolutely sure that YOU’RE correct?

Is “right/wrong” the ideal way to keep your students clear on the standards of Tap, and open to new ideas and approaches? 

As you consider ways to support students who are struggling to get used to the way you teach,

I want you to consider a wider range of vocabulary, beyond “right/wrong”, as you introduce new things, so that when that new student is stuck on “their” way of doing things, you have more language you can use that can validate their past experience, while also opening them up to the new approach you're offering. 

Here’s what I mean.

“Right/Wrong” vs “Effective/Ineffective” vs “Common/Uncommon”

Inside my training program The Tap Teachers’ Lounge: Comprehensive Online Tap Teacher Training that Works, one thing that we focus heavily on is “Tap Student Development”. This is all about how we help our students beco...

Question: How can we help students to understand how valuable, how awesome, how FUN Tap dance can be?? 🤔 🧐 💡

Short answer: We tell them & we show them!

This article will focus largely on what we say. (What we SHOW/DO is a whole ‘nother big topic.)

So…What EXACTLY do we tell them? 

PICTURE JALEN & HIS MOM

Imagine that 5-year-old Jalen and his mother Jackie have come to your Open House and said that the kid wants to do Hip-Hop. 

You offer a combo class that is ½ Hip Hop & ½ Tap, but Jackie isn’t sure that Jalen will like the Tap part of the class.

How can you get them excited about Tap dance? 

Let’s play out a couple of scenarios.

SCENARIO ONE

You say: 

“In Tap class, Jalen will get to make noise/sounds/rhythms with his feet! Lots of fun!” 

OK. 🤷🏾‍♀️ This is true…but what real value or benefit does this actually convey?  Does this tell Jackie something that she didn’t know about Tap dance? Does this intrigue Jackie, who is the final decision-maker in this...

August 10, 2022

Zoom in on this post screen shot...

There are just waaaaaay too many stories like this one, aren't there? 🤦🏾‍♀️

This is a story fresh from the community of Tap teachers I’m working with inside my Tap Teachers’ Lounge online training program. 

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THE BACKGROUND LOW-DOWN

"L "is a new Tap teacher at this studio.

She has inherited students with ineffective Tap technique, so she is focusing on rhythm & rudiment fundamentals, as we are in the Lounge.  

And within a few weeks of the start of the season, here is a very negative response. It’s only one parent, but you know how loud that small minority of negative responses can be. 

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A LESSON IN DISGUISE?

Now, sometimes in dance teacher groups we might advise that, at this point, it’s simplest to maintain our boundaries by showing this parent the door. (I don’t know this parent, so that might be the best response.), and I get that…

BUT!