So you want to dance: Part 5 of series Part 7 of series Postings discussion This link allows you to see others thoughts on this piece and contribute to the debate yourself if you want. We look to guarantee this link for a number of years, though after 3-6 months the page may be closed to further additions. Ballet.co's Doing Dance forum reviews by Anjuli Bai

Most teachers do. They are certainly not doing it for the lavish life style that teaching affords them!

What does a teacher see when she looks at the class?

She sees the class on a number of levels, each individual within the class and the class as a whole. She is also weighing both ideally and realistically what she would like to accomplish. Every class has a distinct character, just as the students within it have an individual character. Working to enhance the group as well as the individual experience is the teacher's task at hand.

It takes a great deal of energy to teach ballet.

More so than other subjects?

Teaching ballet, or other forms of physical movement, takes physical as well as emotional energy. I have found, after observing other teachers and in my own teaching experience over several decades, that the class rides on the energy of the teacher.

But if she's sitting down?

It really doesn't matter. There is an emotional flow, an enthusiasm for the subject matter, for the progress of the class, as well as the individual student, which drives the class forward. If that energy flags, the class dies. In teaching other subjects there is some "down time" - students are reading or taking notes, but in ballet class there is constant movement. The class energy is either going forward or backward. An enthusiastic teacher produces an enormously positive learning environment. There's also a constant subtext of psychological interaction. She's a bit of a psychologist too.

How so?

People come to class with not only individual physical characteristics, but also a panoply of emotional and psychic components. Ballet class is such an exposed experience. Everyone can see what everyone else is doing. Some people grow and bloom in such an environment, others wilt and shrink. It is the teacher's task to help each student find the path that will produce a good result. Some students like to be in the front, whilst others would rather not. If the teacher is skillful she can bring forth the shyest to realize that individual's potential. After each class I would ask myself "Did I somehow touch - connect - with each student today?" After a day of teaching, I found I was not only physically weary, but also emotionally spent. I had invested all I had.

Do all teachers plan for class? I see some have notes, and some don't.

Yes, I would say that all teachers plan for class, in one way or another. Syllabus teachers (which I am not) have more of a set class (to varying degrees), but just about every teacher I know walks into class with something in mind she wants to achieve that day. The exercises at the barre should prepare the students in specific ways for what she plans to present in the center. Some teachers take hours planning a class, others to do it in a matter of minutes. It doesn't mean that one method is better than another, it's just a different way of arriving at the same goal. Personally, I always came into class with an over-arching idea, to present a specific concept, and then I fashioned the barre in a way that would prepare the students (hopefully!) for that concept in the center. As for the actual choreography of the combinations, both barre and center, that I did in real time. But no matter how the teacher arrives at her plan for the day, or how much time she has spent designing the choreography for the day, she should remain flexible.

A teacher needs to be ready to abandon her plans to the exigencies of the day. If one sets a fairly complex waltz, but the class is having problems with something rather basic, it makes sense to abandon the complex and concentrate on the simple basics. One can return to the complexities another day.

Sometimes it seems like one or two people dominate the teacher's attention.

There are lots of reasons for this, some very good reasons, and sometimes less than good reasons. Let's concentrate on the good reasons. Some students are excellent sources for demonstration. They don't mind being singled out. The teacher very quickly becomes aware that were she to use a shyer student to demonstrate some particular technical aspect, that student would be devastated. Some people literally want to "disappear" in ballet class. Hearing their name called, or being singled out in any way makes them cringe. Others can't wait to have the teacher's attention.

It can get complicated. If I want to demonstrate to the entire class how to hold the abdominal muscles, I am not going to use a student whose stomach protrudes as this would call attention to something she most probably wouldn't want the class to analyze. I would correct that student individually rather than in front of the class. Instead I would either use myself or a student who is doing it correctly. The teacher has to be careful when calling attention to various body parts because she is dealing with a student's self view, and the view that student wants to either project or protect from the world. There is also always the chance that there is a particular circumstance that could inhibit the student from correctly attaining a certain goal such as previous surgery, or other problem. A good rule is never to use any student to demonstrate something negative.

Another good rule is to connect positively. There may have been many corrections for a particular student, but surely the teacher can also find something positive to say to that student, too. Corrections can be stated positively.

Sometimes I wonder why another student is asked to try something and I am not. What does this mean?

Since everyone comes into class with an individual set of attributes, we all progress in different ways. Don't think of it as "good" or "bad" think of it as "different." For instance, a student who has a fast single pirouette that is not controlled, will be asked to slow down that single pirouette to gain control. But a student with a slower pirouette that is under control might be asked to try for a double. So, it's not a matter of speed, but control. Normally, one would think that someone who is speeding around in pirouettes would be a candidate to try for a double. At times the student's mind is ready, but the body is still catching up, and sometimes it's the body that is ready, but the student's mind has not as yet solidified the concepts that have already been presented. You can't judge your progress by others around you. Your teacher is the source for that information.

Teaching is a lot more complicated than I thought it was.

It's a lot more complicated than I thought it was too! The first time I taught class, I had to demonstrate every movement (it was a beginner class), count the music, set the exercise, correct and help each student, as well as be aware of the pianist....oh my! My own teacher made it look so easy!

If it is exhausting and fairly complicated, is it worth it?

Absolutely! Most teachers want to teach more than anything in the world! There is no greater joy than teaching something you love to people who want to learn, and hopefully end up loving it, too. Teaching is like casting a pebble in a pond, the ripples go way beyond what is immediately seen and as long as her students live and dance, the teacher lives and dances, too.