We've all heard it. There is some step that dancers really want to learn in your ballet class because they saw it on social media or in competition or a friend showed it to them during recess at school . . . and you know they aren't ready for it.
We love motivated students. We love teaching lessons that students are excited to learn. And saying "no" to this request can feel like it's killing those good vibes. A good alternative to "no" is "Ooh! That's a fun step! Let's build up our technique and start working towards it!"
But those are just words unless you actually follow through. I'm not necessarily saying you teach revoltade to a four-year-old, but you do need to take the time to figure out what you are working on in your class right now that will lead to the requested step.
And then you flood your class with information about the process.
FLOOD your class with information. Every single time you do something that will lead to success in their goal, point it out. Make sure they know which exercises you designed specifically to benefit their requested vocabulary. Praise dancers who are implementing corrections well and draw the connection between what they are doing today and where they want to be "tomorrow." When you let students know that their goals are important to you, it builds trust in the relationship and helps keep dancers motivated. You absolutely can help dancers become ready for something (someday) without sacrificing your curriculum progressions.
Just because I like a challenge, let's see what working towards revoltade with a four-year-old would look like. (I am fully crazy for doing this.)
Four-year-olds are in Pre-Ballet B. Some of the things we are working on are:
Levels. In order to do those really big jumps, we need to get really good at moving from low to high.
Dimension. Revoltade is a BIG movement. We need to be comfortable making big movements.
Pathway. This is a jump that really moves through space. It moves forward on a straight line. What other steps can we do really big and moving forward on a straight line?
Swinging. Swinging is an introduction to weight transfer and revoltade definitely transfers weight through the air!
Demi-plié. All jumps need a good demi-plié at the beginning and the end.
Tendu/spring points/piqué points. We're going to need strong, pointed feet in the air.
Sautés. No matter what shape we are jumping in, we are building our take-off and landing muscles so that our revoltade will be AWESOME (and safe).
Hops. Revoltade is the fanciest hop ever. So we start getting those muscles strong now!
There is always a developmentally appropriate way we can help dancers become ready for the step they are just dying to do. All we have to do is find it and then make sure the student understands the connection.
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