Wear something comfortable. I'd like to be able to see the shape of your knees and lower back, but you don't have to show any skin - t shirts and tank tops are fine.
Please let me know at the beginning of the class if you have any major injuries that would affect your physical abilities (e.g. knee or ankle injury).
Please let me know if you have balance issues.
If at any time anything feels excessively uncomfortable to you, don’t do it. Excessive discomfort or pain might also indicate improper form. We can modify moves to fit your body. I will be checking your form as much as possible, but you have to listen to your body. Please let me know if you need help modifying a move to make it more comfortable for you.
Feel free to borrow a hip scarf, but please return it after class.
Please, no discussion of politics or contentious issues in class. It creates disharmony, and we're there to have fun and learn. :-)
You can play zills in class, but please muffle them with zill covers or baby socks so they aren't a distraction. We will take off the covers and learn zills in level two.
Dancers & Teachers Who Inspire Me
There are too many to name, but here's a short list:
Barefoot Shoes - I noticed a huge improvement in my feet once I started wearing these. I need a wide toe box. Be sure to transition to wearing them gradually.
I could teach a whole class on stage hair! There are so many options. Here is a nice site for halo falls. Real human hair is the nicest, but it is also the most expensive.
The Amazing Slow Downer is free software that allows you to change the speed of music without changing the pitch. This is really useful when you're learning or making a choreography and you want to slow the music down.
Shazam is a free phone app that allows you to identify music you hear. You can even put it in "continuous mode" and it will continuously identify the songs that are playing around you.
Audacity is free software that allows you to edit songs.
I think this posture cure is interesting. I've never tried it, but if I had difficulty holding my shoulders back and down, I would try this. It would be nice to wear outside of class to remind me to