Before the first dance lesson, you should review some fundamentals of movement with your students. Shaking from head to toes, shoulders to hands, hips to knees, legs to feet, and more are all possible. Explore other movements, including jumping and other locomotor activities, to accompany your students’ explorations. You can also introduce instruments such as drums, which will encourage movement exploration. Once you’ve established the basics, you can begin teaching the first dance steps.
Introduce the concept and its components. Most lessons for young children start with an exploration of rhythm. Afterwards, students progress to instrument exploration, most often a percussion instrument. Then, students learn the steps and practice locomotor movements related to the concept. A dance lesson may also incorporate choreographic studies, which include different turns. While the students learn the steps, the concepts will be internalized through a process of guided improvisation. For older students, the concept is reflected briefly by the teacher and explored in structured improvisation. Occasionally, props are added to enhance the exploration.
To further illustrate the concept of the dance, young dancers move across the floor separately, in pairs, and in trios. Throughout the lesson, they may review concepts to reinforce the ideas. During the end of the lesson, they may perform an excerpt of the choreography. If there’s a part they didn’t understand, they can review it. You might even choose to perform it together with a partner or group of dancers.
