Are you going to IADMS?

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IADMS 28th Annual Conference is being held in Helsinki, Finland later this week from 25 – 28 October 2018. If you are going to be at the conference then I hope you will come and say hello if you see me around. You may find me helping out at the IADMS table in the exhibition area at some of the breaks.

Packed Programme

There is a packed and varied programme this year and you can find full details of all that is on offer over the four days from the IADMS website.

Exhibition

If you are coming to the conference don’t forget to visit the exhibition area and take the opportunity to find out what all the exhibitors have on offer.

Psychology Roundtable

I am moderating the Psychology Roundtable on Friday from 1.30 – 3.30pm at the conference so if you have signed up for this session I look forward to welcoming you.

A Day for Teachers

This takes place on Saturday at the conference and it is always an interesting and useful day for dance teachers. If you are attending I hope we have an opportunity to say hello.

See you in Helsinki.

 

 

 

 

A breath in dance

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Dancing in your head anywhereAs a young dancer I was encouraged to breathe when I danced. I am not talking about making a huge thing about breathing. Rather it was about taking a breath to enhance the step or movement I was about to perform and also to assist in making hard work in dance look reasonably calm or easy. There was no point in performing a beautiful dance but then looking as if you were about to expire from not being able to catch your breath. So breathing was part of my training and I think in many ways this training was ahead of its time in its thinking and approach.

Stamina demanding dance

Take the demands of Highland dancing as one example – a very stamina demanding form of dance. When constantly hopping and springing throughout a whole dance it is easy for the dancer to begin to look tired and out of breath. Paying attention to the breathing can help with pacing the dancer as well as stamina. If a dancer loses all of his or her breath each times she lands from a hop, spring or jump then he or she will very quickly be out of puff and this will quickly show in the carriage and poise of the dancer. Breathing well in dance will enhance good stamina rather than reducing it. Having good stamina and good breathing is a terrific combination.

As breathing was part of my training it felt natural to breath well and use the breath to enhance whatever dance genre I was performing. I found that taking a breath at the right time for me in dance made a difference to how I felt and also how the movement looked. Getting the breathing right can help to make a performance appear light, airy and effortless instead of heavy and full of effort.

Working with the breath, to me, is a vital part of dance. If you have downloaded and read my booklet Preparation for Performance then you will know that teaching breathing in dance is something I have been involved with from way back in the 1970s.

Relaxation

In addition to using breathing techniques in dance I have also been involved in teaching relaxation techniques to dancers of all ages for many years including teaching relaxation techniques in the workplace, within wellbeing workshops and stress management courses. I guess it is not surprising that my journey of the breath has taken me into mindfulness and the mindful breath too. Learning about and practising mindful breath offers yet another aspect of how the breath and the body work together.

Breathe and focus

In dance, breathing can be a good way to begin releasing tension in the body. I find that taking time to breathe (a few deep breaths in and out) before starting teaching a class or taking part in a class is a great way to focus and prepare your mind for what you are about to do. Being present in the moment when teaching and participating is a different experience to teaching whilst being distracted by something else or dancing whilst thinking of something else. Why not try, taking a few breaths to focus on what you are doing right now and see how it feels? Does it feel feel different to be fully present in the moment?

Currently my Tension & Rigidity course is running and another course that is relevant to this post is my Mindfulness in Dance Teaching. You can find out about all the short online CPD courses that I do for dance teachers by clicking here.

There are also earlier posts that you might want to read such as: Mindfulness in Dance Teaching and Highland Dancers Achieving Steady Raised Arms and Relaxation Technique. Breathing is a great topic to explore for dancers and dance teachers. It has a lot to offer for your own wellbeing as well as that of your dancers. I hope you will take a look at it in more depth and see what it has to offer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Courses

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Sample certificate

If you want to take either of the two courses starting this Friday (14 September 2018) then you can as long as you book today – Monday 10 September. And then in three weeks time, once you have completed your course, you will receive a Certificate of Competition that shows course hours and completion date – you may want to show this to your teaching organisation as evidence of taking some external CPD.

You can find information about all the short online CPD courses that I offer here.

 

 

 

Courses starting soon

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Two courses are available to book now. Online payment by card or Paypal.

Do you want or need to do some CPD? This is a great opportunity to take some CPD that is personalised to your own dance teaching practice.

Dance teachers from all dance genres are welcome to take these courses. Trainee dance teachers can also take them. Dance teachers from around the world have successfully completed short online CPD courses for dance teachers gaining a Certificate of Completion for each course completed.

Details of all courses are available here plus downloadable information sheets for each course.

 

 

Mindful moments

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With the current Mindfulness in Dance Teaching course underway I have been reflecting on  a personal retreat I spent recently at Samye Ling Tibetan Buddhist Monastery and Centre for World Peace and Health on the banks of the river Esk in Scotland. Although this is a Buddhist Monastery, it is not necessary to be Buddhist or even religious in order to visit or stay at this peaceful place. I loved being close to the water and this lovely little beach with its colourful pebbles.

The photographs in this article are ones I took during my retreat. Although it was still quite wintry weather there were some dry and bright patches of weather too. You can see from the photos that there is still some snow lying on the banks of the river and pond beneath the bridge.

During my retreat I spent time joining silent meditations as well as spending time by the river enjoying some mindful moments doing mindful breathing and movement. Breathing in fresh, clean air and doing some early morning mindful movement is a great way to start the day.

Several times during my retreat I walked across the wooden bridge to the river where I spent a little time sitting on a stone enjoying a mindful moment or two in meditation. Even just a few mindful moments here and there offers benefits. I certainly felt it was beneficial doing some little and often meditation.

 

Doing little and often mindfulness is something that we can do as dance teachers for our own wellbeing. Most dance teachers are very busy people so it is not always easy finding time to switch off and relax. But once you are into the habit of spending some mindful moments for you then you should feel the benefit. In the Mindfulness in Dance Teaching course we explore ways of bringing some principles of mindfulness into our dance teaching practice. This course is not a strictly mindfulness course. Instead it explores ways of teaching dance that incorporate aspects of mindfulness such as noticing, non-judgemental observing and mindfulness in action. Exploring non-judgemental observing can be challenging for dance teachers as a lot of dance teaching can be about being judgemental. Teachers who have already taken this course report finding this aspect particularly challenging but also a very useful addition to their dance teaching toolkit.

You can read more about Mindfulness in Dance Teaching in an article posted earlier on this site. Meanwhile I am looking forward to another stay at Samye Ling’s in the not too distant future.