Welcome to The Dollhouse

 

Teaching this four-session course is a new experience for me.  For several years now I've taught Instant Burlesque Queen, a three-hour workshop in which I cover a lot of the same material, but in a shorter period of time.  I've been looking forward to this class series because  I have more time to teach and more time to give the students personal attention.   I also find that students learn better if they have a little time to let the material percolate. I know I do.  Even if they're not practicing every day, having a week between classes for the new information to sink in will help students in later sessions.

 

In designing the course, we decided to allow drop-in students, even though I knew this would be a challenge.  It's hard to prepare for the right number of students when you don't know what that number is going to be.   I always know what my maximum capacity is, and we bring enough loaner gear to supply that number... and hope we don't go over it.  I'd feel crummy if I had to turn someone away, but that's why we suggest people pre-register.  I can take fifteen students, and we had nine students in the first session.  On the flip-side, the dynamic of every class is different, and that's exciting to me. Last class we had some students who were clearly there to "work" and trio of friends who were there to "have fun".  My job is to make sure that everyone has a good time no matter what their motivation is.  It means that every class is new and fresh for me.  In performance, we use a phrase "if you're bored, you're boring" – meaning if you've done a routine so many times that you're sleepwalking through it or not fully engaged, the audience can tell and they won't be fully engaged either.  I know the material I'm teaching backwards and forwards.  I use a lot of the same words to explain it every time I teach.  Having different students with different needs, levels of experience, and attitudes in each class session means I really need to be on my toes.

 

Allowing drop-in students meant that I had to design individual class sessions which could stand alone – since I'd have students for which any class could be their first or only class – but which all worked together as a set.  I didn't want any drop-in student to feel completely at sea. Gourmet magazine (yes, I cook) would publish recipes and in the middle of it there would be a note that said something like "see March 1947 issue for caramel sauce recipe". Great if you've been subscribing to Gourmetall your life, but very frustrating if this is the first issue you've ever picked up. I didn't want any of my students to feel like that. I also didn't want a lack of continuity for the students who signed up for the whole thing. I think this is like building a good movie series or television show.  Each episode needs to stand on its own, but if you watch the whole season, you get more out of it than someone who occasionally tunes in.  Each one of my class sessions has a unique mix of dance steps, clothing removes, and more abstract concepts, plus a refresher of the previous week. Anyone who comes to just one or two classes will get a complete lesson and walk away with skills she can practice and use, but she won't get the whole experience. The students who come to all of the classes will learn all of the skills of the individual sessions, plus the bonus skill of putting all of those things together.  At least, that's my goal.

 

This week I'll be teaching grinds and skirt & shirt removes, and talking about choosing music. Come join us!