Knowing When to Cut Your Losses or Let's Try Something Else

Over the years I've learned a valuable lesson about abandonment.  In tap, especially choreography, it's a good thing.  Sometimes, despite your best intentions, you just can't create choreography you love.  Sometimes you've spent hours brainstorming and have an incredible idea but when it comes to actually making it real, it just seems to flop.  When this happens you have two choices.  Keep going or scratch it and start anew.  Most times I think starting anew is the best way to go.

I remember I had a brilliant idea for a tap piece that would be done almost entirely behind a large piece of fabric.  To create visual interest, since you couldn't see the tappers' feet, I was going to have them use objects to push against the fabric to basically tell a story of sorts.  I spent many hours planning this and at our first actual rehearsal we gave it a shot.

Total Failure.

Due to a variety of factors the shapes were not at all distinguishable from the audiences perspective.  It went from brilliant idea to total flop in a matter of minutes.  I spent a little time thinking of how I could save it, but realized that in this case it was better to scrap it, which I did.

Best decision ever!

The song I was using was "Hide and Seek" by Imogen Heap with a back beat I had added to give it a little more oomph.  I decided to play off that title and have them popping out from the fabric and then hiding back behind it.  Sounds simple and cheesy but it actually read exceptionally well.  To this day I am super proud of that routine and so glad I made the decision to start anew.

So as I come upon my third week of working on a certain recital dance, once again I find I'm faced with the decision to keep going or start anew.  I think I know what I'm going to do.

Rod Howell  http://www.unitedtaps.com

Giving Students Power or "This is Harder than I Thought"

So sometimes students need a little motivation.  A goal of some kind.  Kids are naturally competitive so I try to harness that trait and direct it in the direction of hard work and improvement.  I often have little contests.  It's me versus the whole class (this keeps them working together as a team, and of course they would just love to beat the teacher).  Now of course this isn't fair, and I tell the kids that straight out.  But I also tell them how incredible they would be to beat me when the odds are stacked against them (they do win more than half the time).  Some groan of course, but most are up for the competition.  Basically I do whatever step we need to work on by myself, and then they do it all together after me.  If they are exactly together and do it right (heels up etc.) they get a point.  If they are almost all together, it's a tie and no one gets a point.  If they aren't together or do it wrong, I get a point.

They generally lose the the first 2 or 3 points right off the bat, but their competitive spirit really kicks and magically they suddenly "get better".  Wanting to do something well is half the battle to getting better.  When you unlock that drive, great things happen.

Well it's not always smooth.  Sometimes they just can't stay together as well as they'd like and I pull far ahead.  Predictably, they begin to call foul and claim I'm biased towards myself and that's why I'm winning.  Usually at that point I explain that my deepest hope is for them to beat me.  I tell them if they beat me, that means I have done a good job teaching them.  Today however I took a different approach I've never done before.

I offered one of the kids the opportunity to be the "judge" of who gets a point.  My only requirement was that she was totally honest.  I think she was a little taken aback by the sudden possibility of all that responsibility but like a brave little youngster she stepped up and did it.

The first round of her judging was a tough one and I think she called it a tie (it was a fair assessment from my point of view).  After that we tied a few more times and then she awarded a point to me.  The rest of the kids were not quite so pleased with this and some complained and encouraged her to give them a point (granted they weren't the ones holding the dry erase marker and responsible for giving an honest score).  After that she quickly decided to pass the role of score keeper on to someone else.  Of course about ten people immediately surrounded her all dying to get the marker and thus the role of score keeper.  She was having trouble deciding who to give it to so I made the decision for her.  The next girl also started out giving a tie or two.  But after 2 rounds she gave the winning point to me.

Again some of the other students groaned but she just shrugged shoulders as if to say "hey, fair is fair".

And so that was the highlight of my teaching day.  I felt bad for winning of course (sometimes when they get really far behind I make one round of competition worth 5 points if they win and only 1 if they lose - that helps them catch up).  But it was really interesting to see how they handled having the responsibility of who gets a point and how honest they were once they had that power.  I think everyone had their perspectives broadened.

Rod Howell http://www.unitedtaps.com

Computers Make My Job Easier or No They Don't

Everyone is aware how much computers have worked their way into nearly every aspect of our lives.  Teaching tap is no different, at least for me.  Granted I'm a bit of a tech-nerd, but nevertheless some of the tools available are REALLY helpful (and occasionally hurtful).

Currently I use a macbook when I teach for a variety of reasons.

1.  Speed control - There is an app called Djay (See the sidebar for a link) that allows me to control the speed of the music I play which is very helpful to adjust for students who need to go slower or want to go faster.  It also has cue points which allow me to jump into any specific spot in the music just clicking a button.  In addition to that it automatically calculates the BPM of each song and allows me to sort by it so I can make up a combo and then look at the BPMs to find music with a speed that would work well.

2.  Garageband - I use this for choreographing and rehearsing routines.  It is not the best music editor BUT I can still do the edits I need to and more importantly I can instantly control what part of the music plays and whether or not it repeats.  This is great if there is a section of a dance that needs a lot of work.  I quickly (quickly is key here!) set the start and end point of the section of music I want to play and put it on repeat.  This allows me to go watch the students closely and help individuals having problems without running back to stop and start the music.  It seems like a little thing, but once you are able to do that, you'll never want to go back to stopping and starting the music each time you want to run a section over and over with music.

The next great thing about Garageband is that I can record my voice saying the steps over top of the music.  This is helpful in so many ways.  First of all it helps me remember the choreography quickly and hear how it goes with the music.  Secondly it helps the students learn the names of the steps and helps them to hear how they go with the music.  Granted I can shout the step names over the music over and over, but it's so nice to record it once and then have it play when I want (one button click can shut off the voice playback so you can easily choose when you want your voice heard and when you don't).

You can also record the actual tap sounds over the music so the kids can hear and understand the timing and shading even better.  This has proved to be a very effective tool.

3. iMovie - Video notes are the best.  I used to write out my dances in short-hand which was good for feet but occasionally left me without knowing the actual rhythm and often without knowing the upper body movements.  iMovie fixes all that.  My Macbook has a built in webcam which allows to me record straight into iMovie without the need for a separate camcorder.  Once the video is in iMovie I can scan it quickly by running my mouse over the clip.  This is key because I can scan the video very quickly to find the spot I need as opposed to just playing it normal speed or fast forwarding/rewinding.  Also when a student misses class they can ask me to send a video of the latest part we learned.  All I have to do is export the video and send it.  Very easy.

So what's the downside?

1.  Djay - you HAVE to have iTunes and have all your music in there.  For most people with a Mac that's not a big deal, but it leaves you no choice about using a different music program.  (The reason you need iTunes is that Djay uses the music database from iTunes instead of generating it's own...it's complicated).

2.  Garageband - There's nothing like being halfway through a routine and the music just stops!  As a newer version of Garageband gets released it tends to run slower and slower on older Macs which sometimes leaves you without enough power to get through a song.  Granted this is about 3% of the time and simply starting the song over fixes it (don't ask...I can't begin to know why something doesn't work and then 3 seconds later pushing play again makes it work).  Also keep in mind I push my machine hard - because of my editing and extra voice and tap tracks I end up with 15-20 tracks of audio all playing at once.

3.  iMovie - Dropped frames.  In other words sometimes when it records it drops out a few seconds.  No big deal unless those few seconds are the intricate footwork you need to see.  Again there are probably several reasons for this such as using an older Macbook, using the newest version of iMovie, unrelated (I've stumped the guys at the Apple Genius Bar more than once!).

There are other issues as well but that covers the basics.  Don't get me wrong the benefits FAR outweigh the drawbacks but there are always glitches to deal with (some of you with iPods have experienced issues so you know what I mean).

So right now I'm trying to convert to using a new music program called Reaper (morbid name I know).  So that requires shifting all of my audio files into the new program!  Why would I do that?  The app is faster and more stable than Garageband on my Macbook.  It allows instant speed change which is great for rehearsal (yes Djay does speed control but I don't really want to be using Garageband and then have to switch to Djay to get speed control, especially if I've already set a specific section to repeat in Garageband).  It allows me to edit music more easily as well.  BUT...I basically have to learn how to use it (300+ page manual...oh boy!).  I also have to transfer out all of my garageband files - music, voice, and tap into separate tracks for Reaper.

Stay tuned and I'll tell you how it goes.

Rod

The Element of Surprise or "Awww man..."

In order to shake things up a little in class and make things a bit more interesting I tried something new this past week.  I had each student make up their own "step" which had to consist of 7 sounds with the counts 1 & 2 & 3 & 4.  Furthermore, it had to start on the right and end on the left and be repeatable.  Other than that they could do whatever they wanted with it and many did some really cool and creative things (after teaching over 20 years it's nice to see other people's creativity, especially students).  I gave them some time to work on it and get it down and helped a few kids that were stuck.  For those kids I simply tell them to make a sound, any sound.  If they stamp their feet (for instance), then I tell them to give me a number between 1-4.  If they pick 2, then I say "there's your first two sounds, stamp stamp, now make another sound and pick another number."  That usually gives them a start.

So once they get their "step" down I give them the bad news.  "Students, the "step" you've just created is actually a turn!"  Cue the "Aww man..." comments and the bulging eyes as they contemplate how in the world they are going to turn their "step."  Many need help with the mechanics of when to spot but they eventually figure it out and end up with their very own turn.

It's a fun exercise (at least for me) that throws a little element of surprise in there to keep them on their toes.  If any of my fellow tap teachers have cool surprises they spring on their students I'd love to know about them.

Rod Howell @ http://www.unitedtaps.com

The Right Combination or Making Easy Steps Seem Hard

So I've been in a "back to basics" mode this year trying to strengthen my students' basics skills like shuffles, buffalos, cramp rolls, etc.  In so doing I've found that if you manage to put some of these simple steps in just the right order your students will end being really challenged by them (depending on level of course).  For instance in one class I did buffalo shuffle ball change cramp roll flap ball change.  Sounds pretty easy.  But for some reason the brain wants to do a flap ball change after the buffalo not a shuffle ball change, especially on the 2nd or third repetition of the pattern (I do this across the floor).  I also like this because it allows the kids to practice differentiating shuffle step and flap.  Some kids never ever have a problem confusing the two but others never seem able to internalize the difference.  I have tried a couple of tricks like:

Flaps go Front, Shuffle go Side (usually) noting the letter F in flap and front and the letter S in shuffle and side.

They all "get it" when I write this on the mirror, but two weeks later it seems to be gone again and once again a shuffle has been mistaken for a flap (or vice versa). Anyone have a great way to tackle this problem?

Rod @http://www.unitedtaps.com

Computers Rule the Future or I'll Be Obsolete

It's a bit cliche, but we often hear about computers someday taking over the world.  So how will they affect the world of tap dancing?  Well I hope to be leading that charge in a positive way.  I've been working with a software programmer for a while and if all goes well I may end up with a computer program than can "hear" a students feet and draw their sounds onto a video screen in the exact way they tapped them.  Thus showing them visually when a sound was missing, early, or late.  It's not a substitute for listening to their own feet, but I think it will help train their ears to be better able to pick out "off" sounds.  

That's step one of course.  Step 2 is the computer understanding what mistake they're making and then telling them how to fix it.  Truth be told, if I had the money to hire as many good programmers as I need I could make that software right now.  So mark my words that's coming down the pipeline.  

Now don't misunderstand, I'm not trying to create a bunch of tapping robots here.  The computer is meant as tool to help the kids, not as a be-all end-all for tap dancing.  Think of how much guitar hero has gotten kids into music they might otherwise have no interest in.  Maybe computers can do that for tap dancing someday.  I'm hopeful and I'll keep you updated.

Rod Howell at http://www.unitedtaps.com

First Day Back or Here We Go........

Today was my first day back for normal fall lessons.  Luckily for me it was only two hours which makes for a nice easing-back-into-things start to the new season.  The kids were were attentive, eager, and in good spirits and who doesn't love to teach to that?  These classes are at a studio I'm relatively new to (just started there about 2 months ago) so the kids are still learning my terminology.

I find the terminology a tough thing.  I tell the kids to learn and remember as many names to steps as they can because that way when they take from someone else they'll hopefully be prepared for their terminology.  However regardless of how hard I try to teach new students who have had other teachers my terminology, they tend to still revert back to the very first names they learned for steps.

Anyone got a solution to that?

Rod at http://www.unitedtaps.com