How to Teach Beginning Ballet The First Three Years Judith Newman You have been trained to dance, but have you been trained to teach? Where do you start? What do you do in each class, and how do you progress, and how fast? Judith Newman answers these questions and many more with clarity and simplicity so that the beginning ballet teacher can enter the studio with knowledge and confidence – and a plan. This “how to” book is written from the author’s 30-plus years of teaching ballet (beginning with trial and error) so that teachers today will have a better experience when facing their first class of seven-year-olds. “I didn’t have a clue,” she says. But you will. The first advice is: be prepared. Allow enough time to warm up, clear your mind of distractions, compose a class that has too much material rather than too little, and memorize what you are going to teach (rather than to shuffle through papers). In the classroom: dress appropriately (you are the model), speak loudly and clearly, use French terminology and teach your students to do so, demonstrate correctly and beautifully, memorize the names of your students. The last chapter, Your Own Studio, will be invaluable for running the studio, how to set rules, dealing with behavior problems, assessing progress, and professional ethics. As the first year syllabus begins, the author provides a guideline, not a timetable. She allows for adapting the syllabus to the needs of your students. With complete syllabi for each of the three years of beginning ballet instruction, this guide is perfect for helping dancers transition into becoming dance teachers and refreshing the skills of current dance instructors. Judith Newman trained at the Miami Conservatory and the School of American Ballet. She performed as soloist with the National Ballet, the Bayerische Staatsoper (Munich), and the Pennsylvania Ballet. She began teaching ballet in 1970, opening her own studio. In1982 she joined the faculty of the distinguished New World School of the Arts in Miami, becoming Associate Professor. 200 pages, paperbound, 8 ½” x 11” 208 photographs demonstrating ballet positions ISBN 9780871273741