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 HIGHER-ED
VOICE
The Meaning of Mastery
By Tom Ralabate
Knowledge is good—but is more knowledge better?
What does it mean to master something?
As teachers, we strive for mastery so that we can impart our
knowledge to our students in the most effective way possible.
But how can we achieve it? We can assume that we will become
masterful teachers in a given subject area by obtaining a
master’s degree and continuing on to a doctoral degree.
Acquiring extensive professional experience in a field might
make one masterful, and attending a multitude of conferences
and intensives to augment that experience might lead first to
teaching proficiency, then to mastery. However, three degrees
and a million workshops under your belt still might not be
enough.
A major objective for dance educators is to deepen student
learning in technique and styles. We need to make wise choices
about the approaches we take to our teaching, our professional
area of interests or research, and our connection to the world
around us. Dance teachers in all sectors are currently
tackling monumental challenges in dance education to become
masterful teachers.
As an example, let’s look at jazz dance. My research interests
include the study of comparative jazz styles and techniques
and the multicultural histories and traditions that inform
them. Jazz dance in the 21st century continues to blend and
fuse traditional dance forms such as ballet, modern,
ethnic/world, and tap with both old and new vernacular
movements. Today this blending is layered with movement
influences acquired from the theoretical and practical study
of dance somatics and dance sciences. In his book Jazz
Dance: The Story of Vernacular Dance, historian Marshall
Stearns states that the blending we see in jazz dance “has
been going on for years, and although no blend pleases
everybody, the process is time-honored and the result—at any
moment—may be truly great.” As this blending continues, it
calls for dancers to cross-train in other dance idioms in
order to be marketable in an industry whose choreographic
demands are wide ranging.
For dance teachers this kind of blending necessitates an
understanding of dance disciplines from technical, historical,
philosophical, and aesthetic points of view. We need to ask
ourselves some important questions:
•
How important is it for dance teachers to recognize these
changes and master various techniques and styles?
•
Does the mixing and fusing of various techniques only confuse
the student in the teaching process, negatively affecting
their self-confidence and the desired learning outcomes?
•
Should teachers be knowledgeable (informed) or very
knowledgeable (masterful) in a specific teaching area of
dance?
Before I tackle these questions, let us briefly discuss
teaching and its application to technique and style. The word
“technique” refers to the execution of movement in the sense
of its shape and form. Are the legs turned out or parallel?
Are the arms curved or extended? Is the neck protruding
forward on the pirouette? The word “style,” as it applies to
dance, refers to movement from an aesthetic or personal point
of view with a focus on quality (movement texture) and
dynamics (movement force) or the energized action of the
movement. Do the legs have breath to them when they are
extended? Does the spine have an undulating quality as the
dancer travels through space? Is the port de bras liquid or
static?
Furthermore, the teaching of dance involves understanding two
important concepts: content (what to teach, or the subject
matter) and the practical application of how to impart that
content (the process). It’s easy to see the dilemma for a jazz
teacher. Must I know about traditional jazz movement, its
roots and codified jazz techniques such as those of Matt
Mattox, Luigi, and Gus Giordano? Must I understand the lineage
of vernacular movement from the past to the present? Must I
learn how to survive in a hip-hop class? I would like to say
yes, yes, yes, to all of the above; but for teachers of many
dance forms it may be unrealistic to do this across the board
for ballet, modern, tap, musical theater, and social dances as
well.
Recognizing changes
In order to feel movement, one must become aware. Highly
skilled performers who can express outwardly their inward
sensations do so on a kinesthetic level. Teachers might not be
highly skilled performers, but most of us aspire to be highly
skilled educators. That means we must be knowledgeable about
the traditions of the forms we teach. In addition, in order to
teach well we must go beyond the scope of tradition and our
craft and connect to the pulse of the world we live in. The
experiences of students in a jazz class at the height of the
1970s disco era were very different than those of students in
today’s computerized, information- based, mainstream hip-hop
culture. Cutting-edge modern and jazz choreographers on
concert stages, in the competitive dance arena, and in
commercial dance are now finding ways to fuse and blend
elements of hip-hop, taking movement to exhilarating and fresh
approaches. Living in our own artistic boxes is a choice, but
doing so can deprive us of the ability to implement exciting
changes and possibilities.
For me, the conscious creates an awareness that allows my
subconscious to explode with creativity, only to be manifested
once again in creative consciousness—a full circle of creative
activity. You may not be the best krumping and clowning dancer
(see filmmaker David LaChapelle’s documentary, Rize) or
an expert in locking and popping (take a look at Don Campbell
and Boogaloo Sam); you may not be a Brooklyn uprocker or excel
in b-boying/girling. But you are able to read about it,
view it, or take a class about it, thus connecting the
technique and style to your teaching and choreographing
experiences.
Pedagogical confusion
It is not wise to mix schools of thought concerning technique
and style when teaching beginning-level students. Teaching a
10-year-old beginner a Cecchetti-based ballet class one week,
a Russian/Vaganova-based class the following week, and ending
the month by drilling the basic French positions will cause
nothing but confusion. The differences between Cecchetti and
Russian, especially concerning the fixed points of the
classroom or stage, are baffling enough for the beginner
dancer. Only after creative repetition of the same information
will the student move toward proficiency. Once this
understanding is in place, teachers can begin to use
comparative information from other schools of thought to
expand and challenge the mental, physical, and aesthetic
capabilities of the dancers.
At the DanceLife Teacher Conference last July, I discussed the
importance of a well-designed syllabus to enhance teaching and
augment communication between teachers and students. A
syllabus articulates on paper the specific aims and objectives
of the dance subjects and levels you teach. Your syllabus is a
pedagogical road map that fosters clarity and the achievement
of desired learning outcomes for your students. All
state-licensed educational institutions of higher education
are required to have syllabuses on record, and I encourage
private studio educators to use them as well.
Knowledgeable vs. very knowledgeable
Although it might be unrealistic to be very knowledgeable
(masterful) in every dance subject we teach, we must consider
that when we teach from an informed-only knowledge base, we
touch merely the surface of learning. Most likely we will
develop only shallow processing and practical presentation
skills. Teaching “deep learning” in the classroom is far more
desirable. Over a period of time, teaching jumps and turns
while drawing on a working knowledge of physics makes one
masterful. Explaining the concepts of torque, line, and center
of gravity in the context of physics gives the students more
concepts to utilize when jumping and turning. Using strong
imagery to teach alignment, placement, and posture aids in
student understanding, but layering these processes with the
workings of anatomy can make them more meaningful. Again, over
a period of time, students will experience mastery through
this deeper learning, giving them confidence and eventually
allowing them to make this new information their own.
It may be overwhelming to think of mastering the many
techniques and styles within each dance subject. However, as
educators, we become more comfortable when we are able to
employ multiple methods and approaches in our teaching.
Maintaining your professional development by taking courses
and finding the right dance conferences for you will inspire
you to new heights. Even the most masterful teachers and the
most diligent students need to step beyond their comfort zones
in order to make new discoveries.
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