Hello From The Top Family and welcome back to a brand new blog post! If you were with us here last week, then you know that we discussed how to teach private classes as a part of our “Teacher Tips” segment. And as promised, today we are here to discuss private dance classes from another perspective: the student perspective! If you are planning on taking private dance classes for the first time, allow us to share with you a few helpful tips! In this blog post, we will discuss what to expect, how to prepare and even how to get the most out of your classes! So, without further ado, let’s get right to it!
1. What To Expect From Your Private Class
As I expressed in last week’s blog post, private classes are amongst some of my favorite category of classes. When going into taking private classes for the first time you can expect to gain a lot of new insight as a dancer. When you’re taking a group dance class, sometimes you may not get the amount of in-depth guidance that you may desire, especially if you’re wanting to work on specific technical areas. Group classes can be big and the teacher may have many people to attend to in a short period of time. However, with private classes that is completely not the case because the entire class is focused on you and your needs as a dancer. This in return sprouts one major result: growth, something that private classes are guaranteed to yield. If you are taking private classes for personal comfortability, that is wonderful as well! Privates are meant to be a no judgement zone that is meant to help you as a dancer in any way that you may need.
2. Be Upfront w/ Your Teacher About Your Needs
 Our next tip is to always be open and honest with your teacher. When asked what you may want to work on, be completely forthcoming about what you are looking to achieve. Whether it be gaining better musicality or simply wanting to gain more self confidence, always be upfront with your instructor of how you wish to excel during this course. Remember, this is all about bettering yourself and what new skill sets you would like to gain. Which happens to bring us to our next tip…
3. Take Full Advantage Of This Opportunity
Tip number 3 is very important and that is to not be afraid to take full, positive advantage of this new and exciting opportunity. As we mentioned in tip #1, private dance classes are amazing tools of growth, but in order to experience this growth we must dive in with assurity. There is no need to feel embarrassed to ask questions that may seem simple. As a matter of fact, if there is any time to ask any and all questions that may come to mind, privates are the avenue to do it! As a teacher of private classes, I always assure my students that all questions and concerns are valid and welcome. As a student of private classes, I always take the time to ask all questions or concerns that I may have and get them out to the forefront. This is how we learn and grow, both effectively and thoroughly.
4. Don’t Be Afraid Of A Challenge
The main theme of this blog post seems to be “growth”, am I right? Our next tip is to not be afraid of a challenge. Private classes are a great way to excel your skills, stimulate your dance brain, and of course, say it with me y’all, grow! In order to do all of those things however, your teacher will more than likely throw you a couple of new curve balls. By all means, don’t let them intimidate you. This is a no judgment zone, remember? Don’t be afraid to take hold to a new challenge with both hands and go for it, no matter the outcome. If it’s rough at first, it will get better with time. If it turns out better than you expected, you’ll get even better as the course goes on!
5. And Of Course, Have Fun!
What more can we say? At the end of the day dance is not just about technique, turns, footwork and musicality. It’s also about love, passion and fun! I have a personal motto as a teacher and that is, no matter how long you’ve been dancing, it should never stop being a fun time. Take this new experience of private dance classes as an amazing next step into your journey of becoming the best dancer that you can be! If you’re taking private classes as an introduction to dance, this is even more so. Enjoy the new experience and soak up every last bit of knowledge. Trust me when I say that this is going to be a fun ride!
Thank you all so much for hanging out with us today! We hope you enjoyed this two part private class mini series as much as we have. As always, we wish you a wonderful weekend and remember…
Keep dancing!
Lexi

FROM THE TOP! 