Last weekend I had the pleasure of attended my first IDTA London Seminar. This is a little gathering of teachers of all styles, to talk about different elements of the syllabus and take part in workshops.
Both sides of the IDTA were there, both Ballroom and Theatre. Whilst my qualification resides in the Ballroom branch, I went to the Theatre lectures as that is where I want to progress more into. The morning lectures covered aspects from the Modern Jazz syllabus and the Ballet syllabus. Throughout the day there were also workshops in Tap, Musical Theatre and Commercial. I won’t talk in depth about them in this post but I’ll reflect on some things I found interesting and learnt during my time at the event.
One – First thing that I learnt was that it is definitely best to have some faces you know. Everyone sat with their dance school colleagues and some brought students as well. This allowed them to discuss what was being sat and already think about how to implement these examples into their own school. Whereas I, who didn’t know anyone, was left to think about the ideas on my own.
Two – Linking in with the previous reflection, my second thought is that next time I need to open up conversations with others a lot more freely. Allow myself to make more connections with others working in the same field. Interacting with other can create acquaintances that can in turn be there to support you creatively and sometimes even practically.
Three – I need knee pads. This third point stems from the workshops I participated in. In many we learnt routines to pieces of music and out of the 4, 3 contained a part where we had to go on the floor. Which is fine as long as you don’t have to turn around or roll on your knees. We did. It took until the second workshop when I started to feel it in my knees so by the last one I had red sore knees that just couldn’t really continue. Many floors for dance are fine to do that sort of movement on, but a temporary dance floor is not one of them.
Four – The fourth is another tip for workshop, don’t be afraid of the front. During workshops no one is casting you, you’re there to learn from those more experienced than you. Being at the front means you can see them a lot better and so in turn learn a lot more easily. It also creates a good impression if you do what they say when asked to switch lines, as this can show off the potential you have even if you aren’t quite getting the steps right.
Five – Next is to capture everything you want. If you want to remember the routine the next day, record it or jot notes down. When you’re going through workshops pretty quickly you’ll probably forget a bit here or there, so don’t be afraid to have another way of remembering it. Throughout the lectures I took notes of what was being said, but as I joined in the workshops I have little to remember them by except the music that we used. It was being filmed, but having your own copy means you have more immediate access to it and don’t have to wait for someone else to share it.
There are many more things I’ve also learnt from my first event, like how close it was to Paddington Station and where to get a hot drink when waiting for the train, but for now I’ll leave my thoughts to myself. I’ve a few more dance events coming up so I’ll reflect on them as well, maybe I’ll put some of these into practise.
Where you there, as always let me know in the comments, or via my social media.
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