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Thank
you for visting ithacadance.com. We teach classes and private
lessons in latin, ballroom, swing, and bridal dance styles.
A few noteworthy comments about Ithaca Dance methods. First,
you will always have TWO excellent instructors, a man and a lady.
Students need to see the real dance, and they need to see a lot of it.
Lady students need to see a good lady dancer and her movement styles,
as well as experience dancing with a competant male leader, visa versa
for a gentleman student. Students need to hear the perspectives of
both sides of the dance partnership. Many solo instructors feel
that, since they can show both the leader and follower part, that they
can teach by themselves, using pickup students in the class - I hope
you can see that a teaching team is much more effective.
Students need to practice dancing to music both in class and
at home. We use a LOT of music in class, good music. We also provide
lists of handpicked dance tunes for you to download from itunes, Napster,
etc.
Many students attend as singles, without partners. We match them
up, rotating partners frequently, a common practice in partner dance
classes. We recognize that some couples do not wish to rotate
partners, and we undertand that - it is fine. We do not put pressure
on couples to switch partners.
A word
about myself, Kurt Lichtmann - I have been teaching dance for twelve
years at Cornell University. Recently, I have also begun teaching
credit courses in ballroom dance and latin dance at my other alma mater,
Ithaca College, where I earned my Masters Degree in Music
Education. My music and pedagogy instructors at Ithaca College gave
me much by personal example in their teaching styles, perspectives,
and methods, but most of all by their personalities and charisma. I
wish to pay particular honor to inspirational I.C. Professors Leslie
Bennett, Mary Arlin, Edward Swensen, David Riley, Ronald Regal, Elizabeth
Regal, Gary Brodhead, Margorie Porterfield, Roland Bentley, Steven Mauk,
Lawrence Doebbler, and my student teaching supervisor at Horseheads
High School, Joseph Crupi.
Even though I played in a dance band for eight years, learning dance
was not easy for me. As a result, my instruction is very sympathetic
to the student, and to individual styles of learning. From
what I have seen, it seems that many (not all!) partner dance instructors,
including top pro performers and competitors who teach on the side,
are unaware of the developments in effective music instruction that
have occured in the last 1/2 century - Kodaly, Dalcroze, etc. For example,
some students need to see a move demonstrated over and over again, some
need counting, some need verbal descriptions, some need hands on, and
so on. Instructors should not be afraid to touch students - this is
the most direct and effective way to communicate movement ideas. Becoming
knowledgeable and comfortable with socially acceptable forms of touch
is indeed an important part of social dance. We work as much one-on-one
as we can, and we encourage, not discourage, questions
I bring to dance instruction the perspective of a musician, composer,
and improvisor. I feel that satisfying dance comes from allowing yourself
to be as much part of the music as you can, as well as an extension
of it - a co-creator of rhythm, melody, lyrics, phrasing, structure,
dynamics. Relaxed natural rhythmic musical expression in the body is
so pleasurable to watch, as well as to experience. Increasing students'
music
and body awareness is what I consider to be the thrust of my teaching
research for the rest of my life. My continued work with the ancient
Chinese tradition of Qigong movement has helped me to help students
experience "abstruse" issues of centered movement, grounding, functional
postures, body awareness and energy flow. Everything related to this
issue inerests me: Alexander Technique, Pilates, Martial Arts, etc.
I hope that you will consider allowing me and my co-teachers to become
part of your dance learning experience.
Thank you.
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