1) Make sure kids freeze where you said you were going to stop in the segment, and make sure they stop at a "minus one" (the last step of the move). They have to freeze there in order for both them and you to evaluate if set arrival was accurate. They have to hold in playing position so that they can use their peripheral vision to make the correct adjustments. The biggest battle to fight is in kids listening to the instructions and applying on the rep so that no one stops early or moves on past the segment
2) Kids need to know where their spot is on each individual set and not just big hold sets.
3) You will ocasionally need to go set to set or stop in sets that are in the middle of musical phrases to check pathways and set arrivals. Number 2 above will make this a less painful experience
4) If on a parking lot, find a way to chalk a line or curve in the most exposed sets of the show, especially if its a big long diagonal. This will train their eyes and muscle memory to look for those specific dress points. Avoid chalking individual "dots" for each kid, they will rely on looking for that individual dot instead of the form
5) If a particular move is looking rough, have the kids face direction of travel a few times to really help them understand step size and pathway


Responses