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Circle Dance Teacher Training Course 2008Comments from Previous ParticipantsThis year I have experienced Ecstasy by Dancing, without even taking the tablet! We have just finished the last of the 4 sessions of Teacher Training with Judy. One of our last dances was the Friendship Dance. Unforgettable! In 2 intermingling circles, we reached a point of perfect co-ordination and unison. The sort of affinity which only happens when a group has grown together and become close. There are no words to describe this feeling of complete harmony – we had created together something of great beauty and power. By meeting at regular intervals, we have gradually got to know each member of the group of 15 more and more each time. We’ve all shared and benefitted from the wisdom and expertise of some of the best teachers. Together, we have shared a bit of our lives, talked, trembled, listened, sung, laughed a lot and worked very hard. We have danced Miserlou to 100 different tunes till we dropped. We have learnt from Judy about all the practical aspects of good teaching and running a successful and happy group. Absolutely everything of the vast amount I have learnt will make me a better, more balanced, observant, understanding, and more qualified teacher than I was before. But the greatest lesson I have learnt is that it is only by thorough, careful teaching, and repetition of a dance that we eventually build up to the point of receptiveness when we can reach the deepest depths of our being and the highest heights of elation and joy. Dancing to me, now, has a purpose and a meaning, and is a way of connecting with our spirit, our own true self, and also with all others in the circle who have shared this same experience. Previously some dances have evoked similar feelings. It happens when you get the right mixture of mood of the group, surroundings, certain music and steps. You have a sense of wonder and stillness and joy. But I’ve never experienced anything so deep and so powerful as in these Attunement dances. If you are reading this at the breakfast table or on the train, this may all sound emotional and extreme (or even quite mad). I have let these words cool down a bit, and come back to them in the light of day, but still the same feelings return in their profundity. And I know that many of you will identify with what I am describing. Thank you thank you thank you to Susi, Annette, Mandy but especially
to Judy who has taught us these dances so expertly and patiently, and
worked so hard and given us so much Joan Peart (2002/2003) What sort of person signs up for Judy King’s Teacher Training Course?A various group, who could manage the dates and the fee, all women this
time, over 30 and under 70. Eight had known and danced with Judy before,
but another eight had taken the plunge too. Some like myself had danced
for more than 10 years and already taught, another had signed on after her
very first class earlier in the year. We converged on Sutton Courtney’s
beautiful Abbey from the West and North of Wales, from Liverpool,
Sheffield, Huntingdon and the South Coast. A particular high spot for me was that every day began with an hour of ‘attunement’ dances, entering into a deeper (‘higher’ is a better word) self-awareness. I became more and more caught up into their holistic worth, with that use of the whole body and mind, the meditative quality of attentiveness, and that rather glorious feeling that there will always be room for some more improvement, to push the limit a little further. When Judy had first introduced me to these dances, many years ago, I had rather dreaded having to ‘learn the arms’, and I sometimes referred to them as the ‘floaty’ dances. I now see such dances as a real gift. I can thoroughly recommend dancing the Meditation en Croix every morning, as a form of whole body prayer. It has a lot to do with ‘poise’, a strange word that I seldom hear. Our ballet classes from Annette Fitzgerald helped us to make that connection with the formative dancers such as Bernhard and Gabriella Wosien, Friedel Kloke-Eibl and Nanni Kloke. We approached the ballet with trepidation, not always positive memories of our early years, but, by the end of our fourth and final class, we valued it, and had become more at ease with our bodies. Susi Lennox made a major contribution, on the first weekend that we met. She led some great exercises to help us to get to know each other better, and she helped us to find our still centres, to be relaxed and in control every time we teach, regardless of other things going on in our lives. In her words the course helped us to rise to a level of being consciously competent, (who knows perhaps becoming unconsciously competent is not too far away.) Mandy de Winter gave us 2 unforgettable sessions to help us understand teaching in rhythm and traditional dance families. Between them, she and Judy use the clearest notation of dances that I have encountered, and they instructed us in it well. They also gave us some glorious live music to dance to in the evenings, and danced some fabulous duets. Judy gave us so much from the well-managed teaching and feedback sessions, to attentiveness to public responsibilities, and other dreaded bits of paper work; sourcing materials, through how to chose a music machine, and how to index and store your music and dance collection. Above all, she was totally professional. Why did I sign on for this course? I had thought to learn to teach just by doing, and to a great extent that did work well. I came to realise the importance for the teacher to be taught and stretched by others to keep fresh and lively. This costs. It occurred to me that it would be wiser to invest my time and money for a year on this course, rather than a random mixture of events, so that I would cover much ground and in a systematic way. Not least I would end up with some form of recognition of competence, all be it a piece of paper, that would give me the confidence and tools to establish myself elsewhere if that becomes necessary. I now feel I have done my best for those who are prepared to pay to be taught by me. I particularly valued the joy of sharing a journey with 14 others
dancing the road together. I started the course a cabbage white, but now I
am a tortoiseshell. All thanks to Judy! “It (the course) has built something much more than mere confidence”
(Joan 2002/2003) |
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