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Things I've learnt during my practice

I've just finished catching up on Wednesday's lecture and thought I'd reflect on what came up during the session. So many of the statements really hit home with me because many of the participants have had similar dance training and working experiences as me. 

Some of the thoughts shared about teachers at some of these dance institutions definitely aligned with my experiences and how it may seem that some teachers aren't concerned about how they approach students with different learning styles and they can communicate in impolite ways that may be an ethical concern to students' mental health. Something I have definitely used as examples of how not to treat my students.

Also, work/ life balance and time management, this is something I've really been working on in the last  year or so. Being self employed I've found this hard over the years, feeling internal pressure to work as much as possible to earn a decent living, which can be notoriously hard in the arts. Then with not having sick pay/ holiday pay and feeling guilty on the very, very rare occasion I've had to cancel classes because once again I've worked myself too hard and have now made myself ill. In the last year or so I've really tried to live by the notion that you cannot give from an empty cup. It's definitely a work in progress but I'm trying to be kinder myself and give myself more downtime and not feel guilty about needing to have a balance of time for me and my loved ones outside of work, so I can show up as a better version of me than when I'm overwhelmed, drained and exhausted.

The statement that came to mind for me that I would have added if I were partaking live would be that failing to prepare is preparing to fail. Many a time when I started teaching I thought I could 'wing' some of my easier classes to save time but I've realised that preparation is key to having a more enjoyable experience during classes, not stressing about what to do next or getting a choreography block mid class and that I need to set aside adequate preparation time for myself and my students to get more out of the classes 

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