The Casual Dance Teacher's Podcast

We're taking a field trip today! Come along with me as I walk you through my journey to and through the 2026 National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) National Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico!  I'm sharing a play-by-play of my experience, including people I met, things I learned, audio clips from a variety of sessions, recommendations I'd make to other first-time attendees of the conference, and more!

Visit NDEO.org to learn more about the organization

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On today's episode, I speak with Audrey-Davis Dunning about the power and joy of African Dance, and how she leverages this to help her students - and herself! - "get their goddess." 

Visit Audrey's Website to Learn More and Sign up for her FREE African Joy Class on the 17th of every month: www.audreydavisdunning.com

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Heather Jean Wilson is the creator of the "Grunt if you Understand" method, which applies hundreds of powerful visual cues to help students achieve ballet mastery.  On today's episode, we chat about her process for creating and teaching these visualizations, who can benefit from them, big wins from little changes in the classroom, and much more!

Visit Heather's Website to Learn More, Here

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Ballet Barre can be a challenging subject if you're a teacher who only sees your ballet students for an hour or two a week.  While it's an important foundation for ballet technique, there's simply not time to include a traditional "full" ballet barre in every ballet class or curriculum.  While I believe there can be many successful approaches to this, here is how I strategize what to include in ballet barre for my casual dance students, and how to structure my classes to make sure that barre is incorporated but not dominant.

Refer to the Curriculum Planning Episode Here

Download the Curriculum Planning Guide for FREE and Learn More Here:
www.CasualDanceTeacher.com

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Have you ever thought about offering dance program specifically for homeschool families?  Today's guest, Joli Drain, has built multiple programs geared towards the homeschool community, and today she shares her experience working with this demographic, the benefits to working with homeschool families, how to tap into this market, how she's set her programs apart from potential competition, and more!  

Learn more about Ms. Joli's Cottage School of Fine Arts Here

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Welcome to Season 3 of The Casual Dance Teacher's Podcast!  I'm kicking us off with a couple "housekeeping" points for the upcoming season; then launching right in to the part you're all here for - practical tips!  Today I'm taking you through the 5 things I make sure to do before the start of any new dance season. Listen and get ready for the upcoming dance season with me!

www.CasualDanceTeacher.com

Links to Episodes mentioned:
Curriculum Planning Episode
Refreshing Your Classroom Playlists Episode
What's In My Bag Episode
Icebreaker Ideas for Dance Class Episode

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That's a wrap on Season 2!  Before I take a break from publishing new episodes, I wanted to wrap up the season with some of my key takeaways from the season, and how they pertain to dance teaching, but also life in general. 

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to make sure you're notified when new episodes come out for Season 3!

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Some studios hold their recital after the last week of dance classes, but in other settings, your students will perform their final recital/showcase and then come back for class...without choreography to work on, what do you do with that last week or few weeks of classes?  Today's episode is packed with ideas for those classes, or any time you have a lull in the season or need to offer your students a change of pace throughout the year! 

Learn more about classroom safety and developing a safety plan Here
Get guidance on incorporating mindfulness and meditation into your classes Here
Get inspired for improv Here
Here are a few ideas for incorporating games into your classes:
https://thecasualdanceteacherspodcast.transistor.fm/57
https://thecasualdanceteacherspodcast.transistor.fm/59

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Kelly Groves joins me in today's episode to discuss the importance and implementation of clear communication and organized systems to keep dance teachers engaged without burning out during the insanity of recital time, and the relative let-down of the summer season.  While much of this conversation is geared towards dance business owners specifically, we also delve into some great tips for casual dance teachers on how to manage their time, navigate intense seasons without burning out, and keep an eye out for both red and green flags when considering or stepping into a new teaching position.  

Here is the link to Kelly's exclusive offer for my listeners! Use code MAIA10 to receive 10% off your first month - valid for the first 5 listeners only!

Instagram @kellygroves__

www.kellygroves.com.au

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Recorded Via Squadcast
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Social stories are a fantastic tool to help your students with high sensory needs prepare for and process the overwhelm of a dance recital!  And while social stories are generally designed for kids on the autism spectrum, they can benefit EVERYONE!  In today's episode, I break down the basics of how to create a social story, the key elements that I believe should be included in a social story for your dance recital, and the benefits to you, your students, parents, and potential clients to offering a social story.

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