Essentials of going out and teaching dance - DOS/DONTS

Check out my quirky, interesting tips for going out and teaching dance across the UK since 2000

Well I have been teaching dance in general salsa to street since 2000 and there has been some amazing experiences of teaching large groups of people from all over the south east in two very different dance scenes and when out teaching there are certain things that you should take with you

Toilet Roll

The most essential - LUXURY TOILET ROLL - You may thinks it crazy but when your teaching 6 days a week in public venues do you wana use option a) the 1 ply peice of tracing paper b) No toilet paper which some gyms and studios dont have or do you want c) take with you the Andrex Super lux luv ya bum

Its an easy one isnt it if ya out and about you want the luxuries of home with you. (Just look in the back of the car, half my stuff is in there.......plus a long lost pygmy tribe from latin america and a packet of old kiwi fruits which are slowly turning into a biohazard)

Spare CD's

Its always a good thing to have spare cds loitering in the car, trust me definitely essential (In my case and if you seen the back of my car you could prob find them with the 5 wk kiwi fruits and a packet of tesco rice on the floor (Very wrong). There is nothing worse than turning up for class and the cd doesnt work with a scratch on....mind you if you do have back ups , just make sure your back up isnt some cheesy cd....Cheeky girls party time.

Spare t shirt

Well since most dances your gonna be sweating ya butt off and its always good to have a spare t shirt in the back of the car theres nothing worse than meeting a potential date in a nice hot sweatie t shirt and sweating dripping down your brow,lol as she might thinik you have some heart condiiton. Introducing yourself while fighting for breath either has you down as mr unfit or some proper dodgy heavy breathing dude. As they say first impression last haha!!

Chocolate

Well more for women but hey, you know its the ultimate energy food to get ya groove for sure! (plus an afrodisiac hehe) mind you trust me here, dont eat a 100g Tesco choc and fudge bar 30 min before class....instead of thinking about the next part of choreo your thinking....please mr choc bar hang on down there,lol....wrong!! lol

Dance and food

Trust me eating before dancing is never a good thing.....trust me eating a kg of chicken and then an hour later dancing full on.grrrr............not a good combination...........what can I say you get 2 meals for the price of one.....again very wrong.lol Of course food I think really deserves its own story on here

When music when performing

Top tip - backups of backups of backups - What do you need...well 3 cds with the musci on the ipod the mp3 player and then take as many cable connections as you can! Trust me the amount of times when you have gone out to perform and the so called PA system experts....dont have the cable for an IPOD....but surely your a professional sound company....or 'sorry we cant use computer burned discs'....ahhhhh! or this is a good one...... your on stage the music kicks in..........and you realise you have burned the wrong song....doooh!! (yes been there done that in front of 1500....not good)...be prepared for all eventualities.

My theory is preplan......preplan....preplan, if your using multiple tracks fro a set just make sure you have them well mixed way prior to the event, we all want to come off as professional as possible when performing.