To All Studio Owners, Teachers, Students, Parents, and Enthusiasts of Dance:
Happy New Year and Welcome to Teaching Techniques! My name is Denise Wall, I am a dance teacher and co-owner of Denise Wall’s Dance Energy in Virginia Beach, Va. For the many years that I have been teaching on the convention circuit, I have been asked, “Do you have a DVD of your exercises and how it is you break down the
body?.” As many of the studio owners can attest, your dance studio is a 24 hours a day, seven days a week job that is all consuming, and I simply have not had the time to transpose all of these exercises to a DVD. I have decided to start an interactive website in March 2015 that will have every single stretch, strength building, transition, and performance exercise I do in training my dancers. This page among all other social media platforms will be the nerve center for interaction among all of our members! There will be many functions, features, and discussions on this page that I hope everyone will take advantage of. All of my teaching techniques emerge out of the years of owning my studio and training thousands of dancers. My work in the medical field and understanding of the body led me to a visual system of creating these exercises. On some level, the exercises exist because I was teaching my students the wrong way for many years and I figured out how to get through to my students. This is my life’s work and it is with great joy that I present this platform as a means to share it with dance teachers, dancers, and parents of aspiring dancers the world over. These exercises and techniques are time tested and have proven to work among all of the dancers I have guided to professional careers. I believe in training that is across many genres and disciplines. I believe that this type of training produces well rounded dancers. I believe in sound fundamentals in technique. I believe in committed performance. I believe in understanding the body as a means to be able to express yourself clearly. I believe that you only have one body, one body that needs to be taken care of and that you take the necessary steps to prevent injury. I believe in understanding the “business” becoming and being a professional dancer. I believe in the power that dance has to transform lives. I invite you to this platform to dive into these believes and turning them into reality within the walls of your studio/classroom. To Studio Owners and Teachers:
I hope you find this site and page a useful supplement to your program within your own studio. I in no way have all the answers, these are the methods that have been most helpful for me and I am excited to share them with you. I invite you to this community dialogue in training the next generation of dancers. To Dancers:
I hope you find these exercises useful in furthering your training. These exercises should enhance your training and in no way are a substitute for being in a studio and training within a program. I believe that all dancers should take at a studio and be in class on a weekly basis. I invite you to explore the potential your body has in dance and to learn how to best prevent injury and take care of your instrument. To Parents:
I have 5 sons who all have navigated the tricky waters of being a professional dancer. I invite you to this forum to offer my years not only as a dance teacher but my years as a mom and what you can do to support the ambitions of your children. To ALL:
I welcome you to this page as a forum to discuss the issues that surround the training of a successful dancer; As a tool to share and discover new manners of teaching and connecting with your students and parents, to provide support in the frustrations that we all encounter in this business, to create a community of continuing education, to have a place you feel you can come be supported and to foster your passion for teaching and dancing. Welcome to ALL! Looking forward to this journey with you! Dancingly Yours,
Denise Wall
