Beginner Choreography/Advanced Choreography.....What is the difference?

The only difference between a "beginner combination" and an "advanced combination" is how much you decorate it. Let me explain. If you think of a combination as building a house you will understand. The first thing you do when building a house is prepare and lay the foundation. This is the music. You must become familiar with it; finding the 32 count beats. The next thing you do is put up the walls. The walls are the basic movements, ie; step touches, grapevines, hamstring curls, basic, over the top, knee straddle, etc. Once I teach the basic moves, and place them within the music logically, I have then put the walls up on the foundation and created a "beginner" house. Thus, a beginner combination. Once this "beginner" combination is done, You have a choice to make. Do you decorate it and make it more complicated, or do you keep it the way it is?

You must be able to answer "yes" to the following two questions before you decide to decorate or not:
      1. Do you have the skills to teach more complicated choreography?
        2.  Are your students able to do more complicated choreography?

If you answer "no" to either of these questions, then you should leave your combination as is. If your students are able, and you are not, you need to consider whether you are the right teacher for that class, atleast at this time.

If, however, your students and you are capable of getting more complicated, I recommend you decorate your house beautifully. Decorations come in the form of:

Impact- high, low, 1 hop, 2 hops, etc
Space - right, left, turns, diagonals, etc.
Rhythm -doubles, single single doubles, 3 and 1's, etc.
Style - claps, wiggles, attitudes, as well as, movement styles from stylish classes, such as kick boxing, street dancing, ballet, etc.

Just remember this, don't decorate more than one thing at a time, just as you would your home. Each time you move through the combination, choose a different decoration. Stop decorating when you feel that you, or your students can go no further. You want to end way before "brain dead" kicks in. Now to answer your original question. There is only one way to learn to teach a more complicated combination.
PRACTICE DECORATING! That's it! Have fun shopping!

YOU Make the Difference!

The year 2000 fitness industry offers our club members many fitness options.  They no longer are limited to jogging and aerobic classes.  The year 2000 health clubs are dotted with many fun and effective ways to train; such as wall climbing, treadmills, stairmasters, indoor biking, jogging tracks, tennis, swimming pools and many more options.  With this being the case, what about our aerobic classes?

Some of you may remember back approximately 8 years ago when aerobic classes were packed with students.  This was at the height of "step mania."  We had the whole population in our classes and it was great!  Now that there are so many fitness options available to our students outside the studio, how do we maintain class participation?   Why should they take your classes when they can get just as good a workout, if not better, outside the studio? 

BECAUSE OF YOU!  You make the difference.  When people come to your class, you should take that as a personal compliment from each and every one of them, after all, they could have done several other things to get their workout that day.  You are obviously doing something for them besides giving them a workout.  What could that be?  Maybe it was just your smile.  Maybe it's your sense of humor.  Could it be that you noticed them and remembered their name?  It could be any of these, plus more.  Think about this next time you teach. 

Thanks to the growth of our wonderful fitness industry, the current day aerobic instructor is very educated.  They know how to cue, transition, choreograph & use music.  They know how the body works and moves and usually has no difficulty explaining it to their students.  I truly believe that the aerobic instructors of 2000 will not be judged as much on all of these teaching techniques, as they have been in the past.  I think that they will be judged on their warmth, kindness, selflessness, energy and joy of being an aerobic instructor! 

Make your students smile today!
 

Can you give me any advice on Cueing Skills?

If you are concerned about the quality of your cueing, here is some advice.  Recite this phrase to the tune of "one, two, buckle my shoe."
   1, 2 educate and woooo!
   3, 4 motivate some more
   5, 6 cue your leg picks
   7, 8 elaborate

Using the beats of your music, here is how it works:

1 & 2 EDUCATE & WOOOO, you have time to use words like; "pace yourself", "roll your heel down" or "lift your abdominals"

3 & 4 MOTIVATE SOME MORE, you have time to use words like: "you're doing great", "this is fun", or "your form is wonderful"

5 & 6 CUE YOUR LEG PICKS, you need to cue your up-coming movement.  It's only 2 beats so you will need to use what little time you have wisely.  Always cue the leg movement first then cue the other necessary areas such as; travel, rhythm, style & arms movements.  If the legs land correctly, your students will feel successful.  If the arms mess up, it's no big deal. BUT, if their arms are right and their legs mess up, they will stand out in the crowd and feel unsuccessful.  They may even run into someone.  So, Legs First!

7 & 8 ELABORATE, you have time to use words like:  "move forward", "arms up", or "sweep around"

Try it, it really works!
 

What is a "good" aerobic instructor?

Does it mean that the instructor can cue well? Does it mean that the instructor can choreograph well? Does it mean that the instructor can move well? How about whether they can transition their movements smoothly? What do you think?

In the past 20 years, the fitness industry has grown and has offered many wonderful opportunities for aerobic instructors to received training in all of these technical areas. Yes, the 80's & 90's have been for learning HOW to teach. What about the year 2000? Whether you have been teaching for 20 years or 2 years, these basic teaching techniques have been mastered fairly well. Where do we go now?

Our clubs have recently been flooded with many wonderful forms of exercise; treking, cycling, wall climbing, stair masters, etc, etc. How do we, as aerobic instructors, compete? Our students have so many options these days to get a good workout, why should they choose Our aerobic class? If a student is looking for a hard workout, could you honestly say that your class is the only way to get it? Of course not! So what makes the student want to take your class over working out somewhere else? The answer is YOU!

Each time you teach a class, you offer your students two services. The first service is a good workout and the second service is YOU! A good workout, they can get anywhere, but YOU, they can only get by taking your class. Think about it! What area should we, as instructors, be improving to bring people into our classes?

Back to our original question, "What is a good aerobic instructor?" Have you figured it out yet? Maybe 5 years ago I would have said that a "good instructor" is one that can cue well, transition with ease and be creative enough to get students through their workout. But, for the year 2000, I would say that a "good instructor" will be the one who knows their students names, welcomes them at the door, generously gives of their knowledge, always is happy to see them and passes out eye to eye contact smiles without hesitation. Techniques like; cueing, transitioning, using 32 count music frames, choreographing and
good music, will be expected from even the youngest of instructor. Nothing Less!