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TOCA TEACHER · Lesson 31 · Teaching

Teaching dance online takes away your two strongest tools

No hand on a back, no felt energy of a shared room. What it gives back is reach, permanence, and the ability to teach a student in another country at midnight.

Dawou Tarraxo, pioneer of Tarraxo. Teaching dance online takes away your two strongest tools

So lean harder on the two channels that survive. Crystal clear demonstration and precise verbal cueing. Show every movement from the angles that matter, name the sensation and the result in words a student can check themselves against, and slow down, because a learner watching a screen cannot ask you to repeat.

For recorded modules, structure ruthlessly. One concept per video, short, titled, findable. For live sessions, build in interaction, ask them to show you their attempt and give named individual feedback, because isolation is the enemy and connection is the cure.

Braid it with the studio instead of treating them as rivals.

Online kizomba teaching runs on clear demonstration and precise words.

Teaching online, step by step

  1. A SCREEN TAKES AWAY YOUR TWO STRONGEST TOOLS.
  2. No hand on a back. No felt energy of a shared room.
  3. What it gives back is reach, permanence, and a student in another country at midnight.
  4. Lean on the two channels that survive. Clear demonstration and precise words.
  5. Show every angle that matters. Name the sensation so they can check themselves.
  6. Slow down. A learner watching a screen cannot ask you to repeat.
  7. Recorded, one concept per video. Short, titled, findable.
Is your online work a poor copy of the room, or its extension?

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This lesson comes from the book

Page 261 of The teacher's guide by Dawou Tarraxo, the TOCA Method page this lesson comes from
The teacher's guide · page 261

The student’s book takes dancers from the first foundations to real feeling. The teacher’s guide gives instructors the structure to pass it on. Both in English, French and Spanish, on Amazon and Apple Books.

The student’s book The teacher’s guide

The method

T O C A

Two bodies. One connection.

TTouchThe connection with your partner. Feeling through contact, never through force.
OObservationListening to your partner’s body, energy and tempo.
CControlMastery of your own movement. Precision without tension.
AAwarenessFull presence: with yourself, your partner and the music.