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TOCA TEACHER · Lesson 02 · Teaching

The only scoreboard that matters for a dance teacher is student progress

Not applause. Not the number of countries on your poster. Not how impressive your demonstration looks. The product is other people's progress.

Dawou Tarraxo, pioneer of Tarraxo. The only scoreboard that matters for a dance teacher is student progress

Measure the ordinary student over the ordinary month. Are they becoming more independent, more controlled, more aware than they were? That is the whole scoreboard, and it is brutal because it does not care how well you dance.

Use the right one and it will make you a better teacher within weeks.

In a kizomba class the result is what your students can do, not your demo.

The only scoreboard that matters, step by step

  1. TEACHING HAS ONE REAL PRODUCT.
  2. Not applause.
  3. Not the number of countries on your poster.
  4. Not how impressive your demonstration looks.
  5. The product is other people's progress.
  6. Measure the ordinary student over the ordinary month.
  7. Are they becoming more independent, controlled and aware?
How do you measure progress in your classes?

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This lesson comes from the book

Page 16 of The teacher's guide by Dawou Tarraxo, the TOCA Method page this lesson comes from
The teacher's guide · page 16

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.