Home › Lessons › Teaching

TOCA TEACHER · Lesson 05 · Teaching

When a dance student does not understand, change the explanation, not the volume

The block is almost never in the student. It is a signal to change the door.

Dawou Tarraxo, pioneer of Tarraxo. When a dance student does not understand, change the explanation, not the volume

Three doors exist and most people lean on one. Visual, they need to see it several times. Theoretical, they need the mechanics before they can trust the movement. Feel, they need to sense it once done right.

Prepare three explanations for every key movement and you will reach every student in the room.

Teaching kizomba means finding the entry point for this body, today.

When the student does not understand, step by step

  1. IF THE STUDENT DOES NOT UNDERSTAND, REPEATING LOUDER IS NOT A METHOD.
  2. Change the doorway into the movement.
  3. Show it visually.
  4. Describe the sensation.
  5. Use an external image or task.
  6. Simplify the environment.
  7. Check what the student actually understood.
Teachers, how many ways can you explain one idea?

The full carousel

When a dance student does not understand, change the explanation, not the volume, slide 1 of 9 When a dance student does not understand, change the explanation, not the volume, slide 2 of 9 When a dance student does not understand, change the explanation, not the volume, slide 3 of 9 When a dance student does not understand, change the explanation, not the volume, slide 4 of 9 When a dance student does not understand, change the explanation, not the volume, slide 5 of 9 When a dance student does not understand, change the explanation, not the volume, slide 6 of 9 When a dance student does not understand, change the explanation, not the volume, slide 7 of 9 When a dance student does not understand, change the explanation, not the volume, slide 8 of 9 When a dance student does not understand, change the explanation, not the volume, slide 9 of 9

This lesson comes from the book

Page 50 of The teacher's guide by Dawou Tarraxo, the TOCA Method page this lesson comes from
The teacher's guide · page 50

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.