In a book by Daniel Coyle titled THE TALENT CODE, I discovered some amazing insights about why after 25 years of teaching I failed as a coach/trainer/teacher and why I succeeded without knowing it.
If you are interested in getting your dancers to be technical geniuses and/or just getting some insight about your teaching, I suggest you buy and read this book and also the follow up THE LITTLE BOOK OF TALENT also on amazon.
The first book is a technical and scientific explanation on why we are not born with talent and why rather it is developed due to environmental factors, circumstances and interest. It also uses examples of famous prolific coaches and their results. You could disagree with this as we are all born with different genetic traits which may affect our skills.
The second book is 52 tips on how to develop DEEP PRACTICE (as Daniel Coyle calls it) and the role of coach for feedback. I think this is invaluable for dancers and teachers.
Basically the premise of the books is this: HARD WORK BEATS TALENT, BECAUSE TALENT IS CREATED BY SMART WORK.
Why it’s really so darn awesome is that it just fantastically re-affirms the idea that anyone can be good at any skill as long as they work on it and use the right mind set to achieve results.
Here’s a few things you may need:
12 000 hours of practice (5 hours a day for 10 years) will make you really good at anything. You can save time though if you know how.
Lots of mistakes.
Slowing down a lot.
Less competitions more deep practice
Seeing and being around other talented dancers.
A great coach is not one who gives speeches!
A keen interest.
and a bit more.
I hope that you do read this book as it may give you some clarity on your teaching skills and how to get the best out of yourself and your dancers in the time you have.
