My troupe leader just recently sat us all down again and re-stated her expectations and had us sign a new contract for the upcoming year. One of the things she talked about was this very subject! Right now she is not requiring troupe members to take technique, but has stated that if she sees technique starting to slide that it may be a reason for expulsion from the troupe.

I absolutely think that it's a better idea to require a weekly technique class, however. I can think of few people (including myself!) who are consistant about drilling basic technique at home alone!

My troupe is required to attend weekly classes in which we work on technique, Improv and overall honing of skills.

They are also required to sign contracts in which they agree to take workshops and/or private lessons from other skilled/experienced instructors.

<<So how often does your troupe attend regular classes? have any of you faced this in your path - readdressing what you've done, and pointed the obvious skill gap/levels (and crushed them? or lived to survive the tale?) >>

Sister troupe 2 hours per week, same night. Pros 2 nights, 2 hours each night. Always recommend revisiting the basics to them and I hope no one thinks it is an insult, but simply a continuation of their education. I utilize more experienced dancers in basics classes for demonstrations and to work with newer dancers to help hone their understanding of moves and to help them progress as teachers, if they are so inclined.

I have faced needing to redefine and then set the course several times over the years with mixed success. At times, I have been too soft in my follow through; other times probably too rigid. It always depends on the personality of the person receiving I guess and how badly I want to make the change happen. I have totally crashed and burned a few times in my efforts, but am still here to tell the tale ;)

My advise is to be honest and up front, while being as respectful and aware of feelings as you can be. Speak from the heart and have the troupe's longevity and best interest at heart, while not setting aside your own creative needs and vision. I have found myself holding back from progress due to other's limitations. In certain situations this was the right thing to do at the time and at other times it just prolongs the inevitable break that needs to happen. Sorry, that's probably not much help! Good luck :)

thanks for all the advice lately

i'm a metropolitan tribal teacher - in a big old cabaret town - there are 3 groups who would either dabble with tribal choreographies or teach tribal - mine is the only improv group and I try to focus really highly on technique, posture etc. We're pretty full on, I dont care what shape or size anyone is but I expect a certain level of fitness in my dancers and dont slow down for anyone (I really wanted a high energy troupe created - nothing on par with unmata but I wanted dancers to really be able to dance, I guess in a reaction to previous groups Id been part of which catered more for the less advanced members in the class) - so my group is fairly young, we'd range from mid twenties to mid-forties. We've always maintained a really lovely community feel which is part of my own issue to overcome that this has been festering in the back of my mind...and from talking to a couple of my troupe members there's been a bit of confusion about the middle class that they both never felt it was created with them in mind. I'm also now thinking that I'll be revising the troupe every 6 months or so, to ensure the expectations are maintained - do you ladies do this?

I know that im definitely feeling more comfortable about saying "enough" and dictating the two night requirement and its only natural that the standard will raise accordingly. Im also intrigued as ive given them a dvd to watch this week of our last performance and asked them all to watch it by class return this week - normally when i give them the dvds i know they dont watch it, a lot arent comfortable with watching themselves on tape (which makes me also wonder if they do utilise the mirrors in class) but it was the wake up call for me that standards are where they are.

Often i've found our dvd performances when watched over time do show an amazing level of growth as a group- do you ladies use these tools in your teaching to capture that etc?

I highly encourage everyone to have a written code of conduct- even if you are a fairly informal group, even if things are going well now. If everyone knows what to expect, you can avert problems in the future, if needs be point to the written code of conduct to give warning, and honestly it can be less stressful as a group member knowing what is expected of you. You can either do this on your own as troupe director/organizer or put the code together as a group. It can be as minimal as "when we are here, we are here to dance, please save conversation for after rehearsal. Please be respectful of other dancers in your words and actions," all the way up to rules for attendance, hygiene and continuing education. One other thing to consider is whether the group will continue if you want to move on for some reason. Is your group run strictly on a personality or on good organization? A group that has a firm set of goals and a structured code of conduct is more likely to continue if the leader becomes ill, moves away or needs to reprioritize her/his life for one reason or another. Remember that goals and rules can (and should) be amended as the group grows and changes, but having something down on paper (and enforcing it!) makes a huge difference!

river, thanks for this post. i am in a very rural area-- the options for dance are incredibly limited here -- actually, there is only really one other teacher. several of the people who are in my "troupe"" are in the other teacher's as well. very incestuous. recently, i've been struggling with the idea of art versus community-- do i get hard-ass and only let the ones who can do it well dance, for the sake of the art, or do i let everyone dance, for the sake of community? with limited performance opportunities, community feels more important right now, though there are certainly times when "art" feels more important. a rough call there! where is the happy medium?

HI all

I thought I'd add some conclusion to this :)

Thanking you all for your added input, I drafted up a troupe document which set down our expectations after having discussions with different members of the troupe, including my basic teachers (and thank you for those who sent drafted troupe guidelines & tips). So I put it out there that I wanted more practice time from everyone to hone technique - and changed the expectation of troupe night to be the challenging night. I even got tougher on myself and let those hear about their arms etc not in the right places, became more of a teacher than a friend i felt.

So now a few weeks later I've got a much better combined technique class and I dont feel like i'm teaching the same class two nights in a row with very little difference, the girls are more committed - one member actually let go of one other competing interest in return for focusing on troupe and being there for the extra practice. One member actually stepped out of troupe and into a private class arrangement - so for me the result is I do feel like there is a good committed core....and everyone knows what's expected of them.

phew.