Gardening and Dance !

It’s Chelsea Flower Show time of Year!

I love this time of year. I enjoy watching the Chelsea Flower show marveling at all the amazing horticultural designs and inspiration.

This time of year everything in the garden is going mad! , plants are shooting, flowers are blossoming, and the earth is nice and warm. A garden needs to be nurtured and prepared, exactly the same as working with your students when delivering Dance and fitness sessions. Putting in the hard work will see results year after year.

As a teacher concentrate on what your strengths are within the Garden of Dance! For example, I cannot grow carrots in my garden, I have tried all sorts of approaches. In the world of Dance, I cannot teach Tap !, my timing is always wrong, I overcomplicate things. I leave Tap Dancing to other teachers. I leave carrots growing to other gardeners!

Crop rotation is an essential basis of gardening. Fresh, fertile soil will help promote strength and growth. A fresh approach, gaining new skills, or updating knowledge will make for a better Dancer or Dance teacher. Gardening and Dance are all about learning, learning from mistakes.

Some things in the Garden always work well! , they are always successful and reliable. Potatoes will grow anywhere. The long roots of potatoes open up the soil and create airflow and nutrients. A comprehensive and fun warm-up will always engage young potatoes (children ) ! . Some things that we take for granted (like Potatoes ) such as the simple Dance game, or warm-up drill that you may have used time and time again NEVER seems to lose its appeal.

Some gardens contain sculptures, some are contemporary, and some are traditional . Whatever the style, all are enjoyable. The same with Dance, when I teach kids I try to let them discover all styles from Linedancing to Maypole from Contemporary to Urban dance. Let them discover their style . Each time I walk around my garden I see something new, something flowering, some growing, and often something not doing so well ! . When we dance often a movement will work differently and feel more flowing

One of my favorite Garden quotes is You can bury a lot of troubles digging in the dirt . For me, the same goes for Dance !. I can lose myself in Dance  And always feel better after movement