Comments on: Teacher or Coach: What’s the Difference?

By: Barbara Grant

Barbara Grant — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 21:48:45 +0000

In my judgment, the most controversial statement in this piece was not highlighted but perhaps should have been. It is, “However, in order to withstand the process, dancers must have a real love for moving in an extemporaneous style of composition and must have outgrown the Western need to rely on a formal choreography.” That gets thumbs up from me; however, it seems to be an issue in dispute, no?

What is the proper place (if there is one) for choreography in Oriental dance? I’d suspect that perceptions might differ depending upon (among other things) whose student a particular dancer was/is. I’ve seen some very strong statements against choreography expressed on GS (Cory Zamora comes immediately to mind) and with respect to coaching, the subject of this article, it seems possible if not highly likely that a dancer with a strong background in choreography will coach her/his clients toward detailed and exacting choreographic execution. Does that make her/him a less effective Oriental dance coach? Not sure, only asking…

By: Larry Greenwald

Larry Greenwald — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 00:29:16 +0000

About the image at the top of the article (Coach saying; “Your zils stink!”)…
You had to use a Syracuse University football coach and player for the image? They’re bad enough as it is without this additional embarrassment.

By: zeerebel

zeerebel — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 13:20:39 +0000

Although I am not a dancer but a martial arts instructor/coach, I found your article to be very insightful and will be adapting for my martial arts school website.
I especially like how you describe the dance triage and the personal level a dancer will achieve when having coach
Keep up the good work
Z

By: Yasmin Henkesh

Yasmin Henkesh — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 04:44:44 +0000

Well written and well said. Thank you for writing this. Many times those who speak the truth do so simply to help others learn, not to hurt feelings. Like the Billy Joel song, Honesty…