Looking back, I wish I would have learned about the simple physics of the dance when I first started.  I can see now that these foundational concepts really lay the groundwork for more complex topics and ideas. Many of my brand new students are already accelerating past those who have been dancing for years simply because they understand the core fundamentals of what each role is required to provide.

Rather than telling our students exactly where their feet need to be, we are providing them with the fundamental principles of the dance.  This is helping my students achieve a pure lead-follow dance rather than choreographed footwork and patterns.

I have tried this in many of my group classes thus far, and it has been very well received! Many students have approached me and told me that they love how I am teaching complex ideas, but at the same time making them simple to understand.

Myles & Tessa’s Swing Literacy Program is the gold standard of teaching to me. It’s so much more than a workshop - it’s a complete package that I can’t imagine teachers teaching without. They don’t teach you “their style”, or any style for that matter: they train you in actual pedagogy and how to build a solid foundation of physical skills (not just patterns) that gives students the best possible shot at “getting it” quicker and getting addicted. It helped me get over my imposter syndrome - I feel more confident in my teaching and I see massive improvement in the dancers in our community.

I had a gut feeling that things should be taught a different way - Swing Literacy gave me the courage to step out of the box of the old school teaching methodology. It gave me affirmation, guidance, courage, valildation. It reinforced my dedication to the concept of drills & skills over patterns & footwork, and I realized what was critical both to focus on and to avoid focusing on.

“On a personal level, Tessa and Myles have both personally helped me move beyond my limits.  They are encouraging as teachers, their collective knowledge of movement and dance, and sheer experience shines through in their interaction.  Their private lessons are effective, but be prepared to work: their analysis and attention to details leave no stone unturned.  They move beyond the monkey-see-monkey-do by presenting the concepts behind the ideas, reinforcing the foundations beneath the help you want.  Be prepared to walk away from these guys a better dancer!”

Myles and Tessa emphasize the need for a serious, professional approach to teaching dance.  The stakes of teaching dance are at least as high as being a physical trainer or coach because the student's ego and emotional well-being are even more at risk in dance than in other non-dance physical training.  Therefore they advocate and teach a caring and professional approach that includes correctly given feedback, lesson plans, syllabus, and continuing education. 

To support that vision, Myles and Tessa have created extensive material to aid the WCS teacher, including an extensive syllabus, an online discussion forum, and an invaluable bank of planning and assessment materials.  All of these tools are available to empower the aspiring dance teacher to grow the dance community by recruiting and retaining new dancers.

It's like having a world class teacher - who happens to be a dancer - give you the secrets you need to know to be an effective, creative, inspirational, and inspiring teacher.  It isn't just about dance... its the science behind teaching others.

I had a wonderful teaching experience last night with a group of dancers I only get to teach a few times per year. After giving them some of the core Swing Literacy skills, I noticed a dramatic difference in their quality of movement right away; and so did they! Their eyes were wide, and those 'aha moment' smiles ... The students were blown away by how differently the dance felt to them. I'm still getting messages this morning ..lol. Talk about positive reinforcement as a teacher ❤

"Working with Myles and Tessa has changed my entire perspective on how I look at not just West Coast Swing but all Dancing in general.  As someone who has spent years practicing and thousands on lessons I can honestly say that working with M&T is one of the easiest and most efficient ways to learn how to dance.  What I would spend 10 privates on with another instructor they can not only teach in a single lesson, but get to me a point where I am far more confident in my understanding of the subject.  They have taught me to look into the how and why a dance works and allowed me to not only fix my own bad habits in WCS but also in my Ballroom as well. Thank you so much M&T for all of your dedication to not just dance but to the art of teaching it as well."

I’ve had plenty of diagnoses but have never been told how to make the corrections. I always felt confused by classes and workshops that alluded to some techniques, but never really went into detail about them. It made such a difference to have M&T give us a succinct language to communicate skills and techniques. Not only did they give me the coaching I need to understand how to make those corrections, but the clarity and consistency of their method gave me the structure I needed to reinforce concepts and build new habits.

This is different from any other learning format, and is an opportunity to be exposed to a new way of learning WCS. It is strategic and very well communicated. It keeps you motivated and accountable. It also provides you a sense of Community with others that are like minded. SL is different in that it starts with the foundation and builds from there, as opposed to my past experience, where a multitude of teachers and lessons were constructing a dancer with spackle. Takes all the loose ends from multiple teachers and weaves them into a comprehensive approach that supports the learning process.

“What I love about lessons with Tessa is her really interesting way of teaching. She never says : “Stop thinking, just do this shape like that because I told you to”. Instead, she takes the time to ask you the right questions to guide you to think for YOURSELF about your dance. This self-analysis makes me understand my own body mechanics, and learn even faster! Now every time I leave the ballroom, it’s always with a big smile because I had a lot of fun and also because I discovered something new about my way of dancing. It’s always like a revelation.”

I recently completed Myles & Tessa’s “How to Teach WCS in 15 minutes” and wanted to give my feedback. As a longtime member of the WCS community, I also have a degree in education and spent almost 20 years in Educational Technology. I know how difficult it is to create content for an online platform that is not just e-text or a video demonstration, neither of which are educationally beneficial to most people. 

This program is refreshingly different. It incorporates sound teaching techniques in both the design and in the delivery of the material. Videos are scattered throughout the program at different points in different lessons, sometimes introducing a concept and sometimes as a summary. Teaching strategies such as KWL and Scaffolding are used to help the learner. Content is delivered in short, easy to digest chunks with clear instructions on how to complete simple tasks that will move your learning along. 

The program introduces and encourages teaching dance through an exploratory/discovery method…. all while using the same exploratory/discovery method to teach you how to teach! With almost 20 years of experience working with educational technology (McGraw, Pearson, Blackboard, etc), I can honestly say that this is an incredibly well-designed program, and I can’t wait to start the next series!

“I absolutely love Myles and Tessa’s approach to teaching. In just the first hour I spent with them, so many light bulbs were set off that I had to stop so I could start trying to keep track. They have a sincerity about them that I really appreciate. They’re really intent on helping me not just become a better dancer, but to understand what makes me a better dancer. It’s some of the best stuff you could hope to get from a teacher.”

When I signed up for this program, I expected a what-to-do training session; how to teach the basics, and in what order. To my surprise, they didn’t give us any of this information. Yes, there was a metric ton of materials provided, but they gave us the tools to answer these questions for ourselves.

This was not a lesson in how to replicate Myles & Tessa in dance, or in teaching style. In fact, they avoided preaching subjective, personal opinions like the plague. This was a lesson in how to break down complex material into manageable building blocks, and how to scaffold learning in order to give the student the best possible shot at retaining the material.
 I learned to question everything, myself, and *why* something works or does not work. I learned that while a student must experience success to feel compelled to learn more, there are alternatives to teaching pattern footwork to a beginner in order to give them a manageable task. Many alternatives!

I learned how to shape a more credible WCS dancer in their first 15 minutes, and how to convey the key underlying WCS techniques with relatable analogies and simple drills. This is the tip of the iceberg. Myles & Tessa, you are truly masters of your trade. I am so grateful to have you both as my coach, mentor and dance project manager. Thank you!