As a full-time educator, it is vital for me to have a solid, hierarchical framework of the topic or skill that I am teaching. Although I was a competent dancer who was already familiar with Myles and Tessa's teaching style when I started the SLDM, I did not have the level of expertise or the time needed to confidently build my own framework, particularly since teaching a physical skill is very different from teaching an academic one. While my teaching skills did give me a distinct advantage, the SLDM Theory Module acted as my textbook and gave me the foundation of this framework, while also teaching me how to effectively expand and build on it. It gave me the confidence and knowledge that I needed to be able to teach with professional integrity.

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 ❤

The Fast Track Coaching program the best thing I’ve ever done for my dance. Tessa is a peerless diagnostician. I swear it’s like her eyes see dance in slow-mo X-ray. She once told me to stop curling my toes while dancing… when I was wearing boots at the time!! Her teaching methodology is absolutely impeccable. She doesn’t just list concepts; she teaches you how to practice and learn dance so that you can retain the information. Most of my biggest breakthroughs in dance are thanks to Tessa and the more I learn about this dance the more I realize how right she is about basically everything. She got me out of Novice and now she’s gotten me out of Intermediate. The plateaus in my dance not-so-oddly coincide with the periods of time when I was working with her less regularly.

"I recently had the privilege to assist in large back-to-back newcomer (brand new to WCS) workshops. The first workshop employed the Swing Literacy teaching method, and the next workshop used the more traditional method. Having studied both methods, I expected the Swing Literacy method to work better, but I was not prepared for just how effective it was and how quickly it worked.

During the Swing Literacy segment of the newcomers’ workshop, I noticed the students were able to perform many of the skills to a level I would typically expect from more experienced dancers. Dancing with newcomers and being able to feel their elasticity and having them connect to me like an intermediate dancer was definitely a surprising experience: t was easy and enjoyable - it wasn't a chore or struggle to dance with them. I observed them smiling, laughing, keeping their eyes up, and focusing on their partners. After the workshop was over, I was impressed that they were able to sustain these skills as they practiced on their own.

The traditional-method workshop was taught by very experienced and lovable teachers, but about 10 minutes in, the atmosphere in the room changed. I noticed that the students started struggling: the usual frustrations that go along with learning dance for the first time were back. I had one couple ask me for help with the patterns that were being taught, and the leader refused to dance until he could figure out his own steps. At this point he was so frustrated that no matter what I did, whether breaking down the pattern or asking him to ignore the pattern and just dance had no effect. He was already too stressed out to dance or learn at this point: a common problem that I have seen in many classes.

When I danced with the Newcomers in the traditional workshop, many of their skills that made our dances enjoyable for me during the Swing Literacy workshop had disappeared: they stopped their momentum, they stopped using elasticity, their heads were down, looking at their own feet, and they were all focused on trying to do the patterns instead of leading or following.

As someone who has both danced and taught WCS for years I found myself a little confused during the traditional method workshop - I can only wonder how much the Newcomers must have been struggling at that point. From my personal experience during these workshops I would definitely say that the Swing Literacy method taught WCS in a way that newcomers could easily understand and allowed them to not only progress faster but also to enjoy their experience far more than the traditional method of teaching." -Glenn Clark

I really enjoyed the Swing Literacy Teacher Development Program and strongly recommend to anybody who wants to get even more professional as a professional teacher - and even as just a dancer - the lessons helped a lot to gain a deeper understanding of how to approach a West Coast Swing Dance class - thanks to Myles and Tessa for their efforts, especially the almost instant feedback to questions and assignment gradings.

I felt like this program gave me a very solid way to break down concepts, and gave me a solid sequence which is easy to stick to in each lesson.  This also helped increase my confidence as a teacher a lot, because I used to just try to "wing it" and teach based on what I saw, and this program helped me have a good idea for what elements I should be teaching right away.  It also encouraged me not to shy away from more advanced concepts for beginners, which I felt like has allowed me to teach better, keep students interest better, and produce students that are doing the dance better.

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.

Two WCS dance groups in the Atlanta area have had their instructors (and some of the practice assistants) take the Swing Literacy Teacher Training. I know for certain that one of the clubs paid for their teachers to take the training. As a result of this, there is a notable difference between the teaching styles and methods of the teachers who have taken the training and teachers (primarily teaching for other groups) who have not (and notable difference in the improvement of their students).

In addition, the training has changed the approach to beginner lessons, and progression through the beginner series. Both the students and the teachers have benefitted from this Swing Literacy Teacher Training. And, the teachers are able to use the training when they teach private lessons, so it is another benefit to them. -Linda DeGutis

Best teaching method I've ever experienced (and I've completed 22 years of formal schooling!) It's like having the reference book on everything WCS PLUS the physical drills, feedback and supportive learning community! 

Up until this course, I had a mish-mash of information and concepts drawn from various teachers and from my own experience, but I didn't have a logical, consistent structure to provide a framework for it all. This is absolutely going to me give me more confidence (much needed), as now I feel like I know what I'm talking about.

"I am a firm believer that you can not learn a dance without a consistent, progressive curriculum, that having classes at random, from different instructors and on different levels is disorienting, like picking crumbs from a table. You guys are brilliant, this is exactly what I needed and was waiting for. And, all your efforts to constantly add-on, adjust, upgrade are so much appreciated! Thank you!"

I often feel like other teachers can’t answer all my questions, but with M&T, I am never afraid they won’t be able to answer my questions. I feel safe asking about a conflict in my knowledge and trust that they will straighten me out and never leave me with any lingering confusion or cognitive dissonance. Before working with M&T, I knew I had lots of gaps in my foundation. I feel like M&T poured the water in that filled all the gaps. Their method allowed us to integrate the old info with the new info - I finally got all my random dots of knowledge connected. M&T have developed an awesome system to be able to assess wherever I’m at, and meet me there to build a plan designed for me.

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.

Learning how best to convey these concepts to students was golden. The assignments were very demanding as you actually have to apply what you learned instead of simply regurgitate it. I’d recommend this to anyone wanting to teach WCS and give your students the best possible chance of coming out of the series with solid fundamentals that make sense no matter what direction WCS takes down the road. If I only had access to these concepts back when first I started I wouldn’t be in the position of having to retrain my body to unlearn years of reinforced bad habits. I feel I owe it to my students to give them the best available information and convey it in the most understandable way I can. I strongly recommend this course.