Although the Dance Images by BJ studio has been empty of students over the last few months, this past week has seen plenty of action as Dance Images staff fill all the studio spaces during the Adapt Syllabus teacher training program.
Dance Images studio owner and director Barb Jackman takes part in the national dance teacher training program every year, joining tons of other dance teachers from across Canada to share expertise, ever since it was first hosted in Moose Jaw 20 years ago.
She is an instructor for the Assitant Teacher Training program, and this year’s iteration of the conference had her teaching the program from at home in her own studio for the first time in a very long time.
Adapt Syllabus is the standardized dance curriculum that dance studios all across Canada follow when it comes to teaching, including Jackman and her team at Dance Images.
For the last decade, the training conference for teachers and assistant teachers normally takes place annually in Toronto, but the travel restrictions due to the pandemic meant that the program itself was forced to adapt.
“I run the Assistant Teacher Program part of the Teacher Training School [and this year] they made the bold move to go online,” said Jackman. “And I’ll be teaching dance teachers globally, which is kind of crazy, and I’m doing it at home, in my home studio.”
Jackman, with the help of assistant studio director Shauna Bzdel and some of Dance Images’ staff, connected with 49 assistant dance teachers from all across the country using the video platform Zoom, hosting her instruction from inside her own studio for the first time.
“It was really fabulous. Forty-nine dancers from the ages of 13 to 17 came together for a seven or eight-hour program [and] they took classes from a variety of master choreographers, and from here in Moose Jaw, I took them through the steps to become a better assistant teacher,” said Jackman.
In a whole other part of the studio, Dance Images staff also took part in the Teacher Training School to update their skills as already established teachers, with two recent studio graduates beginning their first round of teacher training as well.
“We have three big teaching rooms and we’re all in our own corner of the studio, either taking classes or teaching classes,” said Jackman.
It was a chaotic project to take on, but one that the Dance Images team handled extremely well as the studio has become sort of experts on delivering dance knowledge via Zoom, thanks to the past few months.
“We ran 10 weeks of classes right here at the studio. We never stopped the season, and we became so proficient at Zoom,” said Jackman. “My studio looks like a TV station, with the big screen TV and the webcams.”
The Adapt training program connects dance teachers from all over Canada and sometimes even internationally, said Jackman. At one point, she had over 200 teachers connected on the same video call for instruction.
“It’s pretty exciting how we can bring so many people together,” said Jackman. “I think it's super cool that we’ve pivoted so much and we’re still here doing all this learning.”
For Jackman, not taking the annual trip to Toronto for the training conference was a change, but she feels as though the online version has really opened up opportunities for more teachers and dancers to take part in the program.
“To travel to Toronto, with the flight, hotel, food, it’s a fairly large financial commitment and [this] way, they’re able to do it right here at the studio, so it did open a lot of doors, I think,” said Jackman. “The silver lining in this opportunity is that so many teachers can do this right from their home base.”
Jackman is already looking ahead to bringing classes back into the studio, as the province lifts regulations. Dance Images is planning on hosting its annual summer school from Aug. 10-13, and plans for the fall season are already in place — with some slight adjustments to adhere to public health recommendations.
She’s also planning on continuing to offer classes via live video, for students who may be uncomfortable returning.
“We are ready to offer both, for if a family in August is not quite yet feeling like they want to come to the studio, if they’re nervous,” said Jackman. “Nothing will ever replace being in the studio, of course, but it’s definitely a good alternative and has lots of value.”
More information about the summer programs at Dance Images is available on the studio’s website, which is also the place to visit for program registration.
