Stop Blaming Your Dance Students!

"I don't know what to do. My students don't wanna learn the foundations. Please help me." An organizer said that to me years ago, and it is the most common thing I hear in Brazilian Zouk. This one is for teachers and organizers who have said out loud that their students do not want the basics. That night I went to the social. Acrobatics everywhere, every head movement, not one Viradinha. Then he started dancing, because he was the local teacher, leading crazy moves to people who could barely do a basic step. So Gui and I sort this into three buckets, a me problem, a them problem, or a design problem, and the one everybody reaches for first is almost never the right one. What we get into: → Gui on why a curriculum gap only shows up a year later, in the warm-up, months after you built it. → "Move, move, move more." His class moved their bodies and stayed where they were, until a co-teacher said the word he meant was travel. → What he told an organizer mid-briefing: "I think it's the time for us to stop putting the blame into the students." → When it really is them. Someone read the format, said "This is not for me," came anyway, and left after day one. → A month of classes where I never went past Soltinho, and the room grew every single week. The big takeaway: Whoever is at the top of a community takes credit for the good and the bad in it, because a community identifies with what its leadership values. Think about the last class or event that did not work for you. Me, them, or design? Tell us in the comments. Chapters: 00:00 Opening highlights 01:41 Me problem, them problem, or design problem 03:08 Why a curriculum gap only shows up a year later 06:41 Over-preparing a class and losing the room 09:20 When 'too slow' is really a design problem 11:54 "My students won't take a basics class" 16:44 The one word that changed the whole class 18:42 When is it genuinely a them problem? 22:06 Learning who your course is not for 23:49 Festival passes and what nobody reads 28:00 The scene with acrobatics and no basics 31:21 A month of classes that never passed Soltinho 33:41 Not every teacher belongs in a beginner class 35:03 Your social dancing teaches more than your class 37:44 Why you become the reference point 42:09 Stop saying 'them' and ask yourself why 46:02 A festival with no breaks: bad design or good value? 48:14 Taking accountability for your own experience 52:40 Open mind versus strong expectations ZoukNerds: https://www.zouknerds.com/ Alisson Sandi: https://www.alissonsandi.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zouk.nerds/ Episode: S06 Ep22 | ZoukNerds Podcast