Dance Techniques 2010

256 Teaching: Principles and Methodology
Yvonne Hardt, Vera Sander
Teaching: Principles
and Methodology
Conceptual Basis
Muller’s teaching concept is based upon several precepts.
One is activating the dancer’s powers of imagination, and
another sensitizes dancers for perception, which she describes
as residing between feeling and visualization / imagination.
According to Muller, a person cannot directly
sense the majority of things in or on the body (exceptions
include touching the skin or the sensation of weight). Instead,
these things (i.e., the flow of energy) are made real
through the power of imagination. Thus students should
imagine a movement—fully grasping it first in thought before
attempting to physically perform it. This helps avoid
pure imitation. For most students this presents a challenge
as they must learn to inhibit the impulse to ‘move first,
think later’.
The powers of imagination guide the student in attaining
Muller’s second precept: namely, training dancers who
can make themselves transparent for energy and their
movements credible. Thus, along with a physical mastery,
mental and social skills are crucial to her teaching.
Class begins with meditation in order to awaken the
imagination and improve body awareness. Students observe
the breath and the energy it creates, or call up images
of individual body parts in order to clear their minds and
let go of other thoughts.
This meditation reflects a clear principle: one thing
builds upon the next in Muller’s classes, every exercise
prepares for something that will be explored more deeply
in the next exercise and / or can be combined with other
material. Class basically follows a progression from slow
and simple to faster and more complex. Muller believes an
instructor must know how individual exercises relate to
each other and why they are being used, and, furthermore,
the teacher has a responsibility to convey this information
to students. Students should understand why exercises are
being done in a certain order as well as connections between
various exercises. Teaching potential and success in
communicating principles is greater when classes can be
offered over a longer time period. Usually, Muller builds
up her class systematically over a week, repeating the basics
so students are able to focus on movement qualities
and do not have to worry about recalling the order of exercises
and combinations.
Muller’s methodology is targeted to previously trained
dancers whose perspectives she wants to broaden. 23 A
dancer’s background only indirectly influences the amount
of time needed to learn the technique, as this will vary
from person to person. Descriptions of isolated problems
that dancers still have after dancing for years in her company
imply, however, that learning the Muller Technique
may never be fully accomplished.
Because Muller developed her methodology while
working as a professional choreographer, she seldom instructs
children and amateurs, and, if she does, adopts a
different teaching approach. And because group dynamics
and class atmosphere are essential for Muller, she only
teaches technique classes to groups as she believes that the
group atmosphere generates a kinetic force as well as providing
moral support for the work of dancing.
Muller’s pedagogic approach to the work is characterized
by her determination to affect changes in her students
and dancers. She differentiates between teachers who
‘give’ a class and those who ‘teach’, and means that the
latter ensures students will experience change. Teachers
should monitor students’ development, and constantly
motivate. Voice plays a key role in this process, for instance
in determining whether an instruction comes across
as ‘strict’ or ‘harsh’. The latter should be avoided—and
here Muller is consciously disassociating herself from
what she experienced under her influential teacher Antony
Tudor, who systematically tried to ‘break’ his students. Instead,
Muller believes teachers should challenge and push
for change but, at the same time, impart self–confidence
to students, support students’ development, and motivate
them to remain interested in life and dance. She also believes
that rivalry and jealousy result from a lack of self–
confidence and are unproductive. She emphasizes the need
for a supportive atmosphere, defined by respect for oneself
and others. She is interested in training people who, in
their own way, will be beneficial to the world—which is
why she is not surprised by the fact that many of her dancers
later change careers, moving into professions that deal
with healing in the broadest sense of the word.
23 See “Understanding the Body / Movement”,
keyword ‘Prerequisites’.
24 For details about the lesson structure and
an explanation of individual exercises, see the
Lesson Plans on DVD 1.
25 See also “Understanding the Body /
Movement”, Movement Characteristics and
Physicality, keyword ‘Movement Principles’.