Hi all,

I have recently begun teaching and really enjoy it but I am finding it hard to get my students to dance the figures properly primarily because they lack a sense of coordination. I knew I would be teaching beginners and don't hate it at all, but was just wondering if anyone knows any exercises I can do with them to get my students moving more freely, without thought and generally improve coordination. Thanks a bunch.

One of the most effective tools that I've used is video. It makes a real impact on students when they realize that what they think that they're doing is not even close to what they're actually doing.

Show your students a video of themselves and then other videos of good dancers performing similar moves while pointing out the simple things that make the difference.

Also, don't forget to emphasize such pre-dance measures as warming up and stretching.

jj

Bear in mind that dancing well depends upon having an understanding of the fundamental principles of movement, and the necessary degree of motor control to execute the intended action.

These principles cannot be learned wholly by observation, and have to be actively taught. Don't underestimate how much beginners don't know: we take a great deal for granted, once we have moved beyond our own first steps.

Depending on the age of your students, you are likely encountering people with very weak core muscles and no concept of how contra body movement should feel and flow. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that for a beginner. You may want to encourage both the men and women to consider yoga for core strength and flexibility. Some of the yoga poses are superb for improving balance, which ultimately translates to more coordination.
The other thing to remember about beginners is that they are first and foremost concerned about the steps or stepping on partners' toes, etc. Try to get them away from that early on, and concentrate on frame, balance, posture, etc., emphasizing that core strength and flexibility are the key factors -- probably as important as moving your feet in the right direction at the right time.

"coordination" is too general a topic to directly address.
You need to be much more specific in what you ask your students to do. One action at a time, in front of the mirror, point out the differences between what you are doing and their attempt. Be specific but be reasonable in the pace of your expectations. And make sure that your specific requests soon add up to habits that allow them to let go and dance - be careful not to use up their effort and patience on figures they are unlikely to use in dancing

Coordination....hmmmmm, what does one mean by coordination? Are you saying they can't dance to the music? If this is the case then I say no big surprise. You are taking something (movement) that is controlled mainly by the subconscious brain and putting it into conscious awareness. The more things you bring the person's attention to the more he or she has to consciously consider and put into action.

Now that I've said that let me tell you why it applies. The active part of the conscious brain is called the working memory. The average working memory can handle 7 chunks of informtion at once. For many that's an overestimation and they can handle only five or six. This does not include any "automated" or subconscious tasks. Your body can handle hundreds of those simultaneously. You as their dance instructor are taking automated tasks and putting them into working memory. You ask them to learn the step. The first time or ten through all they are capable of thinking of is that step if that step includes less than four discrete movements. Perhaps they can pay attention to even less than that if its their first day, let me illustrate by counting what might be in thier working memory.

1. Okay I have to keep my shoulders back and down.
2. My butt isn't where it's supposed to be but where did he tell me to put my butt?
3. I don't want to step on her toes.
4. What direction is my head pointed?
5. Am I looking like an idiot? Is someone looking at me?
6. Was I supposed to start with the right or the left?
7. Right foot, and now my working memory has been completely taken up and I don't even remember what the hell step this is.

So that's with someone who has a full working memory. What you are doing is trying to automate the processes so the conscious brain doesn't need to get involved. So then you make the frame and body positioning automatic, then the head direction, how LOD works. Then you can start adding the finesse of heel and toe leads and arms and deeper dimensions to your dancing. The steps eventually become chunks of knowledge that can be strung together and applied to music taking up only 1 part of the working memory, musicality becomes the 2nd consideration, 3rd becomes floorcraft, 4th becomes how his partner is following, then if he is competing he still has room to consider performance.

That is the answer from neural-science and even if it doesn't answer your specific question it does at least underline the absolute necessity of practice.

If you have coordination in dance, by any definition, it would seem to me, means you have the ability to have your main muscle groups working as one to execute what one would consider a more complex series of steps than just walking in a straight line. If you are not coordinated, it means you would misstep, stumble, lose balance, lose count, etc. when asked to do something more complicated than walking in a straight line.
I think belleofyourball has proposed an interesting and accurate approach to not overloading your student with thought process. Golf instructors do the same when teaching a proper swing. And I think jofjonesboro is absolutely correct in saying video helps one see their problems.
But I am a big believer in strength equating to better control and coordination of muscle groups. I may have misunderstood the original poster's meaning behind "exercises" but anything that exercises the muscles will help in dancing.
My core is not nearly as strong as it was 40 years ago, while my legs and knees have kept up nicely. But the weaker core strength is noticeable and makes such a difference in balance -- and coordination -- as we get older.

I completely agree with Dheun....no core=mediocre dancing. I have seen the difference it makes in my dancing and a lot of the advanced figures are completely impossible to properly execute without core. You can't have any control without core.