Rebecca came to us after doing barre for many years, but was not a dancer. Here is her story and experience of Barre Instructor Training and how she surprised herself and learnt to use her strengths to create a great class rather than focus on areas she felt she was inexperienced in...
Was the course what you expected?
I had been told that it was physically very challenging, and that was true, I think I did more pliés in 4 days than I have done in my whole barre life! Exams were just as nerve wracking as I thought they would be :)
How has your perspective changed now that you’ve completed training?
I have a lot more understanding of the body and how it should move safely, I learnt a lot about myself and overcame challenges that I wasn't sure I would be able to - I grew a lot personally as well as professionally.
What did you think you would struggle with most after the Course. And do you still struggle with this?
I am a quiet, reserved person and I assumed I would struggle with talking and instructing for an hour or so straight, and engaging with students. But my feedback was that I made the class fun and it turned out that after all the practical work we did during the course I was fine talking for that long, I really surprised myself.
What do you think you excelled at the most?
I don't have a dance background, so my strength is not awe inspiring grace....! I have become stronger over the years of taking barre classes and have learnt good form, but during the course I realised, thanks to Alicia's feedback, that my strength can be bringing a bit of fun to the class, I'm not afraid of being a little bit goofy at times, that's who I am. I also think humour helps people have a good time and remember their class fondly rather than focussing on how hard it was. It was nice to have Alicia see that and help me use that to my advantage.
What inspired you the most?
Alicia inspired me a lot - she is incredibly knowledgeable, strong, graceful and her teaching style is very understated but still fun, I enjoyed her personality, and her diplomatic skills were impressive when dealing with the different students. She was very sure of herself and quietly confident in her knowledge. The other students also inspired me - with varied backgrounds it was great to see how they all applied their new skills to their existing ones and created interesting and unique barre routines with different teaching styles that all worked well.
What do you believe was the best aspect of the course? And the most Challenging?
Most challenging and best part of the course was just being thrown in the deep end and having to sink or swim - it forces you out of your comfort zone and into that special space where amazing things happen and you surpass your expectations of yourself.
Last words of wisdom?
I've seen a lot of online-only barre training courses and I cannot imagine they could even come close to the experience of Aleenta's in-person Barre Instructor Training. I would never have been able to teach a class confidently without that in-person intensive group learning environment helping me grow and improve. The real time feedback was so valuable.
