Again, it boils down to who is to say who is certified? What makes the "certifier" qualified to say that someone is a "certified" performer or instructor? The Joe Schmo Dance School down the road can say that they will certify belly dancers for a $50 plus $20/year to maintain active certification status. But who is to say that they are qualified?

Resumes speak much louder than any certification. If someone is really concerned about the experience of an instructor, the instructor should have a resume that is easily accessible and will be given freely. Heck, I would want to know how long someone has studied, performed, and has been teaching before I even sign up for a class!

This looks like an old post but it came up on my google seach. . .

Instructors Intensive, Delilah style / with certificates

I can’t speak for other peoples teaching courses but here is a little about mine.

I have offered 2 “Instructors Intensive” courses so far, the next one I’m offering is in January 2009. Registrations are now open to 15 people. These courses are highly inspirational, challenging and growth producing. I conduct the course for 10 consecutive days, in Hawaii along side of my regular annual belly dance retreats of 8 days. The current format is as follows:
The instructors arrive 24 hours before the general course. I spend this time with instructors first to get off to a intimate level. We are all viewed as colleagues and each participant has something to teach all of us. It is not just about one perspective since Delilah’s perspective is to be a perpetual student, learning from all those around you. However, Delilah hopes you will learn some of her visionary concepts and ideals and pass them on to your students.

The regular 8 day retreat is full of the meat and potatoes of belly dance. Techniques, drills, drum classes, workouts, creativity exercises, and performance work. Dancer of all levels are invited. The regular course is cheaper, shorter and has more leisure time to spend in Hawaii around the pool and beaches. Reminder: Just because someone is a teacher doesn’t mean they have to take the instructors intensive either. They are more than welcome to take the general retreat. It’s a nice mix of belly dance and hawaiian vacation.

The next 7 days at the retreat are divided into periods. The mornings, late afternoon and evenings have workshops and performance opportunities for both the regular retreat participants (which are of all levels form beginning to professionals) and the instructors. The last day is for instructors alone again and we work on drum solos and a fun little test. Part of the instruction is to learn to play the middle eastern drum. This is very important for all instructor. We will also have the opportunity to dance to live music.

Who is qualified to take the instructors course?
Anyone who who has been belly dancing for a year or two and is driven to know more about belly dance. 1 year doesn’t seem like very much but some dancers come into belly dance with a lot of dance knowledge and advance quickly these days. So I leave it up to each individual to choose if they are ready to come. No one is turned away. Of course seasoned belly dance instructors come for new inspirations. Also dancers come who don’t intend to pursue teaching belly dancing but just want the immersion or are thinking about it.

Months before the course begins the instructors are given homework. It’s a list of subjects they maybe called on to teach 10-15 minutes at the retreat. If they don’t know a subject then we advice they search it out and gain some knowledge about it. We suggest they make sure they have studied all of Delilah’s instructional DVD’s if they want to get the most out of their “live” course experience, but thats up to them. The registraunts are given discounts for DVD’s.
What we do during the first instructors classes is review certain body alignment techniques that are essential to understanding the dance’s bodily construction, teach the Power Belly format of dance instruction and at some point, we have a candid group discussion about the business of belly dance pro’s and con’s. My goal as an instructor’s guide is to help dancers clearly see into the body and understand what they see in each others dance movements.

At the beginning I give each participant a rare copy of my unpublished manuscript about belly dance and a second one about the biz of belly dance. They can read it during their spare time at the retreat and it’s theirs to keep (but not reproduce in any way).

At the end of the retreat they receive a certificate that describes the elements covered in the program as well as other instructors or musicians that may have been a part of that retreat program.

What the certificate means, and doesn’t mean
It doesn’t mean you are a great teacher or even that after the course you are now considered a qualified instructor. It just means you took the course. The certificate is suitable for framing so you can show your students that you have sincere dedication to the art of belly dance and have put forth the time and money towards higher learning. It gives the public a bit of back ground as to what makes up your personal experience as a teacher and can be used in your educational resume. It is not a certificate for physical fitness or first aid.

Note: The instructors course is about 20 hours in addition to the 22 hours of the general course retreat.

I hope this explains a bit more about my program. It’s truly a wonderful laboratory for dancers. I get email all the time from dancers asking me if I have a teachers program and I am at a loss for how this is seemingly undiscovered aspect of my web site. Instructors courses in extreme demand these days.

Seattle Apprenticeship Opportunity
I do have another option for dancers who want to apprentice with me. I have a house across the street from my studio and will take on live in apprenticeship for 4-6 weeks.

They get a room, their own bath in a shared living situation in an old world large Queen Anne style house located across the street from VDP Studios in a beautiful neighborhood 5 minutes from downtown. It’s on a great bus line. The house has a hot tub, garden and cats. Restaurants, market and shops are all in walking distance. The apprentice can take daily classes, private classes and use the studio for practice. Opportunity for dancing to live middle eastern music as well since the band “House of Tarab” is closely aligned with the studio and this is irreplaceable experience.
Cost starts at $850 per month plus private class and special workshops.


There you have it in a nut shell.

Delilah
206 632-2353
deiliahbellydancer@yahoo.com
www.visionarydance.com
VDP STUDIO 4128 Fremont Ave n
Sea wa 98103
www.delilahs-bely-dance-retreat.com

I only brought it up, since I am a fire service safety instructor for civilians and recruits...Paramed etc...but I agree wilderness first aid is a must and when I taught first aid I would always teach first aid with the concept of what to do when you do not have a first aid kit and you are too far from help...kind of like real life triage...I actually am going to be teaching wilderness first aid next year..so I am glad you brought it up and maybe it will spark some ideas in peoples heads..

I can't help thinking that there ARE some basics to know-- I think at least CPR, some basic knowledge of how the body works (basic warmup/cooldown/stretching principles, for example!), a rudimentary knowledge of the differences between, say, Egyptian, Turkish, North African, and Roma dance, and the most commonly-used terms for major moves would be really useful for a teacher to know.

A certification isn't something to say, "I'm the best there is!" It simply says, "I have a basic grounding in this stuff, and I probably won't hurt you." I think many of us see a teaching certification as a confirmation of skill and tenure, when most base certifications I know of (I've been a fitness pro for several years now, and hold at least 6 certs of one kind or another) are just that-- basics.

Now I gotta go read the archives to see how many people just said this exact same thing in the last discussion! ;)

Melissa
www.melissasdance.com
www.bellycore.com