This week I taught saidi-style stick dancing... to groups of primary 2 children!
My son is in primary 2 at Leith Primary School and they've been doing 'dance' as their topic for gym this term. After 6 weeks (to my boy, 6 endless weeks) of Scottish Country Dancing, and two weeks of Katy Perry's Firework, a la Just Dance 2 for the Wii (yes, really!), I volunteered to add a little international interest!
I was a bit nervous - I was taking my 3-year-old daughter with me too; I had especially shortened sticks for the children; I had a last minute panic being unable to find my galabeya; and I wasn't quite sure what all the teachers would think of it.
It was great. Nobody lost an eye (which should be a worry with the 6-year-old and stick interface!) and only one girl got a skelf from the stick (oops). Quite a few of the children spent more time goggling at me than dancing (they're more used to seeing me in the playground in civvies, I guess!). But most of them got to grips very nicely with the saidi step, the dums and teks and pretending to be dancing horses. I held back on the stick spinning and backbends - maybe we'll try that if they have me back!!!
My 3-year-old nearly peed herself as I was a bit too busy to take her to the loo, but otherwise she was very helpful, pressing play and pause on the ipod when I asked her too!
Teaching children is so different to teaching adults - not least because grown-ups have chosen to come to class and actively want to be there! But I really enjoyed it.
