Please share a short introduction about yourself.
I live and work Spain and have been dancing since I was 15 years old. As well as dancing, I have many years of experience training as a chef but dance teaching is my full time job. I train and teach in commercial dance and have always danced in this style, whilst also having a year of ballet and breakdance included in my training. 

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What is your dance teaching context? What education sector do you teach in and what dance styles/genres do you teach?
I have always taught in private school settings, bringing commercial dance to a variety of students. I have also been a judge at national dance championships. 
Currently, I am working as a Lecturer in Commercial Dance at the Institute of the Arts Barcelona. In this role, I deliver practical classes within the commercial, musical theatre and foundation programmes. 

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How did you hear about the BBO teacher training courses?
I was required to have a Level 6 qualification to progress in my career, so completed my own research to find one. I was encouraged to look for UK based courses, as we lack these types of course in Spain, and discovered BBO. The online delivery of the course was ideal because I don’t live in the UK. 

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Why did you choose to do the Level 6 course? How does it fit with your career development plans? 
As mentioned, I need the qualification to continue within my current job role but once starting the course I began to realise how beneficial it would be to my overall teaching practice. The course helped me to change the approach to classes I teach; I have more tools to use and adjust my strategies to get students engaged. I have a new style of teaching since completing the course. 

What was the application process like? Were there any challenges?
The application process was easy to understand. It may have been a little challenging for me as my English isn’t perfect but I found the process simple. Any questions I had were answered by the BBO team, their replies are so fast! 

How did you feel at the start of the course?
I hadn’t completed a course like this before so to jump straight to Level 6 was a challenge, but I enjoy challenging myself. Additionally, I didn’t have an academic baseline in English to use, I was going to have to develop this as the course went on. The course was structured very well, the modules and course content were easy to follow, meaning I could focus on my personal goals and study rather than worrying about how to access the course. 

Additionally, having an online and multi-genre approach, the course was flexible so I could study and work at the same time; I could apply the course content immediately to my commercial practice. 

What has been your favourite module and why?
The Teaching Practice in Action module was my favourite, it helped me to develop my lesson plans and learn new strategies and activities. I am used to just teaching choreography and technique for a whole lesson; now I have the knowledge to mix up my class content and enable students to access dance in other ways. I have seen the direct affect this has had on my students, they are responding in a totally different way to before and I am already seeing the results of my studies come to life in practical classes. 

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Would you recommend our Level 6 course and why?
I would recommend this course to all teachers looking to develop their practice and develop a fresh approach to their classes. I really enjoyed the practical aspects of the course and now have so many new ways to teach the same content. 

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What are your plans for after the course? Where is your dance journey taking you next?
In the short term, I will be continuing my work with the Institute of the Arts Barcelona. My hours and classes will increase; now that I have finished studying I have the time to put all I’ve learned into practice. I am excited to keep developing my work. 

Eventually I would love to create my own dance studio and provide access to commercial dance for students in my local area. Having a qualification has opened a door to be able to do this confidently and with additional teaching skills. 

Can you describe some of the main skills you’ve learned from the course?
The main skill I have learned is how to deliver classes that teach dance without having to just teach a piece of choreography. I now know how to look for aims within each class and feed information to students through varied activities. Some students don’t have a full understanding of key physical aspects of dance, such as dynamics; I now have the tools to facilitate the embodiment of certain movements.  They can access the movement in an activity and apply this to choreographed pieces, constantly developing their dance technique. I am redeveloping how they access dance. 

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I also have an appreciation of how the different classes I teach can aid one another. I enjoy teaching Musical Theatre and Acting warm up sessions; I had not thought of applying these activities to my commercial classes, but now I have the knowledge of how to do this effectively. Warm ups don’t need to be dance related to benefit a dancer. It’s great to see the students surprised with the variety of classes and watch them enjoy a new approach to dance. 

Are you likely to become a Registered Teacher with BBO and continue with CPD through BBO?
In the future I may become a Registered Teacher with BBO but I am excited to develop my current work for now. However, taking part in CPD is a very important part of any teacher’s development. We all need to constantly challenge ourselves and be surprised about what we can learn.