The Dulaine Method

The Dulaine Method can be compared to two of the most thorough and successful educational methods that help children acquire skills they need to become successful adults: The Montessori Method and the Suzuki Method. Dancing Classrooms possesses the same ingredients that make the Montessori and Suzuki method successful: a clear and compelling philosophy with a rigorous and systematic training model that dramatically coincides with the developmental need within 10-11 year old children to reinforce their social skills just prior to the onset of puberty. And Dancing Classrooms is now being replicated throughout the US and Canada with requests from several international sites.

The Dulaine teaching philosophy is one of inside out versus outside in. It is not just about teaching dance, it’s about teaching pride, confidence and respect. We take the dance that is inherent in students’ bodies and help them to bring it out, not force it in, enabling students to increase their self-esteem as they learn.

During the summer of 2007, twenty-five Dancing Classrooms Teaching Artists (representing four different Dancing Classrooms sites) who had been trained by Pierre Dulaine completed a survey covering a range of questions related to the program philosophy, content, training techniques, group management skills, and even the words and phrases utilized by Pierre as he teaches Dancing Classrooms.

The collective responses of the survey participants were strikingly uniform in outlining precisely how and what Pierre teaches.

And, as one Teaching Artist stated at the end of his survey:

"Dancing Classrooms is not about teaching ballroom dancing. The dance is a tool for getting the children to break down social barriers, learn about honor and respect, treat others carefully, improve self-confidence, communicate and cooperate, and accept others even if they are different."

Whether you observe Pierre teaching adults how to teach Dancing Classrooms or you watch him with a room full of children, there are 6 components that he weaves throughout every action:

1. Respect & Compassion

2. Being Present

3. Creating a Safe Place

4. Command & Control

5. Language: Body & Verbal

6. Humor & Joy

Respect & Compassion:

At the very core of the Dulaine Method philosophy is the essential respect that goes into being a Lady and being a Gentleman.  In a time when we bemoan the loss of civil discourse and our society seems to become coarser by the day, Dancing Classrooms is a program that demands that the children not only treat others with respect but also encourages the children to respect themselves. 

Coupled with respect is compassion.  Perhaps it is Pierre’s own childhood that predisposes him to walk into a classroom full of children who struggle to believe in themselves, open his arms and heart to them, and then guide them gently along a journey that leads these young people to joy and accomplishment.

Being Present:

Probably the most difficult skill for any teacher to learn is the ability to be completely in the moment when they are teaching.  Children in particular are extremely aware of when the adult in charge (parent, teacher, coach) is not really there; and when a child senses that distance, woe be unto that adult.

Pierre’s ability to “be here now” enables him to observe every subtle nuance of student, and group, behavior.  He can see when a child is nervous, not paying attention, when the group is becoming antsy and he can respond to those issues immediately, thus keeping the classroom experience flowing.  Being present also allows Pierre to express his own positive emotions towards the children at precisely the moment the children need that affirmation.

Creating a Safe Place:

Asking children to take the extraordinary risk of embarrassing themselves in front of their peers is precisely what Dancing Classrooms does.  And the only reason that the children are willing to take this risk is because Pierre has perfected a way to make that experience safe. 

A Dancing Classrooms class is a place in which everyone is equal:  the students, the Teaching Artist, and the elementary school staff that are participating.  In modern jargon we call this creating a therapeutic milieu, an environment so different from these children’s normal daily environment that simply being in that room and being part of that collective group experience changes that child.

Command & Control:

Clearly, if you are going to move 25 children through twenty 45 minute classes and have them successfully learn seven dances, you need order and discipline.  Pierre is in command of the class from the moment he begins until the moment the children leave the room. 

An essential part of the Dulaine Method is developing the craft of managing the Group. When teachers are being taught how to work with children their training is invariably focused on individual child development. Rarely, if ever, are student teachers taught about group dynamics and how to manage a group of children.  In many ways it is Pierre’s innate understanding of how to use the Group to help the Individual that is the glue that holds the program together.  The ability to remain in absolute control of the Group while nurturing the children is one of Pierre’s greatest skills.

Language: Body & Verbal

Language, both body and verbal, are the great connectors in Dancing Classrooms.  Pierre’s entire physical affect is one of openness, warmth, and genuine affection for the children.  His verbal repertoire is a consistent barrage of positive comments.  There is no denying that when Pierre combines his body and verbal language he is a force the children simply cannot resist.

Humor & Joy

And last, but by no means least, Pierre brings humor and joy to the teaching experience.  Humor is perhaps the most difficult, yet powerful teaching tool for a teacher to master.  Gentle humor can help a shy child become less self-conscious; humor with that same child handled poorly can make him retreat and never come back out.  As clichéd as it sounds, Pierre allows his inner child to fully emerge when he is teaching.  He is playful, he is present, and the children can sense that he is just plain happy to be with them.

Being in such a safe place, where the boundaries are clear, the teacher is fully present, where respect and compassion reign – these are the elements that bring joy into the lives of the Dancing Classrooms children.