Reflection on having a substitute teacher

On Wednesday we had a substitute teacher in for ballet. Her name was Jillian and she was quite a bit different from Richard but I enjoyed her class. We started off with barre, as usual, but her combinations were much more similar to the ones I used to do at my old studio. She gave corrections much more individually and to everyone which I believe is good. Usually in class a couple of us get corrections and are used almost as examples of what a common problem is; in her class, she really worked on the basic flaws that some of the less experienced dancers have such as pointing toes and fully straightening their legs. Some of the combinations she gave us were easier and some were harder but one thing that was difficult was she went through them rather quickly and expected us to have picked it up. I know that is the normal way classes work and that at an "Intermediate/Advanced" ballet level we should be able to pick up combinations quickly, but some people struggled. I personally forgot until we walked in that we were having a substitute and was not mentally prepared to be doing something beside the norm in class. Other students said that they felt similarly. After barre, we did a decent amount of across the floor work. I liked getting to move and do ballet rather than stay stationary. We learned combinations and for the most part they were the right level of difficulty for our class, but we just weren't really used to learning in her style of teaching. I think she was a very good teacher and I would definitely like to take class from her again. I also think that learning from multiple teachers is crucial in the development of a well rounded dancer. Once you become too comfortable with one style of teaching, it is more difficult to jump into a different setting. She had a very feminine voice and you could tell she was very well trained. I think she would be an excellent teacher for studio that had weekly classes and could develop into her style of teaching.