MSMS Presents
Gregory Youdan

Using Motor Learning Principles to Help Your Students (Actually) Learn

Course Description

As Pilates teachers and movement educators, we deeply care about our students and their personal success. But how do we maximize skill learning in our clients? This workshop will introduce you to the science behind skill acquisition and how to directly apply that to teaching Pilates. The workshop is centered on the teacher’s role in facilitating skill learning. In other words, it is designed to help you become a more effective teacher, leaving you with simple, evidence-based strategies to increase student learning and motor retention. The research on motor learning details best principles to improve motor learning. These include concepts such as how to structure practice, cuing, and task manipulation. This workshop will introduce educators to the science behind motor skill acquisition and leave them with specific implementable strategies to apply to their teaching practice. 

Gregory Youdan

Gregory Youdan Jr. (he/him) is a human movement scientist specializing in dance science and dance for health and has published in several academic journals, including Clinical Biomechanics, Neuroengineering and Rehabilitation and Human Movement Science. Greg is currently on faculty at The Juilliard and Hollins University. Previously, he has served on the faculty at Columbia University, New York University, and CUNY Lehman College. He completed a research assistantship at Brown University. He has presented scientific research at various academic conferences, including American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the Performing Arts Medicine Association. Greg most recently served as an assistant to Irene Dowd as the 2022-2023 Dance Anatomy Teaching Fellow at The Juilliard School.