Have to agree with this. Some folks do have physical limitations, but it sounds like this student does not.

Keeping the knees bent is the most difficult part sometimes. In tai chi, I would have to do this standing meditation called "Embracing the Tree," in which the knees are bent, arms held out in front and curved like you are hugging a gigantic tree. The eyes are closed and you engage in deep breathing from the diphragm (in through the nose, out through the mouth). During my first few months, I would think that I had my knees bent — but I would be unconsciously rising up as I breathed. Then the hands of my 350-pound sifu would descend on my shoulders and I'd realize, with a shock, just how far I had straightened my knees.

I've used this meditation in class on occasion, and it has helped some folks a bit.

Also turning folks to the side toward the mirror and doing posture checks can help. I have the whole class do it so as not to isolate individuals too much.

Usually when we correct her it goes something like this:
Our teacher is taking us through drills of some type. I'm walking around the room or dancing in the very back. I usually give attention to each person individually. From the beginning, whenever I approached her, she immediately shut down. I could tell that correcting her was going to be a tricky situation.
In the "bend your knees" situation I mentioned that it may help if she bent her knees a bit more. (They were not at all bent.). She said, "My knees are bent; I just can't do this." So I explained that I find it most helpful to do hip lifts with my knees bent like this. And I pulled up my skirt and showed how bent my knees are. She says, "Yeah, that's what I'm doing". The first time I had her dance behind me and watch and try to copy my knees and then my hips. The next time the problem came up I had her try a few hip lifts with straight legs and then VERY bent knees. She says she cannot tell the difference. We also tried just standing still and bending one knee and then the other to pay attention to how her hips can move. I think she is very capable of the movements, just very frustrated.
We talked a bit about how to practice at home, but the next week she informed me that she is NOT going to practice at home. She said that she didn't want to practice it the wrong way.

Her responses are always, "I AM doing that" and "My moves just don't look like yours."
She even suggested that I do it wrong to make her look better.

I wonder if being in a class is just too stressful for her. She is very wary of being corrected even though we correct everyone (it IS a beginner class).

We took a break from classes for the holidays and we start back next week. I'm really hoping she will come back, but I do want to be a bit more prepared to help her out.


Thanks everyone!!
Nadhari

I've had the same experience with students telling me they aren't moving their hips when they are doing an upper body movement. I stand next to them and we do it together in the mirror and then I point blank ask them "if your hips aren't moving than why are your coins moving and why is your hip scarf jingling?" A few will try to continue to deny it, so we do it again and I starting pointing to the strands that are moving. Most will then agree sheepishly that yes their hips must have been moving.

Some have tried to get out of it by not wearing a hip scarf. I innocently say "oh you forgot yours, here, borrow mine while we work on this move." Most admit to me at the end of class that they forgot theirs on purpose. I act like I didn't realize, but at the end of class they admit that wearing it really helped them realize what they need to work on. Sometimes they admit it to me at the end of that class, sometimes it's not until the end of the session.

I'd also like to encourage you to encourage her to have patience. No one gets these things perfect the first time. Make sure she understands there is no pressure and no deadlines on learning moves correctly. Also about the whole "I don't practice at home cause I don't want to practice wrong" (it annoys me every time I hear this) my response to this is we would still be sitting in the dark if Edison had that attitude. He failed to make the light bulb something like over 200 times. Everyone has to fail a lot of times in order to learn how NOT to do it so they can then learn the correct way it should be done.

Good Luck!

Can I just suggest losing the skirt to teach in? It is hard for people to "copy" what a teacher or an assistant teacher is doing if their legs are covered by long skirts.