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My path

The path to leading

You know how — lead.

Five steps of trust — this is how many people start leading. It is a hint, not a course: the order, the pace and whether to take the steps at all are up to you. The school gives an open method and the standard; reviews and mentoring are run by masters in their own name, and the venue, housing and your page come from Absolute neighbours.

Step and trust — two different ladders

A 0–10 step says how well it’s going. The path to leading says what you’re trusted with at a live class. You can lead the warm-up in dance and still only watch in yoga.

Five steps of trust — loosely based on Olle ten Cate’s EPA (entrustable professional activities) model

Where to start: one sentence — for whom, from which step, and what a person takes away from one class. “For beginners at steps 0–1: an hour for three chords and one whole song.”

  1. 01

    I watch

    Two or three classes by different masters from the map — through a leader’s eyes: how they greet newcomers, how the warm-up is built, how they hold the group and finish on time. Notes go in “My path”.

    Classes on the map (opens in a new tab)

  2. 02

    I co-lead

    Class co-lead at one to three of a master’s classes: you see the class from the inside and try what the master offers. Greeting people, cleaning, selling — not your job. This is your practice, not work: the timing is agreed with the master, no money changes hands either way, and there is no free spot in return either. The master leads the group and answers for safety. 18+ only.

    Masters on AbsoLive (opens in a new tab)

  3. 03

    I lead a part

    A 10–15-minute micro-class at a master’s free or open class: a warm-up or one combination. Afterwards — a four-step review. fill in: lawyer’s finding — whether this works at a paid class

    How the review works

  4. 04

    First class with a mentor

    A free open class for your own people: three to six adults, the mentor close by and stepping in only when needed. The plan is in the tool below; afterwards, a review. When to put your own class on the map is your call: the mentor tells you what they saw — with no grades and no “you may” or “you may not”.

    Build a plan

  5. 05

    My own class on the map

    You put a class on AbsoLive in your own name: in person, online or without a space of your own. Students are adults only, 18+. The abso.live/@handle page is for your students. In a month or two — another open class and a review, if you want.

    Add your own (opens in a new tab)

How long the path takes is different for everyone.

Tool

First-class plan

Built right in the browser and kept only on this device. Print it or download it as a file — and take it to your open class.

Review

A four-step review — no grades

After an open class, people speak in turn and in this order: the audience, the leader, the audience again. It is based on choreographer Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process.

  1. 1What was valuableThe audience says what worked and what stayed with them. No “but”.
  2. 2The leader’s questionsThe leader asks their own questions: “Was it clear why we were doing this?”
  3. 3Neutral questionsThe audience asks without hiding an opinion inside the question: “Why this order?” — not “Why so boring?”
  4. 4Suggestions — with permission“I have an idea about the warm-up — want to hear it?” The leader can say “no”.

Source: Liz Lerman, Critical Response Process

Safety

Before your first class

  • Ask about injuries and how people feel before you start — and make no diagnoses
  • A warm-up and a clear load for steps 0–2
  • A first-aid kit, water and the 112 emergency number — close at hand
  • Touch — only with consent: ask before you adjust a pose
  • Find out in advance where the exit, a place for belongings and the toilet are
  • Activity areas with risk — water, slopes, heights, martial arts, extreme sports — only next to a master who has their own training and the venue’s permission

Money

A price, a swap or free

On the AbsoLive map, free and paid sit side by side. The school takes no money and no percentage.

Free

A simple way to get to know each other. An open class for your own people is always free. You lead it, in your own name; the mentor is close by.

Class swap

A class for a class on AbsoLive: guitar for English, chess for salsa. How the tax office treats a swap — fill in: lawyer’s finding.

Paid — in your own name

The master teaches on their own: self-employed status or sole proprietor (Russia), a receipt for the student, cancellation terms on the class page. Details are in the draft memo.

A donation instead of a price

To the tax office it is the same payment for a class: the same receipt, the same tax. Calling it a “donation” does not make the class free.

Memo for masters: money and receipts

Absolute neighbours

Venue, housing, page

The group has its own projects for this — the school does not duplicate them.

Where the school adds value, and where it links out

The school does

  • Open materials: the first-class method and a plan for an hour
  • Rules for a four-step review
  • Publishing standard: safety, terms, no promises
  • A link to masters who run reviews and cohorts themselves — in their own name and on their own terms

Neighbours do

  • Map, master’s page and sign-up — AbsoLive
  • Housing — AbsoHomes, food — AbsoFood
  • Work for companies — AbsoWorks
  • Brand and promotion — Absolute Media