A lot of my jobs involve me saying some version of this sentence.
“End sustained notes with shadow vowels.” Yes, that’s usually true…but not in this moment/piece/style.
“Keep your feet firmly planted.” Yes, that’s usually true…but not in jazz.
“Look to the conductor for the sense of the beat.” Yes, that’s usually true…but not here.
I love that about teaching genres outside of the choral mainstream – it lets me help students see the greater complexity of musical interpretation beyond the basic approach we develop singing in many choirs. The more complexity we see, the more interesting the world becomes.