No Stars here
I have been watching the TV show, "Dance Moms", and am so glad I do NOT deal with any of those mothers. I do not think dance moms are a problem, but the manner of the education of the children. The teacher and the idea of how she feels children learn is neither healthy nor progressive for the child. I am amazed at the mothers that continue to be brow-beaten and allow their children to be treated in abusive ways for the sake of winning trophies and championships. They are winning by fear. How long will they continue to win? I wonder.
They are subjected to a weekly pyramid, where each student is on top, or on the bottom according to the teacher's opinion, and it seems to be usual that a "star" is always on top, since she always wins the competitions. The teacher might bump someone from the top, if their mother was not behaving or talked out of turn.
I am the ballet teacher of a group of students that also perform about 20 times a year, not in competitions, but throughout our area, in libraries, theaters, and museums. Our nature is to improve on stage, make no mistakes, "DO YOUR BEST!" The students in our group are of all ages, all abilities, all levels, so comparisons between students make no sense. Each student should be aware of their own goals, and work hard to better themselves. My job, as teacher, mentor, and guide, is to give them challenging work, correct their mistakes, and keep them improving. Encouraging the students to work together, we ask them to help each other remember steps, practice and improve their technique. As they get older, they become assistants, and even teachers in our school.
Parents are encouraged to stay away from regular class time, and allow the child to take responsibility for their learning, their dances, and their progress. Private instruction is used for new students that come from systems without correcting mistakes, or where a student has been away for a while and returns to join a level and need a refresher course. Private instruction is not to push one student ahead, or to buy their approval for the next competition.
When we begin a new program, and start to plan the music, scenery, costuming, we begin with a fresh set of students in January or September of each year. We have an open try out, and try to accept all students. We expect students from our classes, but will accept others. The auditions are not just to bring students into the group, but to find out which parts they will take, with which other dancers they will dance. We allow them to dance in a group, then ask them to act out characters from the story we have chosen. It is very important for us to see students in many roles before we make our decisions. While we do not consider this a competition, one dancer against the next, we do consider how much progress your child has made, how to challenge her this session, and what dances would best suit her in which group.
We will do "Snow White" this spring. We therefore, have also thought about the height of the 7 "little people" and how little they will be. We have thought about how tall the main characters should be- and then we talked about which roles we will give to whom. The dances will be choreographed by the 5 teachers in the studio, but the movements of the students will determine their individual unique contributions to the parts. That is what makes dance so wonderful, that the individual adds their soul to the character, and makes it their "own". It is the teacher's job to polish the steps, and inspire the student to reach for that creative part inside of them to finish the character they portray to the music and in their costumes.
Competition is not new to dance, and years ago our founder, Anneliese von Oettingen, made a choice not to follow the path of cut throat competition and the revealing costumes required. Instead she insisted upon fostering co-operation among company members. We encourage teaching performance arts and not making the child grow up too soon. Come to one of our performances and see the difference!
We are so proud of our Dance Mothers, Fathers and Extras, who are the soul of our Dance group. They drive the company member to all the rehearsals, make sure they have their practice clothes and make up, get them to the performances on time, help lay down the floor, transport the scenery, move scenery, act in the performances when needed, take videos, help sew costumes, hand out flyers, send out information, and support our students. No "stars" here, because, they are "ALL STARS!"
They are subjected to a weekly pyramid, where each student is on top, or on the bottom according to the teacher's opinion, and it seems to be usual that a "star" is always on top, since she always wins the competitions. The teacher might bump someone from the top, if their mother was not behaving or talked out of turn.
I am the ballet teacher of a group of students that also perform about 20 times a year, not in competitions, but throughout our area, in libraries, theaters, and museums. Our nature is to improve on stage, make no mistakes, "DO YOUR BEST!" The students in our group are of all ages, all abilities, all levels, so comparisons between students make no sense. Each student should be aware of their own goals, and work hard to better themselves. My job, as teacher, mentor, and guide, is to give them challenging work, correct their mistakes, and keep them improving. Encouraging the students to work together, we ask them to help each other remember steps, practice and improve their technique. As they get older, they become assistants, and even teachers in our school.
Parents are encouraged to stay away from regular class time, and allow the child to take responsibility for their learning, their dances, and their progress. Private instruction is used for new students that come from systems without correcting mistakes, or where a student has been away for a while and returns to join a level and need a refresher course. Private instruction is not to push one student ahead, or to buy their approval for the next competition.
When we begin a new program, and start to plan the music, scenery, costuming, we begin with a fresh set of students in January or September of each year. We have an open try out, and try to accept all students. We expect students from our classes, but will accept others. The auditions are not just to bring students into the group, but to find out which parts they will take, with which other dancers they will dance. We allow them to dance in a group, then ask them to act out characters from the story we have chosen. It is very important for us to see students in many roles before we make our decisions. While we do not consider this a competition, one dancer against the next, we do consider how much progress your child has made, how to challenge her this session, and what dances would best suit her in which group.
We will do "Snow White" this spring. We therefore, have also thought about the height of the 7 "little people" and how little they will be. We have thought about how tall the main characters should be- and then we talked about which roles we will give to whom. The dances will be choreographed by the 5 teachers in the studio, but the movements of the students will determine their individual unique contributions to the parts. That is what makes dance so wonderful, that the individual adds their soul to the character, and makes it their "own". It is the teacher's job to polish the steps, and inspire the student to reach for that creative part inside of them to finish the character they portray to the music and in their costumes.
Competition is not new to dance, and years ago our founder, Anneliese von Oettingen, made a choice not to follow the path of cut throat competition and the revealing costumes required. Instead she insisted upon fostering co-operation among company members. We encourage teaching performance arts and not making the child grow up too soon. Come to one of our performances and see the difference!
We are so proud of our Dance Mothers, Fathers and Extras, who are the soul of our Dance group. They drive the company member to all the rehearsals, make sure they have their practice clothes and make up, get them to the performances on time, help lay down the floor, transport the scenery, move scenery, act in the performances when needed, take videos, help sew costumes, hand out flyers, send out information, and support our students. No "stars" here, because, they are "ALL STARS!"
Comments
Post a Comment