Negativity

Our philosophy at Art of the Dance is to keep it positive.  Granted you can't let the kids run the class, manners and respect need to be constantly reinforced and occasionally the evil Miss Leslie rears her head but by in large I have found I get the most from a dancer telling them they are doing a good job when they meet my level of expectation for them and telling them what to improve when they are not at the expected level of excellence I want from them. 

They have seen me do my victory dance and sing my victory song when they go far beyond my expectations or finally get a step after a long, hard struggle.  Both need to be acknowledged and celebrated.  I make it very clear to them when I am disappointed with them and when I am thrilled.  And when I am disappointed I make it very clear why and what to do to improve.

One thing I will not do is shame them or discourage them with words like:  that was awful, that was terrible, you're not good, you're doing bad, why can't you do better than that, do you think that's dancing.  I would never use words like that and then not even tell them exactly what to do to improve.  Teachers do teach like this but the result is the natural dancer who has the most facility to be a professional dancer will improve but the student with the heart of a dancer who has to work hard for their steps will give up.  Even the natural dancer may give up without encouragement.

The professional dance world is also changing.  I actually read in Dance Magazine where a star in a major ballet company struggles with turns and is just beginning to do fouette turns without moving.  Back in the day a company would never have looked at this dancer.  But her heart on stage is so big, the rest of her technique so right on that the company is willing to wait for her to get her turns.  I almost passed out when I read this-back in the day when I was taught by a teacher with a cane she would not even have sent any of us to audition for a summer program without our turns under control.

The dance world is just starting to understand that talent like fine wine needs time to mature.  The roster of dancers in the 70's, 80's and 90's who were wunderkinds at 16 who fizzled out by 20 is longer than the list of those who managed to keep on dancing.  Both New York City Ballet and ABT have a roster of stars who in their 20's  managed to get through the negativity of critics only to emerge in their 30's with enough maturity to finally be acknowledged as true artists.  It takes time to make dancer.  In a fast food world that may take some getting use to.
 
I try very hard not to make a negative comment on a step unless I have the exact how to for the student to make it better.  I would rather have them do a step a million times with a small correction each time until they get it right then bombard them with words like that was bad do it again, I don't even want to look at you it's so bad, why can't you do it right.  You may get the step right quicker but the damage to the soul of the dancer may not be worth it.  Small corrections, not going on until the first correction is achieved, trying different ways of presenting  a step until the light bulb comes on-they all require an extreme amount of patience and perseverance from the teacher but the dancer's soul remains creative and strong.

Negativity kills hopes and dreams.  It cripples action.  It saps creativity and energy.  We are bombarded by it.  If I can get results without it, I will.  If I can create an oasis of positive correction, I will.