Myth: The music and repetitive nature of ballet will bore my child.
Fact: Classical music, introduced at an early age, widens a child’s palette and many young children find it naturally more interesting than redundant pop music. Children are not as easily bored as we think and they deserve more credit than that. Rather than over stimulating a child by bouncing around from one thing to the next, ballet endeavors to instill the ability for focus. No plié is the same as the one before and children get that. Their ‘boredom’ of ballet is often learned. Myth: Ballet schools are really strict and I want my child to have fun. Fact: While ballet requires a great deal of discipline and focus, children have more fun in structured environments where they are challenged. Most students do not even realize how much they are learning. Children take a great deal of pride in accomplishing something challenging and more joy comes from that than any amount of booty-wiggling and chatting with friends. Myth: There is no reason why my child can’t just do hip hop, jazz or tap. Fact: Ballet is the foundation of all of these dance forms. Your child will not learn properly without ongoing conditioning through classical ballet. Their bodies will not be able to execute the steps with strength and thereby with any level of safety. Period. Myth: I’ve already taken ballet and know all of the steps. In fact, I’ve taken ballet for 10 years. There’s no reason I have to continue taking classes to be good at it. Fact: Any retired dancer can tell you that ballet is not something that you can learn and remember forever. Ballet is an ongoing discipline that is necessary to properly condition the body to execute dance movements safely and gracefully. Dancing classical ballet is like being on the opposite side of an escalator. You’re trying to go up, but the escalator is pulling you back down. If you stop moving up, you’ll end up back where you started. Myth: In order to get real ballet instruction, my teen is expected to take class four or five times a week. I’d rather just go to a local commercial dancing school for a weekly lesson. Fact: Although most ballet schools do have minimum class requirements for dancers of a certain age, parents of recreational ballet students can find quality open ballet classes for their children. Teen classes should be approximately 1.5 hours long and replete with dancing (spending 10 minutes on attendance should be a red flag) – there is that much to cover. Anything over a 12:1 student to staff ratio should be a red flag. Your child should be expected to use and remember the same French terminology as the more advanced classes; terminology and alignment are the same no matter what your level. The instructor should have reputable credentials and referrals. If parents are not welcome to observe class at least in an occasional capacity, that should be a red flag. When it comes to ballet, it’s simply not worth it to settle. Myth: Ballet dancers are too thin, often have poor body images, are very competitive with one another and are put down by their teachers. I don’t want my teen to experience that culture and I’m afraid ballet wouldn’t be good for her fragile self-esteem. Fact: Most students of classical ballet have the very opposite experience. Ballet is a strenuous form of exercise but leads to a greater appreciation of one’s body and a healthier self-image. Students participate in a community of peers that are like-minded and supportive, very often for more serious students building a home away from home at the studio. Teachers (at least the good ones) provide constructive criticism in a way that builds rather than depletes a child. If you’ve experienced a ballet school that does not provide these things, then the problem is the school, not the experience of classical ballet. A seasoned studio mom got a much more involved response than she anticipated with her question this morning, I’m sure. Her daughter has danced with us for some time in a recreational capacity. She takes class once a week and is enjoying it but gets flustered when one of the company dancers pops in for teen/adult class. She doesn’t understand why she’s not seeing the improvement and getting closer to that next level.
OK first things first, let's stop counting the number of years we’ve been dancing and start counting the number of hours we’ve been sweating at the barre. And I mean to be very specific about that. Standing at the barre during class time, and working your tutu off at the barre are two very distinct ways of ‘taking class’, which plant the seed for two very different ‘years’ of dance. After you’re 9 years old, stop counting how many years you’ve taken dance. A more accurate measure would be the buckets of sweat, the number of correct tendus you’ve executed, the number of blisters you’ve ignored on the toes you’ve got crammed into your pointe shoes night after night. Ballet is a wonderful beautiful supplement to athletics, to theater, to modeling, to academics even, to any pursuit. BUT one cannot compare apples to oranges - many of the dancers her age are taking class every day because they've made that commitment to ballet alone (or perhaps one or two other things, our company dancers rarely have lower than an A average in school and often have additional extracurricular activities). Often these dancers will pop into a teen/adult or recreational class just for the extra workout. Typically the teen/adult class has many beginners - at least half the class, but sometimes an advanced student is using it to fit in that extra class that week. We don’t keep how far one can go hidden around here. There is a broad spectrum of ballet. And for those dancers that have chosen to dance recreationally, know that we applaud you. We can’t beat ourselves up for not choosing ballet as the focal point of our whole lives. Obviously there is nothing wrong with that. However, we have to have real expectations without shying away from what’s truly out there. I’m not going to lie to my students, I’m not going to falsely boost their egos and hide them from what the true potential is just because I don’t want them to feel bad. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want them to feel bad. I want them to be happy with their choice; to be happy with where THEY are on THAT day and not compare themselves to others. To know that they are taking part in something beautiful, and that they are beautifying their bodies and their minds with every little bit of dance they do. A little bit is better than none, as long as you KNOW you are only doing a little bit. As long as you are not deceiving yourself to believe you’re doing a lot and as long as you aren’t counting the years you’ve been signed up for a dance class as any measure of your success. Count the hours instead. When it comes to ballet, there is no alternative or quick fix trick and every class you take makes a difference. Ballet doesn't come naturally to anyone. Not one single person - that's the whole beauty of it- and all dancers have to work very hard to improve (what often feels like a very little). If you want to develop more advanced skills you absolutely need to take more classes. One hour per week of ballet is purely recreational and perhaps good for maintenance and a little work out. Though it will help a student to learn the actual mechanics of basic ballet steps, it will not necessarily increase strength or build a thorough repertoire of steps to its fullest potential. There is a broad spectrum and how 'good' a dancer is (I hate using that term because it’s so subjective) - is entirely and directly proportionate to how frequently they take class. (A little artistry helps too!) I took class 6 days a week when I was a teenager -but that's because I wanted to do nothing else. Most of the Integral company dancers take class four or five times per week and some of the gals in the recreational classes take two or three times a week. The youngsters increase their commitment as they get older. Unfortunately, most quality ballet schools require dancers of a certain age to take a minimum number of classes - which leaves those that want 'real' ballet just for fun or to supplement their athletics/other pursuits totally out of luck. They end of being stuck at a fast-food school that teaches poor quality and they never become fully aware of how much more there is out there. They think they’re doing a lot of ballet because they’re doing the same or more than everyone else in their class. They start counting the number of years that they’ve danced and completely fail to acknowledge that taking class six times a week for a year and taking class once a week for a year are two very different scenarios of dancing for ‘a year’. I'm glad that all of our students’ eyes are open to how very broad the spectrum of ballet is and just how much dedication is required for true ballet. But I also want them to know that there isn’t anything wrong choosing a little ballet. I’ve been describing dancers by how ‘good’ since I was probably 6 years old. The longer I teach, the harder it is to define what’s ‘good’ and what’s not. When new students ask how many classes they should take per week, I have to stop and ask them how ‘good’ they want to get. Look pretty in a tutu good? Count music and make poses good? Nifty tricks and turns good? Good technique good? People notice you’re a dancer when you’re not even dancing good? Professional dancer good? Professional soloist good? Audience can’t take their eyes off you good? How good?! I don’t typically like to put my complaints in writing. I’m always afraid they’ll morph into something more real if they’re written down in some permanent way. But in complaining about this particular phone call yesterday, a larger issue was brought to mind. I have long been warned by Mr Ohman of fast food dancing schools. He’s told us, long before any of us were teaching, that we have to educate the parents on classical ballet and what it really takes to build a foundation for any kind of dance. If a child wants to dance recreationally, that’s fine, but the parents must be educated on exactly the kind of education for which they are paying. It is not fair to mislead them into thinking they are exposing their children to real dance, when they are so very far from it.
We are two weeks into the most chaotic time of the year for most students and parents. Between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day is a mad dash between communions, graduations, state exams, spring concerts, baseball games, birthday parties and of course… dance recitals. Seasoned dancers and dance moms may take for granted solid performance know how. So we need a quick run-down for our newbie dance moms participating in their first recital.
The only very important thing you MUST accomplish is hair in a bun – same as weekly dress code hair. It’s not as daunting as it sounds and there is lots of room for mistakes. Unlike ballet teachers, ballet buns are very forgiving. Grab a big can of hairspray, at least three hair elastics, a lunch lady hair net and at least 10-15 LARGE hair pins that match your child’s hair (every local drug store has these items). Pull her hair into a tight pony tail and secure with two elastics. If she has uncooperative hair, a quick coat of hairspray before you begin will help. The pony tail will typically be as high in the back as her eyebrows. Twist the hair loosely and wrap it around the ponytail holder (you might use your third hair tie to hold it while you pin). Pin it in place by grabbing as much hair into the bobby pin as you can. Put in more bobby pins than you need. The bun should be relatively flat to her head – we don’t want the ‘hot buns’ look for ballet. The hair net goes over the bun (you can fold it a few times until it’s in place) to secure any fly-aways. Hairspray and voila, you’re done. Don’t send them to dress rehearsal or recital with any make-up. They WILL try to ‘touch-up’ and there will be tears one way or another when lipstick ends up on someone’s once white costume. Dancers wear make-up so that their faces ‘show up’ on the stage. The bright lights will pale them out without a ton of blush, eye shadow and lipstick. Older students will sometimes accentuate their eyes with eyeliner, mascara and false eye lashes. Make up for young children: a little loose powder or foundation with a sponge to hold the make up. A LOT of blush in a pink color that shows. More than you think. A little red-toned (not brown-toned) lipstick. A sweep of cool colored eye shadow and a brush of mascara. When they’re old enough for real stage make up with wings and eyeliner they’ll be instructed on how to apply during class time. The best part though is that when it’s all said and done… it’s SUMMER!!! I’ve been thinking I really should blog. I’ve been feeling incredibly inspired the past few weeks and so I’ve been thinking that I should really come up with something clever and blog about it. I like to write with a clear desk and a clean studio. So before I sit down to blog I tackle the piles on my desk: the mail, the receipts, the left messages, the fade-in/fade-out times for the recital album, the booster to add to the program journal, the fundraiser results, Gamzatti's variation that needs to be downloaded for Stephanie, the fall 2013 scholarship donation, emails, check deposits via cell phone app (thank you technology), the elastic-ripped pointe shoe that need sewing, placement assessments for our two new level 1’s, teen yoga flyers...… wait, what was I just doing? Oh yeah, scrubbing bubbling the bathroom. …Excuse me for a moment, I was just about to clean the bathroom. I grab my coffee and to dump in the sink, grab the scrubbing bubbles, notice a flyaway loose from my bun, switch coffee to elbow pit, grab hairspray from dance bag, spray scrubbing bubbles into hair. Feeling glamorous. But then... the artwork makes it OK. It'd be better if the artists' hair were neatly sprayed back into a ballet bun. But nonetheless, OK. Thank you for adding to our gallery.
We are so excited to present A Midsummer’s Eve tomorrow night at the Brookside School. After eleven or so weeks of rehearsals, it’s finally here. The dancers are ready, the costumes are ready, the stage is… almost ready. What makes us so very jittery before a much-anticipated performance? How can we get rid of our stage fright once and for all? Well, we can’t- and we shouldn’t want to. Stage jitters should be welcome and expected; it means you care about the work you’ve put in and about the quality of your show. There is nothing, at this point, that can make or break your performance. You’ve done the work and the work you’ve done with shine through, just let the music take over, get into your character, and dance. That’s all. No matter what happens, it cannot make or break your performance. That works of course in both ways - the work you’ve done will show, and the work you haven’t done will show. No stunning trick, nor daring leap, nor elaborate turn sequence can possibly help if you haven’t put in the work to earn the strength. So now it’s time to just have fun. (And of course, pre-company, to ‘count’) A few years ago I started getting into spirituality. I was deep into my yoga practice, studying Kabbalah and learning with a handful of orthodox rabbis. Through each of these paths were common principles that I was expected to learn: the ability to take your ego out of the picture and do something that scares you every day; that the effort itself is more enlivening, more valuable than the finished product; and that your well-being, your spirit, your health are forever on a downward escalator so where there is no effort to keep climbing, you surely will decline.
I didn’t have any struggle grasping this – I had learned it every day in ballet class. As a dancer, I grew up with an early understanding that no matter what I achieved today, there’d be something even bigger that I’d have to accomplish tomorrow. Mr. Ohman knowingly instilled an understanding, not necessarily a fear, in each of us that what we achieved today wasn’t going to cut it tomorrow – that you don’t rest your technique; that the most important thing was not how many fouettes you can do, but how frequently you are in class, focused and working. It was important principle that I didn’t know I was learning. At other schools, programs and companies - and as dedicated I’ve been to the Ohman School, I’ve also been to aplenty others– your teachers and choreographers may tell you that work ethic is most important but it is nevertheless always the dancer with the highest extension and who can do the most turns that is front and center –whether she relies on talent or work. With Mr. Ohman, it boils down to one thing – his ability to work with you so that you both have a mutual understanding of what the choreography is trying to achieve, and that you have the tools in your technique to achieve it. Sometimes, the one that can do the most turns and has the highest extension ends up front and center, but that’s only because she’s likely been in class every day. If you’re going to improve in ballet, you’re not going to be thinking about the end result: the Dewdrop fouettes or Sugarplum’s shoulder sits or pointe work, or the pirouettes in Tea for that matter. Instead, you’re going to feel strange on days that you miss class – a little down, knowing that you didn’t take that small step forward. While you’re in class, you get used to putting yourself in awkward situations, nearly falling down (or actually falling down if it’s a good class), looking stupid, muscles shaking in effort and sweating so much that a roll of paper towels won’t do as the office staff looks on in disgust. You get used to the feeling of effort, life’s purest sense of satisfaction, and you really miss it. And that’s how you know you’re on the right track. We are so very excited for the opening of the 2nd room. Not only will we be able to fit more classes in at the times that are most convenient for everyone – we’ll also have plenty of additional space for our junior and senior company and corps de ballet. A corps is a group of dancers in a company, typically dancing in groups of four or more. In professional ballet companies, the corps is the first, or entry-level rank of a dancer, followed in rank by soloist and then principal. Many corps members of professional companies are hired through apprenticeships, or even by auditions. All of our FAITH Project performances include a corps, and then each of the senior company dancers have a designated variation or solo to perform as well. It has been quite a challenge rehearsing our dancers in grand waltzes and codas in our “petit” little room. Finally we’ll be able to really test out our grande allegro and really get moving. Considering that the stage we’ve been performing on at the Brookside School is really large, it’s great that the dancers will have more space to prepare for their performances. We hope to see everyone’s smiling faces at the Socks & Champagne Ribbon Cutting party on Saturday! So how hard is it to become a professional dancer? It’s certainly not easy, but supposedly with at least 10,000 hours of practice by the time you’re 18, it’s not only possible, it’s likely. (Pause for gasping and arguments by everyone that gave a year or two or three of their life to auditioning and working side jobs and dancing for free and then started an office job. Hear me out.)
While the chances of being hired by a professional dance company are slim, it is not impossible. So, out of the millions of little girls that wish upon a birthday cake to be a ballerina, what is stopping nearly all of them? Why are the chances slim? If you were able to afford the wait, to afford the classes, the auditions, the pointe shoes and the leotards needed, and you were able to afford a modest standard of living for all those years you spent auditioning (starting with your summer programs which now start youngsters as early as 7 years old!), you’d likely have already faced hundreds of rejections. You may have turned down hundreds of other opportunities, ideas or interests. You may have missed a lot of parties and quality time with friends and family. You may have put off higher education, relationships or choosing a home. All of those opportunities arise throughout the dawn of someone’s dance career. And they are nearly always more appealing, because the life of dancer is hard. It’s a slim shot that by the time the opportunity avails itself, you still even want to pursue it. I’d like to start being honest with my students about this right now. I’d like for them to stop being intimidated by the wrong idea, the idea that getting into a company is impossible because there is always someone better, stronger, thinner, with fancier leotards. The chances of getting chosen to dance are not slim. Regarding a career in dance, the chances that you keep choosing it pose a much greater risk. So ladies and (well really just ladies, this is typically a different process for men), if YOU are the most impactful variable in this equation, that means YOU can determine your chances. YOU can choose to stick it out or YOU can choose to forgive yourself if you decide to do something else. The truth is that when you pursue a career in dance, or really in anything, you are not going to experience a magical poof of fairy dust that transforms your life suddenly so you can thereafter sit around and say 'I made it'. It will be the natural next step and you'll realize you were never so far off in the first place. |
AuthorMiss Erin serves as the Executive Director at Integral Ballet. Archives
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