Tuesday, February 7, 2012

They say ignorance is bliss. Sometimes I wish I were ignorant.

Part 1

I love to watch a great ballet performed by dancers that truly know their craft. I love the moments when you lean forward in your seat, eyes riveted on the stage, and you hold your breath for fear you might miss something. I wish I had more of these moments.


When I go to the ballet, I find myself seeing all the mistakes rather then just seeing the beauty behind it. I know that dancer's work hard, and I know nobody is perfect. But I can't stop my mental list. It reads much like a directors notes at the final dress rehearsal. Believe me, I wish I could see past all the mistakes, but I can't. Not pointing their toes, not using turn out. That person is late, that person is early. Some parts I wouldn't be able to tell you what needs to be fixed, because all I know is that it looks unclean and wrong. For the record, I don't even like to watch myself dance.


For all the years I've danced, and the countless teachers I've had, I have had one major issue with it all. The lack of consistency. Each teacher has a different answer, a different way to execute a move, or a different take on what the ballet term means. What is the right way? I want the answer, not 20 different opinions of how it should be. The worst was when a teacher would give you a "trick", or way of cheating your way through a move.


I've dreamed of being a dance teacher since I was young. I love teaching! I've been blessed by the opportunities I've had to perform, but teaching is were my heart is. I love creative movement, pre-ballet, jazz and hip hop, but the one thing I was always asked is, "will you teach my child ballet?".


To be completely honest, I would love to teach older kids ballet, but it scares me.

There are hundreds of rules, and thousands of details in ballet. Something done wrong can cause an injury. The problem was that I didn't have the answers I wanted, and I didn't want to teach it wrong.

When I was pregnant with my girls I had a lot of time to think about this. I wasn't teaching anymore and knew that with twins, it was going to be awhile before I started again. But what I did know was that I was going to come back as a better teacher. I researched certifications programs (something not required in the US). I spend a lot of time reading and researching all the methods, watching hours of video's looking at their strengths and weaknesses. I was looking for answers to my questions

1 comment:

  1. I have a very difficult time reading books that I know I have the skill to write. If it's not above my skill, something challenging (the style, not necessarily the subject matter) and beyond my current ability, it is just rubbish to me. Sometimes that is really frustrating.

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