BUILDING COMMUNITY IN YOUR CLASSES
As a ballet and contemporary teacher for over 44 years, I find myself endlessly engaged in
trying to keep the beauty of the technical principles alive while allowing for the desperately
needed evolution of “ballet mentality” to unfold. Within every studio setting, professional
or beginner, I have stressed the importance of being a good human first, a good dancer
second. If dancers learn how to cultivate community, buoying each other up and working
together on individual excellence at an early age, then by the time the sturm and drang of
the teenage years arise, they can be their best selves and navigate the inevitable highs and
lows with support and cooperation.
This relatively new training paradigm of competition-focussed studio work does not even
accurately reflect the actual working model of the professional dance world, particularly as
a ballet or contemporary dancer. All these splendid young humans are vying for limited
positions in company settings and once achieved, are going to be constantly working
towards keeping physically and mentally healthy while striving together to embody the
works of other creatives seeking connection with an audience. If dancers are not taught to
support one another and work together without ego or pervasive insecurity and jealousy
then the sharing of ideas and perspectives of beauty within the arts world is in peril of being
undone in a mess of fractious, overly competitive, and superficial values. The plethora of
competition settings are best looked at as performance opportunities in which aspiring
dancers can learn from one another’s special moments on stage. Did the dancer you watch
from backstage move you? Was their technique brilliant? Are you not inspired to achieve
such moments for yourself? And most importantly, celebrate that dancer’s ability to find
their own inner magic and excellence because it does not take away anything from you, it
only enhances the arts world you want to move into. And lastly, the fact that a performance
is adjudicated is simply about hearing a professional perspective/opinion of that moment
in time. It is not a judgement about your overall ability or potential to continue growing.
“Winning” is truly a personal experience. We should not be thinking that we are “against”
other dancers or other studios in these settings.
“Healthy competition” is a phrase quite often used and most often, incorrectly. We
ourselves, drawn to an art form demanding such high levels of technical excellence and
emotional vulnerability are already competitive….within ourselves and with the so-called
“ideals” of the profession. Comparative language within the studio breeds a toxic
environment in which dancers fester either as victims or perpetrators of jealous,
denigrating and destructive behaviours. We as guides and mentors within that environment
can instead use constructive language such as “I am appreciating your hard work today
and found the willingness to push past comfort zones particularly wonderful.” We CANname certain dancers as particularly noticeable in their efforts but not in a way that makes
the others wrong or NOT noticeable, but in a way that centres on the positive. “Dancer A,
thank you for finding new ways to execute this movement today. I really appreciate how
much you grew when you were willing to try something new.”
One of my favourite aspects of being so involved in the backstage support system for my
many young artists is watching them build their own communities across studio “borders”,
age categories and falsely perpetuated rivalries. Globally speaking, the dance community
is a small one and the relationships you build and foster while young will support you
throughout your entire dance career and beyond. We can help by encouraging this
community building as an invaluable addition to our training language.
