is it giving toxic…
“When are we going to start doing real dancing, instead of these silly little movements?”
This question was posed by a parent in reference to their 4 year olds tap and ballet class. My first reaction? All dancing could be boiled down to a series of “silly little movements”. In an era post “Dance Moms”, are there signs to look out for to know if your studio environment is promoting toxic ideals, and are you contributing to them?
I never expected this phrase to weigh so heavily on me, but I think it sums up how quickly dance spaces can become toxic. When students and subsequently their teachers are pressured into pushing to heights that are not developmentally appropriate this can lead to both injury and dancer burnout. This series seeks to take a nuanced look into toxic studio culture, how to identify it, and when to speak up.
You wouldn’t ask your child’s Kindergarten teacher why they can’t write in complete sentences yet, because you know they’re still learning the basics. At school, they first learn the alphabet, then they learn to identify sight words, then they’ll form sentences and eventually when they’re ready full paragraphs. Learning codified styles of dance follow the same progression. Those “silly little movements” are the alphabet.
None of this is to say that we can’t strive for excellence and push our students to their fullest potential. Obviously, we can and should but it is important to remember that your child’s teacher is the expert in the room. They’ve likely spent years honing their craft both as a dancer and as a teacher. It’s your job to trust the process and this is the first step in teaching your young dancer to be coachable and open to learning from people with different perspectives.
There are absolutely times in which it is appropriate to question what is happening in your child's classroom. For example, if the children aren’t being supervised or they’re executing new tricks in an unsafe way. Then by all means, use the appropriate channels to bring attention to leadership about what you’re seeing. But if your question is rooted in undermining the teacher's knowledge and skill set because you don’t believe your student is progressing in a way that feels quick enough for you, take a beat. Let go of any preconceived notions you have of what progressing within dance looks like.
No two dancers are going to approach the same topic or movement the same way. Sure, a plié is always a plié but once we start stringing our moves together to create phrases there is a whole lot of room for interpretation. Does that mean if someone interprets it one way, that they’re wrong? No. Dance is an expression, a language in its own right and it often comes with its own slang and variations.
To help you determine if your child is progressing along at the “right” pace, consider the following “Anchor Standards” outlined by the National Core Arts Standards (NCAS). The National Core Arts Standards (NCAS) seeks to provide a framework for educators for creating a “unified quality arts education” for students of all ages from Pre-K to high school. Let’s take a look at those standards together. These standards are broken down into four key categories. “Creating”, “Performing”, “Responding” and “Connecting”.
For this post we are going to be focusing on the first pillar of these standards “Creating”. The overarching goal is to conceive and develop new artistic ideas and work. This category details 3 anchor points to achieve this goal. Anchor Standard 1, “Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work” which seeks to answer the question “where do choreographers draw inspiration from?” Students in the early childhood stage of dance education should be learning to explore and respond through movement based on a variety of external stimuli (sound (music), tactile and visual.) Additionally they should use these external stimuli to execute basic locomotor and nonlocomotor movements.
You may be thinking what exactly are basic locomotor and nonlocomotor movements. Locomotor movements help children move through the world, and includes walking, running, jumping, hopping, crawling, marching, climbing, galloping, sliding, leaping, hopping, and skipping. As opposed to movements geared towards getting children from Point A to Point B, non-locomotor movements are defined as movements where the body moves in place, around the spine or axis. Also known as axial movement. This includes, bending, flexing, stretching, swinging, twisting, turning, and swaying. If you’ve seen your child execute any of these skills, they are right on track!
The second Anchor Standard seeks to “Organize and develop artistic ideas and work”. We often do this through improvisation. Does your child's teacher play freeze dance? This is why. The goal at this stage is to understand when a dance “starts” and stops”, they may experience this alone or with others. This may also look like expressing a specific idea, feeling or image. My favorite technique at this age is to compare movements to things they may already be familiar with. We will often impersonate our favorite animals, turn our bodies into the alphabet and use our bodies as imaginary paint brushes.
The third Anchor Standard that we will discuss in this overview aims to “Refine and complete artistic work.” What does this mean for your child? This standard suggests that they should be able to respond to suggestions to change up their improvised movements or short “remembered sequences”, otherwise known as choreography. They should also be able to identify different parts of the body and document a body shape or position. Lastly, they should be able to depict several different types of movement, including things like a jump, a turn, a slide, a bend, or a reach.
As they age and develop these concepts will expand and become more complex and there are other pillars of these standards that we have not yet gone into detail about. With that said, did you notice that there were no specific dance moves outlined as developmentally appropriate for this age group? Your child doesn’t have a full split or can’t hold a heel stretch? No problem. They’re not learning to execute a classic ballet pirouette? Good! They’re not supposed to yet.
I know you may be thinking - “but my child is different!” - “they’re ready for more”. If this is the case, you could inquire to see if there is a next level that they could try to see if this is more challenging for them. However, I would encourage you to not get swept up in comparing your child to others based on an unrealistic expectation of studio dancers. I understand the urge to demand excellence from the get go, especially when you are paying top dollar for these services, but we don’t need to abandon the standards in search of training our children as tomorrow’s next “So You Think You Can Dance” contestant.
There is no timeline. Your child will not fall behind. More complex movements will be there for them when they’re ready. Give yourself, and your child permission to take the pressure off and dance for enjoyment first. There will be plenty of time down the road to lock in and get more serious about their dance training if they chose to, but that may not be their goal yet and it is ok if their teacher is attempting to preserve the fun - let them!
Stick around - as we continue this discussion on the many ways seemingly innocent practices can turn your child’s passion into a chore. Next up? What is the role of perfectionism in dance?