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Your Grandma’s Ballet Class
By Judy Rice
How to make ballet as cool as hip-hop for your students
When teachers tell me that their students are not enthusiastic
about ballet, I am dumbfounded. I believe that the love of
ballet comes from the top—which means that teachers and studio
owners must present a positive attitude about all dance
disciplines. So when I walk into a teachers’ jazz class at a
convention and observe that only a quarter of them stay for
the ballet class that follows, I understand why students do
not experience more passion for ballet. If teachers aren’t
enthusiastic about it, how can they expect their students to
be? We set the example, even if it’s subliminal. Because I am
madly in love with ballet, I exude the thrill I feel when the
students respond. Teachers must change their attitude and
share their passion with their students if they hope to
instill in them a love of ballet.
How do you fill the studio with a sense of excitement about
ballet? It’s all in the delivery. The energy in the room must
reflect a passion for ballet, and the material, while
maintaining the discipline and tradition of ballet, has to be
fun and exciting. When this happens, the energy in the studio
accelerates beyond the teacher’s
control. The momentum builds, then snowballs, when
the dancers feel the excitement. Keeping a class exciting,
motivating students
to do their best work, and promoting the love of ballet is 25
percent information and 75 percent delivery.
Also, instructors need to know their students
and relate to them on their own level,
referencing current
music and movies and motivating them
with inspiring stories. If, after three exercises at the
barre, I start to lose some of the class,
I throw them a bone. For instance, for students ages 12 and
under, I use music from The Pink Panther for tendus.
The students laugh when they hear the music and execute th e
exercise better because they are enjoying
themselves. We must remember that they are still children. I
often have them skip or do jumping jacks to reenergize them.
Teachers need to do their homework to find out how students
relate to their world; even while presenting the basics they
must be flexible enough to add some levity.
Each class needs to balance hard work and a love of movement.
Instructors should be sure that the students understand why a
barre is done in every ballet class and that ballet teaches
the rudiments that apply to all forms of dance. Dances run the
gamut from pure and classical to fun and eccentric, and
choreographers want dancers who can move easily between genres
and styles. Having a grounded base in ballet gives dancers
more freedom to excel in other dance forms. Just as musicians
must master
their scales and hockey players practice their stick-handling
drills, dancers must do their daily barre. With
time, the students will learn that there
is a thrill in being meticulous and a reward for being diligent.
On e
must put in the labor to enjoy the rewards. What a wonderful
life lesson we teach
in ballet!
My first ballet teacher loved ballet, and she passed that
passion on to me. I use my outgoing personality
to make my students work and enjoy class. All teachers must
recognize their strengths and weaknesses. It is difficult to
be upbeat and inspiring week after week in a studio situation,
so expose the students to other teachers and their energy.
Taking class from guest teachers can be a priceless experience
for young dancers. Don’t be intimidated by the guest. She is
there to back up the studio teacher and show the students that
others out there love ballet too.
It is time to jump into the new century. Teachers need to toss
out those old beliefs that ballet is hard and stuffy. It’s
their job to get the energy going in the studio and to take
the fear out of ballet, getting the students as fired up about
it as a hip-hop class. We need to communicate our love for
what we do by using humor, honesty, and passion. This is not
your grandma’s dance class—it’s the new generation of ballet!
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