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 Ask Rhee Gold
Dance educators seek advice about teaching
issues
Q: Dear Rhee,
This year I am celebrating the 50th anniversary of my
school. I have loved every minute of the past 50 years and I
want to make my recital something special, maybe do something
totally different. Do you have any ideas? Thanks!
—Charlene
Dear
Charlene,
Congratulations on this milestone in your career—you deserve a
pat on the back! The first thing that comes to my mind is the
concept of reminiscing about all those years of dance.
Consider creating a set that includes a giant scrapbook in the
center of the stage. Fill those pages with enlargements of
approximately 10 program covers or pictures from your past
recitals, going back to the very first one. Have students turn
the pages of this giant book to move from one scene to
another, and use some of your favorite music and/or
choreography from each of those shows.
You could
set the mood for the evening even before the curtain goes up
by creating a slide show of photographs that span your
school’s 50 years. Have it running on the stage (or perhaps in
the lobby) before the show starts, once the auditorium doors
open and the audience is filtering in.
Also, run
an ad in the paper announcing that you are looking for alumni
from your school. Invite them to come back to perform a
closing number for the show.
Be sure to
send a press release to all the local newspapers and
television stations to let them know about your anniversary.
Also send it to all the politicians from your state—you just
might find yourself receiving a proclamation or some other
recognition that is certainly well deserved.
Again,
congratulations, and I wish you another 50 years of continued
success! —Rhee
Dear Rhee,
I’ve owned my school for three years without experiencing any
controversy until this year. My problem is that my daughter,
who is 9, is being ridiculed because she happens to be the
best dancer at my school, and as a result I’m being bombarded
with negative remarks from students and their parents.
My daughter has the gift of dance and I don’t want to hold her
back, so I let her take class with my senior students (a class
she has no problem keeping up with). She also takes class with
students her own age, but she’s way beyond them at this point.
It’s more like she’s my assistant in those classes.
Last week we started to work on choreography for our holiday
show and I decided to place my daughter in the routines for
both her own age level and the senior students. I felt like it
would be good for my younger students to have someone in the
front to help them remember their dance and make them look
stronger. In the senior number my daughter is the smallest
dancer, so I placed her in front so she wouldn’t be lost
behind the taller girls.
After the first day of rehearsals I received a call from a
parent who said that she felt I was showing favoritism to my
child. She said she thinks that all the kids in the class
should have a chance to be in front, not just my daughter. I
tried to explain that I put my daughter in front because she
would help the rest of the kids remember their dance and that
it was common to put the best dancer in the front. She hung up
on me and her daughter hasn’t returned to class since that
day.
I’ve received emails from irate parents and lots of snide
remarks from other parents and students. My instinct told me
to ignore them, but now none of the kids are speaking to my
daughter; she thinks they all hate her. She cries because
everyone is so mean to her, including kids who were her best
friends. Many of the kids are telling her that they’re going
to quit dancing at my school after the holiday shows.
I’m in the middle of a mutiny at my school, all because my
daughter happens to be the best dancer. How do you get parents
to understand that some dancers are better than others and
that I’m not showing favoritism to my daughter? If it were one
of the other children who excelled, I would do exactly the
same thing. Any advice would be appreciated.
—Grace
Dear Grace,
I’ve heard
stories like this before. It seems that when it comes to our
own children, even dance teachers can be just like the parents
we all dread having in our school.
Several
times you say something like, “My daughter is the best
dancer.” That may be true, but if you continue to respond to
the parents’ or students’ concerns with that explanation
you’re certainly headed for mutiny. From what you have written
in your letter, I feel like you alone are responsible for what
you and your daughter are going through.
Have you
given any credibility to the comments you are hearing from all
sides? How do you think your senior dancers must feel when a
9- year-old is plunked down, front and center, in their
choreography? If you have to place her in front because you
don’t want her to get lost, then it’s obvious that she
shouldn’t be performing with that group of dancers. Another
issue that comes to mind is that your young daughter is being
exposed to all the conversations your teenage seniors have
while they’re in the dressing rooms or waiting for you to
choreograph. Do you really want your 9-year-old socializing
with teenagers?
You should
treat your daughter just like the other kids in her classes,
whether it’s the younger group of dancers or any other group
she trains with. I’m not sure where you got the concept that
it is common to put the best dancer in front, but that goes
totally against what I believe. I agree with the mom who hung
up on you—all the kids in the class should have a chance to be
in the front of the group, not just your daughter. In my mind,
a great choreographer/ teacher is someone who can create
choreography that encourages all the students to feel good
about themselves and their talents, regardless of their skill
level.
As I see
it, you are showing favoritism to your daughter and that
action has created circumstances that are making your daughter
and you miserable. It’s time for you to take off your blinders
and reexamine why you became a dance teacher in the first
place, which I would assume was to teach all kids, not
only your daughter, how to dance.
It’s time
to do damage control— and fast! Stop telling your clientele
that your daughter is the best dancer and forget about making
her the star of your school. If she is as talented as you
think, it’s time to take her to a school that offers a more
advanced class for her age level.
You may be
able to stop the mutiny by pulling your daughter from that
senior choreography and giving everyone in her own age group
the chance to be front and center in their routine. Humbly
realize that you’ve made a mistake and start looking for all
those other kids who may have a gift—or who simply work hard
and deserve the praise of a teacher who cares about each and
every one of them.
I wish you
the best. —Rhee
Send
your questions and comments to
Goldrush,
P.O. Box 2150, Norton, MA 02766 or gold5678@aol.com
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