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 Great
Expectations
By Diane Gudat
Getting the most from your performance group means expecting
the best from yourself
All dance teachers want to bring out the best in their
performing groups. Although many factors are involved, the
most important one is to create a nurturing, stimulating
working environment. Ideally, you want to establish a family
feeling that encourages the dancers to work together toward a
common goal. To ensure that, no dancer should be made to feel
more important than another. Performance groups that
consistently feature one or two dancers or showcase male
dancers excessively run the risk of making the others feel
less important.
As the artistic director, you determine the flavor of the
group. In order for the dancers to work toward your goals and
expectations, you must decide what you want the group to
achieve. Before you hold your first audition, develop a
mission statement that defines the group’s purpose, focus, and
goals. Give it to your staff and, later, to the dancers and
their parents. Make sure that everyone who works with the
dancers understands your goals and priorities.
With mission statement in hand, you’re ready for the next
step: choosing the dancers.
Dancer selection
Schedule auditions at the same time every year, and announce
the dates and expectations early. Choose an audition panel of
judges composed of friends or colleagues who do not work with
the dancers on a regular basis. Make the requirements for
membership in a performance group clear. Will the dancers need
to demonstrate a certain level of flexibility or be able to do
a double pirouette or strong grand jeté?
Provide the dancers with a critique of their audition. Point
out strengths and weaknesses and offer suggestions to improve
their performance. Ask them to write a short letter in
response to the critique that states what they believe they
can and should work on. Ask those who are selected to describe
the personal strengths (like leadership, spirit,
organizational qualities, promptness, friendliness, or a good
memory) they will bring to the performance “family.” In strong
families, each member feels needed and understands their role
and what they contribute to the group.
Parent/student responsibilities
Provide those who audition with participation guidelines,
including required dance classes; rules about attendance;
when, where, and how often rehearsals will be held; and
fund-raising responsibilities. Require that the students who
are selected for the group (and their parents) read and sign
the guidelines; keep copies of the signed documents on file.
Make it clear that all members must adhere to the guidelines
and will face consequences if they do not. Special treatment
can cause a breakdown in the group’s structure.
Many performance companies have a parent booster club that
supports the group through fund-raising. Make sure that the
parents understand that they have no say in decisions about
activities or artistic elements; their purpose is simply to
support the director’s goals for the benefit of the group.
Have the parents form committees that utilize their personal
talents or interests, such as making travel arrangements,
raising funds, maintaining costumes, organizing
transportation, and providing snacks.
Communication
Good communication with the dancers and their parents is
all-important. Decide well in advance when and where
rehearsals, workshops, competitions, and performances will be
held. Parent meetings should be regularly scheduled events and
attendance should be required. Send out newsletters frequently
and post information at the studio on a designated performance
company bulletin board.
Keep a professional distance from the dancers and their
parents. Familiarity makes it difficult for you to be
objective and consistent when problems arise, and when you do
enforce rules, students and parents may feel that their
friendship has been betrayed. Those who are not in the circle
of friends might feel slighted and accuse you of favoritism.
Tell your students to leave the drama at the door. Do not
allow them to discuss personal problems, boyfriends or
girlfriends, or bodily functions during class or rehearsals
unless they relate to the work at hand. Students must
understand the effect their mindsets and attitudes have on the
group. Attitude is extremely contagious, whether it is
positive or negative.
Nip problems in the bud when necessary, but do not resolve
conflicts between students unless they are major or affect
performances. Teach students to mediate and be responsible for
their interpersonal relationships. Older students can show
leadership and guidance in mediating problems.
Behavior
Make sure that the teaching staff, demonstrators, and older
dancers set good examples in terms of energy, enthusiasm,
expectations, and professionalism. If you see apathy, rude or
abusive behavior, or lateness among the role models, you can
expect to see it in the dancers. The same is true for positive
or inspirational attitudes and behaviors.
Identify leaders for each part of the routine (the dancer in
the center front or someone who cannot see anyone else in the
choreography) and make them feel important and responsible.
Learning to work as a team is an important life lesson, and it
will make the group look polished. Even though there is a
leader, all dancers must accept personal responsibility for
learning steps and staying in formation. We use the mantra
“You are the boss of you.”
Reward leadership and other positive behaviors with praise.
Catch your dancers doing something right instead of looking
for what is wrong. Give small awards to those who display the
most energy, best memory, best turn, or most improvement
during the rehearsal. Award the MVP (Most Valuable Player)
award after a competition or convention to one dancer from
each group who showed the most improvement, leadership,
kindness, or spirit.
Classes and rehearsals
Decide what to focus on in each class or rehearsal, and
highlight any skills that need improvement. Create incentives
for success, such as charts and small rewards for goal
achievement.
Teach the dancers to rehearse with the energy and
expressiveness they will use onstage. Encourage natural smiles
and caution them not to exaggerate their facial expressions.
As an exercise, have the dancers face the mirror and listen to
the music without moving, responding only with facial
expressions. Give them key words to describe what you want
them to show: “happy,” “surprised,” “angry,” “confused,”
“frightened,” and so on. Start these exercises with young
students to allow them to gain confidence as they grow. Older
students might be self-conscious and need time to become
comfortable with the exercises.
Set realistic goals for the group and reevaluate them each
season. Expect personal excellence from each dancer. We use
the phrase (borrowed from Oprah!) “Let no one outwork
you today.” Their work ethics are their personal investment
toward excellence. If everyone works as hard as they can, the
entire company will move forward.
Hold company class before rehearsals to work on some of the
challenges in the choreography and strengthen the group. All
levels should take this class together to reinforce the
group’s family feeling.
Choreograph at the dancers’ level with a few small challenges
for growth, and don’t hesitate to make changes when necessary.
Stay positive! The process of learning must be made to appear
more important than the end product. The success is in the
lessons learned and the positive experiences in the studio
along the way.
Emphasize the dancers’ need to keep their eyes forward and be
aware of those around them. Periodically rehearse while facing
away from the mirror to limit dependency on visual cues for
correctness.
Invite other dance professionals to critique your work, and
listen to their comments. Allow others to teach or
choreograph so that you can objectively observe the dancers in
class or rehearsal. (Insist that they comply with your
standards for music and movement.)
Performances
Choose competitions, performances, and workshops carefully. Do
your research (including asking other teachers for their
opinions about various events) and consider the following
questions.
•
What will it cost and how will it be paid for? Constant bills
or fund-raising can exhaust a parent’s initial enthusiasm for
your goals.
•
How will it enhance your dancers’ education and help them
improve?
•
What are the qualifications of the faculty? Will they be a
positive influence on your dancers?
•
Is it a win–win or win–lose situation? Are the dancers mature
enough to accept a judge’s decision? Are the parents prepared
to handle the situation?
Listen to the judges’ comment tapes and watch videos of
rehearsals and performances. It is never easy to receive
criticism or relive an imperfect performance, but doing so
will help target strengths and identify flaws. Be willing to
grow with each experience and keep your sense of humor.
Getting more from our students often means expecting and
getting more from ourselves.
Choreography tips
Choose music and choreography that will best display each
group. Remove all questionable lyrics and keep the music
short. Short routines allow the students to work on clarity
and performance quality rather than memorization and stamina.
Keep unison dancing to a minimum, particularly in complicated
turn sections. The following choreographic elements will
enhance your work.
•
Utilize a variety of floor patterns. Keep groups moving
through each other. Use formations such as circles, lines,
triangles, and columns. Choreograph entrances and exits during
the piece.
•
Include interaction between the dancers. Teach the students to
establish eye contact with and react to each other onstage.
Use partnering and weight sharing.
•
Create layers of choreography. Use canons or have dancers do
different steps to the same portion of music. Use a variety of
tempos.
•
Create levels within the choreography. Utilize different
planes with floor work, leaps, and centered movement. Add
variety with benches, stairs, and chairs. Include simple lifts
and body stacking.
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