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time4tea
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| Posted: May 11 2006 at 10:28am | IP Logged
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Hi Everyone!
I wasn't sure where to post this, so I thought I would try here first. Our dd, age 6, lives to dance ballet. We have been told that she has the potential to become quite a skilled ballerina, should her interest level continue as she matures. Dh and I are torn on what type of training is best for her. We do not live that close to a major metropolitan area where dance schools are on every corner, but there are three schools in our county which we are looking at. For those of you who have either danced/taught ballet at an advanced level, or have a daughter/friend/neighbor who does/did, what types of things should we be looking for, and what should we be looking to avoid? How many lessons a week is appropriate at her level (her current skill level has been rated about 2 years above her actual chronological age).
ANY help anyone could offer would be sooooo much appreciated!
Thanks and God bless!
Tea
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Lora
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| Posted: May 11 2006 at 3:55pm | IP Logged
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My girls are in ballet. Years ago I read the best would be to provide her with Russian Ballet and not until the age of 8 or 9. I bought videos of ballet classes for them until they were 8. If she is at an advanced age youwould have to look into if she could get into a higher level class but she would probably have to already know the 5 positions and a few other basic ballet steps. In my opinion it is not worth putting them in a class at that age because of the maturity level (of her or more than likely the other little girls in the class). But I am more interested in quality and excelence than just having my little girls have fun. It is soo tempting though I know. My older three girls are in ballet and they are going to have their rectial this saturday. Last week was pictures in their costums so I got see all the other classes. I also have a 3 year old and a 5 year old dd who love ballet and they would be soooooo cute in those little outfits doing a recital. My 5 year old is also very good, her sisters teach the little girls when they get home from ballet. But all in all I'm glad I just went with the videos (you can just check them out on amazon) and waited for their maturity level to be higher. My girls have loved ballet since my oldest was literally 3.
Well HTH
Lora
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time4tea
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| Posted: May 11 2006 at 5:40pm | IP Logged
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Thanks for your reply! Let me explain a little better. Dd has been dancing (that is, taking formal lessons in a local studio) since she was 3 years old. She currently takes ballet 3 days a week, one hour per class, and does not have any problem with her maturity level, paying attention, etc. She masters the positions (at her age, they only learn the first two), and the moves taught very quickly and aptly. We have been told by ladies who have danced professionally that she has natural talent for dance. She also has a great deal of interest in it. She studies (yes, studies)Nureyev's Nutcracker and The Kirov Ballet's Swan Lake and memorizes many of the combinations in these ballets, selling us all "tickets" to see her performance. So, this is beyond having her in a recital or looking cute in an outfit. Dh and I have been trying to seek out information regarding serious training for her, as the strong possibility exists that she may go in that direction.
Again, thanks so much for your reply!
God bless!
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Lavenderfields
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| Posted: May 11 2006 at 7:08pm | IP Logged
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Tea,
Your daughter may be advanced for her age, but, when you think about her and dancing when she gets older, how old do you see her leaving you and joining a ballet company. Your answer might be 14, 16, 18 or after college. What is important to you. After you answer these questions, then you can begin to look for the right studio.
When looking for a studio, again what is important for you, modesty, skill, kindness, generosity. You don't find them at all studio's. My dd 15 wants to move to another studio. We saw a performance of one of the other studio's, one dance had all the girls in a battle scene dying on stage,  another dance had 9, 10 and 11 year olds doing a number to Coming to America that was very seductive,  and then another number had the older girls in white underwear, white bra with a mans shirt over and one button done up, and taken off midway through the dance.  I can not let my daughter go to this studio. They did dance very well, but...... This studio also requires these girls to be at a certain weight. They also have stage moms, the kind that will do anything to have their girls be number 1. It is not a fun atmosphere. It is very trying.
Our studio is very laid back, there are only a couple of stage moms, they usually leave when they find out they can't get what they want. They try to keep the costumes form being to immodest, and the owners have to okay all the music they bring into the studio. She rejects almost all the new stuff. Those are the things that are important to me so we stay with this studio.
When you are looking at these studios, it would be nice if you could see some of their performances. It would give you a clue as to what the studio is like. Talking to some of the moms would be interesting too. HTH.
God Bless
Robynn in Lancaster, CA
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time4tea
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| Posted: May 12 2006 at 8:18am | IP Logged
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Robynn,
Thanks for the great suggestions! I have tried to find other "dance moms" from other studios to talk with about how they like where they are, etc., but I'm having a really hard time either finding anyone at all who has a child, etc. involved in dance OR finding anyone who will really talk! By far, the first situation is the hardest - I have been putting out notes to our local (large) homeschool group, asking friends, etc., but am not having any success really finding anyone to talk to. That is what lead me to post here.
We have gone to many of the local performances of at least 2 of the three studios. One of the studios does not do any kind of performance per se; if you want to pursue that avenue, you have to find auditions on your own in the local community or elsewhere. Of the remaining studios, the one has a lot of semi-professional and professional (the director's sister is with a ballet company in a neighboring large metro area) fill many of the roles that I would think the students would want to fill, such as many of the principal roles in The Nutracker (for example) are filled by these other dancers, not the students of the school. I find that puzzling, as the school is a classical one that seems to offer (at least on paper) a very intensive ballet program. I would love to find out why they don't use their own students more in their productions, but I can't find anyone to ask  . The third and last studio performs The Nutcracker every Christmas and then a mixed bill show of pieces from ballet, modern and jazz in their Spring show. While they use only their own students (no pros or college dancers) in all of the performances (and the dancers are very good, too), the director seems to stress more of the modern dance form than I care for. I do not neccesarily mean immodesty here, I just mean to say that the director is fond of modern dance and tries to encourage students to take it along with ballet as much as possible, whereas the that is not the case at the other studio which stresses mostly ballet. I know, there are no easy answers here, and the suggestions you have given me are definitely food for thought. What we do not want to do is to jump from school to school. I don't think that's a good thing, because if dd sticks with dance, as it seems very possible she will, she will probably find many of her friendships through that activity, and I would rather not bounce her around. That is one of my biggest concerns, actually, that she be placed somewhere we feel comfortable staying at for the long haul; where we trust the teachers and the method of teaching, and where dd can (hopefully) develop friendships as time goes on.
Thanks again and God bless!
Tea
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Kelly
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| Posted: May 12 2006 at 9:31am | IP Logged
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My experience with ballet (lots and lots in college, and some with dc, but by no means a pro  ) has been that studios that include jazz and modern are not as "serious" as ones that focus ONLY on classical ballet. There is enough in classical ballet to keep people busy and interested, without having to diversify into other domains---often, this broadening of offerings (modern, jazz and tap) indicates a diluted, for profit studio. Not always, but often. Also, it has been my experience, limited though it is, that studios teaching jazz and modern tend to teach some very provocative moves (I call it "pelvic thrust dancing" ) and I have seen a lot of older girls slinking around these studios, very scantily clad. I realize ballet outfits are scanty, but there are degrees of modesty!
Another indicator of a "serious" ballet school is often what they REQUIRE their students to wear. The serious ballet schools will usually require the traditional "pinks" for their younger students, with short sleeved leotards, and later allow a little more variation for their older students (but not lots!).
Younger students in a serious school will also get lots of instruction in character dancing and moving, skipping and all that (sounds basic, but it is a big thing in ballet instruction). Avoid any school that pushes toe on young children, their bodies are simply not ready for that until later.
The Russian school is probably the most widely accepted style, though the Italian style, Ciachetti method, has some following. However, the big dance studios in NYC are predominantly Russian.
My two cents worth! 
Kelly in FL
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Elizabeth
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| Posted: May 12 2006 at 9:38am | IP Logged
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My daughter is a serious dancer (as serious as you can be at nine). She danced Clara last Christmas in her studio's Nutcracker. The dance school uses the Cechetti method, with which I'm well pleased. But more importantly, the studio philosophy falls right in line with Robynn's guidelines. I wrote about my thoughts on this last year and I'm cutting and pasting here because my computer is giving me fits and I've no patience for links this morning  :
As I was driving to ballet the other day, I asked my daughter what her favorite dance had been at the previous week’s recital. It had been a lovely, glorious performance, a true celebration of goodness and beauty. Without hesitation, she replied, “The worship dance was mine, but Daddy’s favorite was Via Dolorosa.” Just as she related this, we passed a billboard that read: Some people don’t raise their children, they finance them.
We are a typical suburban family, if larger than most. Our children play soccer and they dance; we carpool. The truth is, we pay money for other people to spend time with our children and to teach them something we cannot. But we raise our children, we don’t finance them. And so we expect from those people who are spending time with our kids that they will help us raise them. This is an enormous expectation and it is not without responsibility.
When we look for a soccer coach or a dance teacher, we look first to how that individual will affect the character of our child. And we have left situations where the effect would be contrary to what we want for them, sometimes at great personal cost.
I was warned by experienced dancers that the world of dance, for all its outward beauty, can be a dark one. I knew, as I looked for a dance academy, that dance, like theater, could be a place to glorify God or a place to learn dark lessons of vanity and narcissism. I was watching carefully to ensure modesty in dress and in movement. I looked for evidence that there would be no subtle or not-so-subtle jabs at body image. My goal was to find a place where the mission was to train technically excellent dancers who praised Jesus in the dance. Above all, I wasn’t looking to finance my daughter, I was looking for a partner in raising her. I spent considerable time praying about it.
A former dancer whom I admire once wrote, “We dance in celebration and affirmation of Beauty. We dance because, in the words of Pope John Paul II, ‘every genuine art form in its own way is a path to the inmost reality of man and of the world. It is therefore a wholly valid approach to the realm of faith, which gives human experience its ultimate meaning’…Little girls in pink tutus can dance because the dance is meaningful in itself; the dance is a step outside the work-a-day world into the realm of the contemplation of Beauty.”
Upon my first meeting with Joan Izzo, I knew I had found a dancer who truly believed that dance was contemplation of Divine Beauty. In her studio, there was no doubting the overt Christian mission. Mrs. Izzo asserts that every girl, no matter size or shape or talent, can worship her Creator in dance. Furthermore, she believes that because they dance for Him, they should dance well. She emphasizes excellent technique, encouraging even the littlest girl to do her very best for God.
Girls can be tricky to raise, particularly as they grow older. And a group of girls, gathered together for long periods of time can present all sorts of opportunities to sin against charity. Bluntly put, girls can be mean. In one conversation, Mrs. Izzo and I frankly discussed this tendency. She has a zero-tolerance policy regarding unkindness. To sin against charity is to invite expulsion. There is no room for cattiness or meanness or immodesty or vanity in this studio which has been set apart for praising Love Incarnate with one’s very self.
A dancer is exceptional in her ability to express emotion with her whole being. Joan Izzo, I am sure, is a great dancer. But she doesn’t perform anymore; she teaches. Still, her emotions exude from her person. In Him, she lives and breathes and finds her being. More than anyone I know, she has an aura about her of being moved—literally--by Christ. One of my favorite aspects of allowing her to help me raise my child is the talks we have in her little office when no one else is present. There, I know that her faith is genuine and that her mission is not a marketing gimmick. This is a woman whose whole life is a prayer. For her, helping me to raise my daughter—my dancer--is a ministry.
Raising children is an enormous responsibility. When we enlist the help of other people—teachers, coaches, scout leaders—we still retain the ultimate responsibility. To raise children to be good Christians requires us to be good Christians. Faith is caught much more than it is taught. When I drive away from the Joan Izzo Academy of Dance after leaving my daughter there, I am not afraid of what she might catch. Indeed, I am profoundly grateful for the blessing of Joan Izzo.
The week after the recital, my eight-year-old auditioned for a role in The Nutcracker. This was her first real audition. Mrs. Izzo was careful to tell the girls that if they weren’t physically strong enough for the role, it didn’t mean they were not good dancers or even that they’d never dance that role. It just meant it wasn’t time yet. In the van, on the way home, I tentatively asked Mary Beth how she thought it went, mentally reviewing my “A time for everything” talk.
“I think it was fine. I’ll be better for the second audition in August because I know I’ll be stronger. And I won’t be so nervous because I know how to do an audition now. And you know, if I’m not Clara this year, it just means that God wants me to be Clara when someone else is the Sugar Plum Fairy. He has a plan.”
No speech necessary. Someone else is helping me to raise this child in faith.
For more information about the ministry of dance, visit www.joanizzodance.org.
__________________
Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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time4tea
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| Posted: May 12 2006 at 5:37pm | IP Logged
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Elizabeth,
This sounds like just the studio I'm looking for! Too bad for us it isn't in our state  .
God bless you for sharing!
Tea
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Can you help me with a Ballet Question?
