Dance: Where did the art go?

We're knee deep in our competition season and man am I beat! The crazy thing about going every year is seeing how high the bar has been raised lately. I was competing five years ago and the expectations are insane now. Children can do so many miraculous things with their bodies now that we've never expected before and man, they have become entertaining too! With all these high expectations and amazing feats of agility I feel we've begun to lose the essence of what dance essentially is; an art-form.

I asked as many children as I could this weekend what they felt dance was to them. Most of them didn't have a logical answer and those that did would say something close to "The best sport ever!" I was partially annoyed and mostly shocked. No one looks at a football player and is reduced to tears by watching their movement, when did we allow dance to be reduced to a game? I won't lie, I do partially blame competitions but I don't believe they're the worst area of the dance industry, nowhere close to that actually.

Who do I blame? Modern day teachers who've allowed their students to become ignorant. On the first day of my students moving into senior ballet or a pointe class I tell them this is the year of you becoming a sponge. Absorb as much information as you can and let it become you. (How else would you expect to fully learn something as immersing as dance?) And for the most part it works. I often remind my students to "empty their cups" before coming to class so they have room for more knowledge. We spent "an empty moment" at the barre to prepare for the class and I personally use this time to take roll and quickly reflect on the day's lesson at hand. My students use this time to move their bodies and mentally let go of the whatevers that are bothering them outside of the dance room. I personally feel that a dance studio should be a shelter from the outside world in two respects. Firstly when you create this environment it enables you to teach better. When a student's mind is elsewhere their attention is gone with it. Secondly it provides a warmer atmosphere that gently makes students feel safe. The more comfortable you are in any environment the easier it is to let go of insecurities so you don't hold yourself back.

I recently saw a piece of art this week that invoked tears for me. It told the story of the world trade centers and the end had a man standing outside with two children while his wife was still inside telling him to take care of their children and she loved him. It was put together breathtakingly and not a soul in the audience didn't cheer for them. It was different. It was art. Anyone can do a sad lyrical dance that might make someone feel remorseful but dancers are trained to make those faces and throw their bodies with the music.It's not flowing art anymore, it's solely based on technical agility. I've been told before that it isn't really considered a dance unless there is at least one kick, one turn, one leap and it should be around two minutes and thirty seconds. Not a lot of leeway for creativity and I can think of a few beautiful classical ballet pieces that don't feature all of those, are they no longer considered dances?

As a teacher I feel it is my responsibility to teach my students to become artists and not sportsmen. Anyone can play a game, but it takes something unique and special to be able to dance. After all no college has a degree program for football players but liberal arts degrees are on the rise!

Is there a topic you'd like to hear about or discuss with me? Feel free to message me or comment on my blog at anytime! -Ms Ivy