It's that time of year again...

...when parents come to Studio Director Janine Fraser, seeing that their may be some new children in the class this year, and want to move their child up up up up up to the higher levels...:)
Please read Miss Janine's thoughts on advancement in class levels, and how we promote children by ability, rather than simply desire. Don't get us wrong, we LOVE desire, but that won't get you through a "glissade pas de chat entrechat quatre, entrechat sinq, pas de bourree pas de bourree, couru grande jete" unless you have actual training and ability to perform...:)
Copies of the notes below are also in the parent letter file near our inner studio door if you would like a copy.

Miss Janine’s note regarding class advancement…
Specifically, a parent/dancer wanting to move up to a level that she does not truly belong in…and yes, this applies regardless of how badly the parent or child wants to move up, as advancement is based upon physical ability, not desire…

Imagine a house. A messy house, things out of place, things that don’t belong there. If you have a messy house and want it to look better, you don’t just go out and buy a bunch of “fancy” furniture to make it look nice. That doesn’t solve your messy house problem, it’s still a mess. You have to clean it up FIRST. You put things where they are supposed to be. You get rid of things that don’t belong there.
Now liken dance technique to a messy house. Examine the dancer that thinks she should move up to a harder class. Visualize how she looks when doing a simple “retire tombee pas de bourree, grande jete grande jete grande jete”. Is it clean and precise, or messy, just like the house? If it’s messy, regardless of the reason, whether that be due to recreational training (only one or two classes a week, or classes without focus on true ballet technique), too
few years of training, insufficient training, lack of discipline, lack of focus, or many other reasons, what should she do to improve her dancing? Does she go out and ask to be taught a bunch of new “fancier” steps, to make her appear better onstage? No, because just like placing stylish new furniture into a messy house does not make the house beautiful, moving a child up into a class to do new, harder steps will not make her dance better. In fact, because the steps are harder, she will probably dance even more poorly, and more insecurely, because it is beyond her ability. The answer is to stay and clean up the house, or the dance technique. Get rid of the bent knees, or sickled feet, the poor posture, or whatever is “messy” in her technique. Just like the house, you put things in the right place (tummy/ribs in, not out) and get rid of the things that don’t belong (is that hand supposed to fly up in the air like a claw when you saute?).

Often a parent feels it will be better for the child’s self esteem to be moved up, when in fact it can do exactly the opposite. The child is now expected to perform skills they have not even been taught yet, and at a higher level, and when they cannot, a once secure and confident child can become very insecure in his or her dancing. I have moved a child up a time or two that this has happened and felt very badly when the child became frustrated and quit altogether. I am now cautious about any child moving up too quickly, as continuing their natural love of dance is my first and foremost goal!

I know it’s hard as a parent when you want so badly for your child to move up, and I know that every parent wants their child to be with the “big girls”, but please realize that some dancers have to be the “big girls”. Realize that when you tell me the other girls in her class are below her level, that you may be asking me to place your child in a too high level, where guess what happens…
Other parents then call me complaining about the girl (your child) who is below her daughter’s level, who doesn’t really belong there, so can they move up to the next level?

My last note, and perhaps the most important, is this…Before you ask to advance your daughter, please ask yourself this…Is she far and above the others, and THE MOST ADVANCED CHILD IN THE CLASS? If so, then you may well have reason to seek advancement, and I welcome your questions about possible advancement. If not, then I will need to know your valid reasons that we should move her up ahead of the girls who are more advanced than her (since of course, promotions in level are first offered to the most advanced child). If you have any questions, please see me,
Studio Director Janine Fraser…

Reprinted from Sept. 2009...:)