Sequin Costumes Vs. Technique & Artistry

Costumed dancing versus authentic ballet training.

Does your child's dance studio put an emphasis on recitals and costumes? If so, you may be getting swindled into spending a lot more of your family's precious household finances but not getting much in return. Ballet dancing is considered one of the most beautiful art forms around, which is the reason it has endured since the 1400s. But as beautiful as classical ballet is, the training is rigorous and not for the faint of heart. So if you're planning to enroll your child into a dance school for ballet, be certain you're paying for quality training and not merely for recreational play time.

The Gift.

Children who love to dance around the house and in the yard are gifted with the very potential that, when fulfilled and trained properly, will enrich their lives with health, longevity, strength of character, beauty, grace and adventure. Ballet training does all of this, but training must be taken seriously.

Choosing the Studio.

When choosing a studio for your child, you want to ensure the teacher has danced professionally and that the training being offered is progressive. Since many parents are unfamiliar with the ballet world, it is easy for dance teachers to claim they know what they are doing but, in reality, they have no professional experience or credentials to teach your child. Enrolling your child in a studio where they force girls to dance on pointe before their young muscles are physically ready is a clear sign of an incompetent studio, one that will take your money and leave your child fighting injuries. Also, a studio that puts emphasis on year-end recitals is one that will typically forfeit time needed to teach actual technique and artistry in exchange for devoting the majority of class time to learning choreography to perform on stage under lights and in expensive costumes they will only be worn once. Again- such a studio is designed to take your money and not give your child the authentic ballet training experience s/he deserves. No doubt, parents are human and want photographs of their child in a tutu on stage to share with their friends on social media, but is this reason enough to sacrifice your child's training at a subpar dance studio?

Recreational Dance Studios.

Parents will say, "We're enrolling our daughter in Sally's Studio of Dance just to see whether she likes it first, and if she does- then we'll consider a more serious studio." But there's a risk here. For if Sally's Studio of Dance is a recreational dance studio, no doubt, your daughter will indeed enjoy it because it will essentially be "play time."

In the past, when children coming from recreational dance studios visited Guam Conservatory of Arts for a trial class, they were surprised and ill-prepared to participate in an authentic ballet class because their prior dance experience conditioned them to believe class amounted to be nothing more than putting on a tutu and sashaying across the floor. In an authentic studio, a level of technique and artistry commensurate to the child's age and experience should be taught in a loving but firm manner, thus introducing the child to physical discipline and to form. In time, the child will acclimate himself to his surroundings and will learn to take joy and pleasure in gaining physical control of his body and in maneuvering through movements that lead to artistic expression, A recreational dance studio undermines any serious quest of a potential professional ballet dancer because it degrades the training experience into one of play time and forfeits the traditional discipline and structure for which quality dance training is built upon.

Professional Dance Studios.

Ballet studios worthy of your child will emphasize training, technique and artistry. Such studios will have teachers who have danced professionally or are credentialed to teach one of the internationally-accepted ballet syllabi. The teachers should be physically fit, knowledgeable about the body and familiar with sport science. Quality teachers should be able to state expectations to their students in a clear manner, design classes of a progressive nature, and be formal while being approachable. If you have found yourself a good ballet teacher for your child, say a prayer of thanksgiving. Most teachers of this ilk do not teach for the love of money or for profit. As they pass on the trade secrets and techniques they learned from masters before them, they view teaching as a calling which often comes with sacrifices.

Be Loyal to Your Children, Not to a Studio.

I realize it is easy to be loyal to a dance studio, especially if your child has already made friends with other students. But if you want to give your children all the benefits of a quality dance education--- where they learn how to physically work hard even when they don't want to, where they must be detail oriented, where they must navigate the pressures of expectations, where they learn to be respectful, kind and compassionate, where they learn patience and develop physical, mental and emotional endurance- then for the love of your children, make sure they are enrolled in a studio that is worthy of their potential, their time and your money.

Training and Longevity.

Your child's potential dance career can be long, especially if training is taken seriously and begins early. The body is especially pliable when a child is young so childhood is the time to start. The older the child is, the more difficulty there will be. Dance continues to explode in popularity enabling older dancers to move into teaching, choreographing and directing to extend their careers in the field. Dance will give your child a wonderful life. Let the children dance.