"Should-be-obvious-but-apparently-is-not Dance Etiquette"

I stumbled across this fantastic article that a fellow dance instructor shared on Facebook.

The title intrigued me: (click to read the whole article for yourself)

"Should-be-obvious-but-apparently-is-not Dance Etiquette"

I love teaching. I love working with kids, both the itty-bitty ones and more advanced dancers. With the little ones, I can totally be much more lenient toward them. They are still learning rules and classroom decorum, and many have not started to attend school yet. I get it, and I can work with that. In fact, I am very happy to work with younger students in teaching them how to behave in dance class. Funny, and true, but sometimes my 4 year olds can behave better than my 7 or 8 year olds.

(Please forgive me for venting.)

With older students, its not that I am less tolerant or less nice, but I do expect more from them behavioral-wise, as any teacher really should. More experience in a social classroom setting in school should have engrained basic class rules into students' minds, but I am truly baffled sometimes by the behavior that my older students exhibit in the class. Not only am I confounded, but I end up incredibly frustrated and annoyed. I'm sure many other teachers share this same sentiment.

The article pointed out eleven really great and "obvious" things that students really shouldn't do during class. I just wanted to elaborate on a few of my favorites:

R-E-S-P-E-C-T the teacher
Teachers put in a lot of time and effort to make class a meaningful, and hopefully, joyful experience. Back talk and silly faces don't only affect the teacher, but it can ruin it for the whole class too.
I also find that some students think that dance behavior is different than school behavior. Would you act this way in front of your school teacher?
And, saying thank you at the end makes a teacher's heart soar.

 
No talking during class
Now, that doesn't mean no talking ever. Silent classes are no fun. Even I don't like them. I welcome questions and helpful comments. That signals to me that students were paying attention and genuinely want to do their best. But the incessant chit-chat and giggles between exercises are totally unnecessary and disrespectful. Save the talking for before or after class, or better yet, call each other!


Be on time!

I know that many kids today are enrolled in several different activities, and it can be a struggle to caravan from one to another to make it on time, and I know, sometimes there's the occasional traffic jam. But with any activity, there needs to be a level of commitment, especially when many parents invest a lot of time and money into activities like dance. Arriving to class late is very distracting. Not just for the student running into class late, but for the rest of the class. Students who come in to class late may miss very important warmups and stretches. My dance teacher, Miss Claudia would not let anyone join the rest of the class until they completed a plié and tendu exercise. She also did not allow anyone to interrupt by coming in during the middle of an exercise; they had to wait until it was finished before coming in.

Don't fix your hair/clothes in the middle of class

Hair and clothes can be very distracting for everyone of all ages.

Please, please, please, please, PLEASE get the hair tied back before walking into class. Miss Claudia was also very insistent that if you did not pull your hair back, she would do it for you... with masking tape. And believe me, she followed through on that promise.

Those shoes better be double knotted and tucked in.

Keeping the sweater on or leaving it off? Pick one and commit.

No, legwarmers don't go on your arms. No, please don't keep one on your arm and one on your leg.

Dance is meant to be fun and exciting. The little things can get in way and take away that experience. I encourage everyone to read the full article and keep all things in mind whenever they walk into a class. I promise that everyone will be able to get a lot more out of it!

Happy dancing!

Miss Tess

tessc@balletpetite.com