Belly Up to the Barre

In part two of our series (I'm cleverly calling it: "Majors I Advise"--what? You've got a better title in mind?) I'll be focusing on Dance. This post is for all the little girls in tutus out there (and a few of the little boys as well).

When you consider a major in Dance, you have to be more aware of the physical aspects than almost any other major. Dance students often come from a background where they have been taking private lessons (ballet, jazz, tap, and occasionally modern) from the time they were zygotes, but they don't often have any "academic" dance experience. A few students are lucky enough to attend "performing arts" high schools, which means that they spend actual "class time" doing dance work. What is the difference? A student taking private lessons will get (if they are lucky) 1-2 hours of dance class a week. A student in the "performing arts" high school will have regular dance classes worked into their weekly class schedule (at least an hour a day of dance). The constant physical demands of a university dance classroom (4-5 hours of dance classes a day) are going to be a lot more difficult to adjust to if you are switching from 1-2 hours a week, instead of more regular rehearsal time.

Students will also need to acclimate to different teaching styles. While I'm sure that these students had lovely, supportive teachers, the skill level of said teachers is not always equal. Every student comes in to a university setting with a different ability level and having had different training styles. These discrepancies can often cause difficulties when a Dance student enters a university dance setting. I can't tell you the number of times I have heard a student say, "my dance teacher from home would NEVER ask me to do that!" Or, "my old teacher doesn't do things that way!" A spirit of flexibility and an openness to trying new things is vital every time you enter a new classroom.

Regular blog-readers have heard me talking about non-verbal cues before (those physical things you express with your body without saying a word)--Dance majors have to be extra careful about the signals that they send. Performing Arts people pay a LOT of attention to physical cues and you can send very significant messages to your teachers by the way you stand, your facial expressions, and even where you rest your hands when you aren't actively dancing. So what are some big no-nos?
1). No eye rolling! In any dance classroom, you're going to be in a big room full of mirrors, I can pretty much promise that your teacher is going to catch you.
2). No crossing your arms in front of your chest. Seems silly, doesn't it? But crossing your arms is a defensive posture and in the world of physical gestures, you're essentially closing yourself off from what your teacher is trying to tell you. Don't do it!
3). No standing with one hip cocked, hands on your hips. When reading body language, this is a very "sarcastic" stance--it implies cockiness. Just remember that Dance is the art of gesture and movement, so all of your teachers are going to be paying attention to every physical gesture and movement you make...and be careful about the signals you send!

I would be remiss if I didn't mention how dreadfully, abysmally small the art world is and that your professional reputation follows you everywhere. If you start your college career by missing classes and rehearsals, you will get the reputation as a lazy dancer--you will never get cast in junior and senior dance pieces and will never have the chance to improve as a performer. More to the point, the people that you are dancing with now will become your contemporaries in the professional world. You could be the most amazing dancer on earth, but you won't work if a negative reputation follows you wherever you go. Establishing good work habits (showing up early, being warmed up, knowing your steps) goes a long way to establishing a good professional reputation.

I can't finish this post without discussing the ugly side of dance. We've talked about the physical toll that dance exacts on the muscles, but we also need to consider the emotional and psychological toll. If you study ballet, you are spending hours in front of a mirror perfecting tiny little gestures, foot placement, arm alignment, etc. The possibility for distorting your body image is incredibly high. We have certain physical expectations of what a dancer "should" look like--and I have heard Dance faculty critiquing the weight of students. The most important thing (and yes, you've heard me say this before) is that you (the dancer) are healthy and happy. You should be physically fit enough to handle the rigor of dancing 4-5 hours a day. If you are able to do that, does it really matter what the scale says? Try to remember that my Dance students are the only students on my caseload who regularly run out of "swipes" on their meal plans because they constantly need to re-fuel.

If you can handle all of this...plus your academic classes (you didn't think you were going to get away from those, did you?) then you've got what it takes to be a Dance major. Remember that you'll be taking English, Math, Science (consider Biology--knowing HOW your body works is a GREAT thing for dancers!), Social Science, and Dance History. Don't forget one of my favorite mottoes: you have to learn the rules before you can break them!