Teaching dance - a separate art

By Subashini PATHMANATHAN.

Today Classical and Modern dance classes, schools, and institutions, are existing mainly in and around the metropolitan cities.

It is natural, the young tender age girls, all over the world are fascinated mainly by the dance costumes, jewellery, and attractive movements. The parents enrol the children to the dance classes which are closer to their residents without considering the standard and the quality of the dance teachers. The poor tender age female child always holds her dance teacher in high esteem, and as a model of an everlasting image .

The image of the dance influences the child throughout her life. The student is attracted by the teacher's personality, age, her behaviour, the dedication, the devotion, the knowledge, the teaching methodology, the experience, the patience, kindness, politeness, and the creativity of the dance teacher. Hence the image of the dance teacher influences and moulds the image of the over all outlook of a young child.

It is the prime responsibility of the parents to select a proper dance teacher for their children. But unfortunately the present generation of parents due to their busy and stressful life, they send their children to the closest dance classes without considering the standard and the quality of the teachers. Most of the dance classes are conducted in big groups within a small limited space. The teacher must understand that dance is a physical art, and the entire children do not have the same body structure, same ability, same understanding power, same intelligence, same age, and same involvement. So all the above said aspects should be taken into account by a dance teacher.

The students' physical condition, their mind, and their mood differ, due to numerous factors of the day to day life. Most of the dance teachers do not have the patience to impart the children properly, because they are pressed with time etc. Either the dance teacher is supposed to take numerous dance classes in different groups in one evening, - or, the same evening is shared at different places by one and the same dance teacher.

Most of the teachers give their (senior students) as substitutes to take the beginners classes. It is a must for a teacher to take the beginners classes by herself, because the whole dance career of a child is moulded through the beginners class alone. One and the same, teacher should handle the basic foundation dance classes.

Today most of the younger generation dance teachers complete a degree, or diploma in dance, from some institutions or from some universities, or follow a dance course under some individual gurus, and immediately start the dance classes. As soon as they get a chance of going abroad they leave the students in the lurch. At the end the students get messed up, and feel hard to adjust with another teacher. Dance, is not like the vocal music or instrumental music. Vocal music and instrumental music, is totally based on notations.

In dance, the creativity, the ideas, and the styles of dance, and adopting the methods of imparting the nuances of the same dance differ from one dance teacher to another. Most of the dance teachers sit and explain the way of doing, and they do not get up and demonstrate how to do the basic steps by themselves or they use to get the aid of their senior students to demonstrate, all these will affect the dancing career of the beginners.