I am now in my mid twenties, danced professionally, trained at OCU and have been teaching for the past 2 and a half years. As I am working with my students I notice how they seem to always wait for me to tell them to fix their abdominal or to tell them to keep their weight forward on their supporting leg. These corrections are given to them on a daily basis in hopes they will start to do these things on their own. Yet, I still feel as if I am waiting around for them to take the initiative. If you keep doing the same thing over and over again the wrong way, eventually you will get really good at it wrong. But, if you practice some thing the right way, it will feel good right and you will see improvement.
I hope I can inspire my dancers to want to get better, to not take their plies or tendus for granted, to really use their body and muscles to develop the strength necessary to be a really good dancer. I can only try to instill these things...but at least I am encouraging to learn to really dance versus just learning steps. Anyone can battement or pirouette, but not anyone can do it with the right alignment and body placement designed to protect the body and create the most aesthetically pleasing line possible. It is much harder to get your dancers to do a correct grand jete then to just let them flick it and wack it out....
I say this because in the dance world (ie. competition world of dance) it seems as if dancers are learning steps and choreography that appears to be done correctly however, they have no body placement or any idea that they are lacking it. The core training of the dancers is gone and yet the steps are getting harder, more turns, higher leaps, insane tricks that cause injuries in 13 year olds. A 13 year old should not have a reoccurring injury. At this rate these kids will be cripple by the time they are in their mid twenties. Let's not forget the true technique of dance, the body placement, the conditioning and training of the muscles. This cannot be forgotten or missed....it is an injustice to the dancers and the art form it self.
I agree so whole heartedly that inspiring our students to use proper technique is an absolute must if they are to dance joyously and injury free. As teachers we must be ever vigilant and make sure students are physically prepared before attempting movements that are beyond their skill level. It is not the quantity, but the quality of movement that makes dance the beautiful art form that it is. We must all step back and take a look at what we teach and why we teach it. The love of dance lives on long past any leap or turn that is ever accomplished.
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