Jan 28, 20192 min read

January Flowers

Monthly Info:

Lyrical class ~ A new class began this semester! Lyrical ballet with Miss Faith explores interpreting lyrics into expression and worship.
Email ~ Do we have your email? Be sure to sign your newest email up at check in so you don’t miss any important information!
Payment ~ Please remember that payment is due at the beginning of every month. If you have a question about your bill, please speak with Miss Faith.
Snow Closings ~ Check the Facebook page for cancellations. If you have not received a text as well, please update your phone number at class check in.

Monthly Musings

“I don’t wanna go to ballet, Mumma!” Rewind a few years and with a disgusted toss of my ballet bag, this whining sentence came out of my mouth. Twenty-eight years later, I still have not quit, but what I wish my younger self had been able to communicate was different than the words that came out of my mouth. I had a legitimate reason for my tiny tantrum. I was frustrated that I did not seem to be improving.

I felt “stuck” in my ballet. I would glance to the right and left and compare myself with my friends. Ballet, by its nature, is an incremental, almost mathematical building of strength, muscle control, and expression. Like a blooming, stop-motion flower, students don’t always mark their tiny improvements from week-to-week. Parents might turn and suddenly see a rose where once there was a bud, but the student rarely feels these changes.

I wish I could have told a disheartened little me to mark her successes. In his blog, ballroom instructor, Brian Barakauskus, observes, “How we choose to focus often dictates how we feel.” So in the classroom, what a student chooses to focus on will be what he or she takes away from class. When I focused on all my shortcomings, dance/school/work/ life became a miserable experience I inflicted on myself. Instead, please help us to encourage our students to mark and acknowledge each tiny movement as they grow this month--never underestimate words of encouragement, or even reviewing what a dancer learns that is new after each class. Your excitement and interest will be like a sweet rain to a growing dancer.

Works Cited.

https://dancelouisville.com/discouraged-with-dancing/