One of the subjects that has always piqued my interest is the evolution of dance styles and what people perceive as being a dancer. At dance college, we all came from different dance backgrounds ISTD, IDTA, Disco Freestyle, Street and all had different levels of ability. But who determines who the best dancer is?
But what does a dancer have to do to receive a vote from an audience of mostly non-dancers?
By watching the programme, music choice does play a big part as well as doing something 'mainstream'! A group of dancing dads doing street dance got through instead of an experienced classical ballet dancer who had been performing for 15 years. The routines that are more aesthetically pleasing are considered better. At the point of judging who would come back as the final 9 dancers, one judge Oti Mabuse said " Is it dancing or just tricks?" when discussing a freestyle disco auditionee.
Has dance become more about tricks? Is that now what an audience would expect to see? For many years I have found this quite frustrating, I personally trained in ballet, modern and tap, I could do a cartwheel and went to gymnastics at the age of 19 to master a walkover, but I'll admit I could not perform to the level now seen on TV. I worry that as a dance teacher, my students might get bored of the ISTD syllabus work and may prefer to replicate 'Dance Moms'. Continued Personal Development is integral to being a teacher, but does that now mean I have to learn to teach Acrobatics or Tumbling?
However, if I was to ask a freestyle dance teacher their views, I'm sure they would see this as a positive and likely a boost to their business.
While this isn't necessarily what I will propose as an inquiry topic, I wanted to note my thoughts and display how my thinking has started to change through this process. Having an unbiased view allows you to see things from more angles and to consider that sometimes your own opinions may obscure all the facts.
What are your thoughts? Is it all about Fouette turns and Illusions?
Images Found at -
Image 1 -Shyla - https://tellymix.co.uk/gallery/390586-the-greatest-dancer-spoilers-first-look-at-this-weeks-latest-auditions.html
Image 2 - Yassaui Mergaliyev - (Photo: Tom Dymond/BBC/PA Wire)
Hi Charlie, I think this is a great subject matter as it has often crossed my mind as well. After reading your blog post it got me thinking. Initially I think tricks catch the attention of an audience member, but I feel there needs to be dance content as well. I believe a good blend of tricks, technique and dance movement is vital to be a versatile dancer as non dancers and trained dancers can appreciate it. BUT I do think dancers are EXPECTED to be able to trick now, as well as be trained in a variety of styles. This was an interesting post and has got me thinking of what my inquiry topic could be, so I plan to be uploading a blog post too in the next week or so. Thanks, Sian.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comment. I'll look out for your blog. I would love to look into this as an inquiry topic but I think a lot of the litriture will be social or internet based.
DeleteHello Charlie, I think this is an interesting topic to talk about i very much feel the same being a dancer and teacher that the children very much see the typical style of 'Dance Moms' choreography and tricks and are impressed by this however as a dancer myself i think you are expected to be able to do tricks although it doesn't define you as a dancer as a lot of my friends in the industry and colleges aren't skilled in tricks however they are skilled dancers, I think a lot of youngsters have a pre conception that being able to to tricks makes you a good dancer however others would say it isn't dancing it is gymnastics. I think this is a very good point to make Charlie, I will be uploading my thoughts on what i will do for my inquiry later in the week, Many thanks, Oona
ReplyDeleteI'll look out for your blog. I trained at college over 15 years ago, and only 2 girls could do walk overs, oh how things have changed. Sometimes it does come down personal taste.
ReplyDeleteHi Charlie, I think this topic is really interesting too! Having trained in mainly syllabus work myself when I went to College acro/ tricks was an actual class on our syllabus which was totally new to me. Now I teach at a dance school which has classes in acro for little ones alongside the syllabus ballet, tap and jazz and the acro classes are the most highly populated ones. I agree with Oona that a lot of youngsters have a pre conception that being able to trick makes you a good dancer. The amount of children I hear asking if they can show me their aerial at the end of the class is crazy!! I will be posting some topics around my inquiry too soon. Looking forward to seeing what you decide upon. Sam
ReplyDeleteHi Sam, Thank you for the comment. This is a subject I could discuss for hours, and shortly after writing this Blog I got offered a new job taking private lessons for Dance Comps, the more tricks the better. So I imagine I will now see it from both sides. However, I have decided to go down a different path for my inquiry. I don't think too many scholars are discussing dance moms. I look forward to seeing your ideas soon. x
Delete