just wondering about websites and info

i would just politly want to ask this....4 Months ago 2 teachers came from another country to visit me for 1 week and wanted to have some classes with me...they came and did 1 hour of my level 4 class what is intermed...then asked for a private class so we did .....i asked what they would like to do ...a veil choreo, and khaleegy. was the answer so we did....this together was 1 hour.....Now when i go now to the website from this teachers it says that they did a ,,workshop,, with lydia tzigane....in there resume....i would like to know if this is normal?? also now they are teaching Khaleegy....not that i mind but i feel that 30 minute of khaleegy is not realy a lot to go and teach it to others..i would realy like to know if this is a normal situation,and if it is normal to call 1 open class and 1 private class a workshop?? is this not kind of misleading to people that are reading a website from a teacher??.......please keep in mind i dont want to judge anybody i would just like to understand how this is working...thanks lydia

Hi Lydia,

I guess these visitor are from Asia (most probably China???). Yes, it happens a lot in this part of the world. Once one bellydancer learned a bollywood choreography from me and and she started teaching her own classes in Korea. Don't be surprised it is VERY common here. Very sad though. Majority of people in this part of the world are not aware of the arab culture. So many dancers take advantage of it to make easy money and teach WHATEVER.

Here in HK, one girl learned dance from Rania's videos (no offense but :lol::lol::lol and she was on a daytime tv teaching bellydancing to housewives. I got sooooo sick when blood has reached the boiling point!!!
This is one of the reasons the standard of dancing(not just the moves) is not upto mark in Asia. Although there are very few dedicated instructors and dancers all over asia. ( I am one of them:lol.

If you know them, what don't you get in touch with them and let them know how not so correct it is to do this. IT DOESN'T MEAN IT WORKS LYDIA. Here we are know for coying everything from Cartier watches to Gucci clothing. You name it, we have counterfiet goods for all branded goods available here. So, you make up your own mind. For people here it is OK. Hope you are not too angry or upset by it. My advise to you next time when you teach, pls let them know that this 1 or 2 lessons wouldn't qualify them to teach and hope for the best. I really feel sorry for the students who are learning from these people.

Hugs
Janki

Hi Janaki i wish it was so simple then i would not worry...no it is not Asia it is in Europe,and the teachers are performing and have schools ...so not realy newbe,s......i realy dont want to mention the name,s i dont feel good about that but still........i am not realy angry either i see it a bit as a compliment towards my teaching,but somehow it dont feel honest to me ,just because 1 hour is just 1 hour and pfffffffff i dont know !! it is just not feeling richt to me...perhaps i am just silly and must forget about it? Lydia

Sadly, there are many dancers whose websites are full of lies and inflated claims.

Personally I would approach that dancer and ask her why she did that. And ask her to change the statement on her web site. It's not really good advertisement for you when she starts teaching it and only had half an hour of private class.

It would have been nice if these people had shown a little more professional courtesy. Typically, the teachings you offered them would not be considered a workshop. However, there is a gray area in what a workshop is exactly, and these people are exploiting that. It is a compliment to you, that they keep your teachings in such high regard.

My advice is to send a letter to the people in question explaining your feelings, and if you are indeed upset by them falsely claiming their teaching status, let it be know. Seeing as they hold you in such high regard, it might shake them up a bit, or at least get your message across.

Good luck, let us know how it turns out!

Suheir said:

Sadly, there are many dancers whose websites are full of lies and inflated claims.

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Unfortunately this is very true. Especially when it comes to what they have studied and with whom they have studied. There are people who list 80 or 100 instructors with who they have "studied" and in reality they just took one private lesson or visited just one workshop with each of them (or they just learned from videos of them). Therefore I am always very suspicious, when I see such listings on web pages and to be honest, me personally wouldn't give private lessons to any dancer who claims to be a professional, if I wouldn't know exactly who she is and how serious she is. Such things don't happen only in Asia, they are also very common in Europe and all over the world. On the other hand, people who try to bluff are not really successful, because their students/audience is not stupid. Bad work is recognizable even for non experts, same as good work This is the only thing that comforts me, when I get confronted with such situations.

G! Lydia, I am shocked!!!!:shok::shok: U thought it happens mostly in Asia!!! You know what, it is a great compliment for you. I am sure you taught them something so good in a one or two classes, that many "money maker instructors" teach the same stuff in a workshop!!! It doesn't matter. I am sure you are so well resepcted and they wanted to have your name on their websites and your dance in their classes. I myself personally think you are very knowledgable and love all your posts. As I mentioned in another post before, you are on my list of people from this forum I wish to study with!!!!

When people are not mature, they do stuff. They look back in the future and think they were wrong.

You are the master, as master you have to appreciate and enjoy the good and learn from the bad!!!! I am sure you will handle this kind of situation differently next time. Didn't you learn something form this??? This is good enough right!!!! Sometimes we need this kind of situations to learn. Pls cheer up.


Cheers
Janaki

Dance, etc.

Dear Group,
That probably happens more often all over the world. We have a person in town who is doing the same thing. She goes and takes a lesson or sponsors someone here and then puts in her site that she teaches the style of dance almost immediately after taking the class. She has been dancing about five years and teaches so many kinds of dance that real teachers would have spent a lifetime learning just a few of them. She very carefully does not mention in her site anywhere that she has been at this less than five years, and that is a common trick to watch out for when you peruse websites.It certainly explains how and why so many people have no idea what they are doing when they are innocently studying with people who know practically nothing and are very proud to teach it!!
Regards,
A'isha

Lydia dubai said:

.....Now when i go now to the website from this teachers it says that they did a ,,workshop,, with lydia tzigane....in there resume....i would like to know if this is normal??

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I don't think there is anything wrong with simply listing the workshops one has taken. I have a list of instructors with whom I have taken a workshop or private lesson with on my dance resume. I don't see this in and of itself as misleading or inflated.

The inflated part would be if they teach or claim to be experts at something for which their training consisted of one workshop. Which apparently they are doing.

I agree with A'isha -- if I see a teacher who claims to teach many styles I am generally suspicious unless I see some kind of evidence that they have been studying each style extensively for a long period of time. I think it is highly unlikely that anyone can be good at Turkish, Lebanese, Egyptian, and American belly dance, plus beledi, Saiidi, debke, Khaleegy, Tunisian, Persian, zar, etc. etc folkdances. When I see claims like this from teachers I usually just dismiss them entirely.

Sedonia

A'isha Azar said:

Dear Group,
We have a person in town who is doing the same thing. She goes and takes a lesson or sponsors someone here and then puts in her site that she teaches the style of dance almost immediately after taking the class. She has been dancing about five years and teaches so many kinds of dance that real teachers would have spent a lifetime learning just a few of them. She very carefully does not mention in her site anywhere that she has been at this less than five years,

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Wow. I just visited that site. Very interesting array of articles she has -- very passive-agressive-defensive undertone.

And yep, the list of 50 dance styles offered as workshop topics. Right.

Sedonia

Well ladies I know a girl that was in the same beginners class with me - and after about 16 hours in class (during 3 months) she started giving beginners classes! LOL It is not like she even did some extensive work at home with DVDs or had proficiency in any other dance (that would at least give her good posture, graceful arms ), she just went out giving classes!

Such people just target absolute beginners who have nothing to compare with! YUCK!!!!!

sedoniaraqs said:

Wow. I just visited that site. Very interesting array of articles she has -- very passive-agressive-defensive undertone.

And yep, the list of 50 dance styles offered as workshop topics. Right.

Sedonia

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Do people take them seriously???? 50 styles!!!! I have seen dancers offering a dozen or so styles and that that was a lot, but 50??? OMG!!!!

one of my teachers told us that she once taught a drumsolo in a workshop for advanced dancers. Later she took a workshop at another dance school and was taught her own drumsolo back:lol:. It had been altered and misinterpreted and they had not asked permission to use it, even though the proffessional dancers here all know each other. They had called it *her first name* 's drumsolo and she didn't know whether to be at least glad that it had her name or upset that they changed it but still called it hers.

Teaching choreographies to the dance community

gisela said:

one of my teachers told us that she once taught a drumsolo in a workshop for advanced dancers. Later she took a workshop at another dance school and was taught her own drumsolo back:lol:. It had been altered and misinterpreted and they had not asked permission to use it, even though the proffessional dancers here all know each other. They had called it *her first name* 's drumsolo and she didn't know whether to be at least glad that it had her name or upset that they changed it but still called it hers.

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Dear Gisela,
I have been teaching dance for over 30 years. As far as I am concerned, when I teach a choreography, including a drum solo, to people in a workshop, they have bought that choreography from me and they have the right to perform it. If they choose to change it, my hope is that they will say their dance was inspired by one of my choreographies, Even many times if they choose not to change it, it will not look the same on them as it does on me. This is the chance we take when we choose to teach choreographies in a workshop setting. It is also why I rarely do teach one, choosing instead to teach technique. The reason that so many choreographies look so bad when they are recycled is that many people do not have the technique in order to perform the choreography to begin with.
Regards,
A'isha

A'isha Azar said:

reason that so many choreographies look so bad when they are recycled is that many people do not have the technique in order to perform the choreography to begin with.

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You are *so* right! I've often seen familiar choreographies performed and not realised that I've seen/learnt the choreography until some way into the performance as it's being executed so badly.

My absolute bugbear in relation to bad technique is those who claim to perform Egyptian style yet are totally dead in the torso between the chest and the hips - no pull-in, no movement, no feeling there at all. Drives me CRAZY!